Drinks Recovery, Formula One, prices, inbound tourism, B King, Nero etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Still a lot of Covid going around but, thankfully, the impact for most is milder than it was, not like in the olden, pre-vaccine days of late 2020 when I got it.

And, whilst I didn’t, haven’t and maybe never will have a good a sense of taste, my sense of smell has more or less come back, which is a good thing, as I knew I was in trouble when I found that beer, shampoo and coffee all smelled the same.

Because, if I’d relied too heavily on that erroneous sense, I might have rubbed coffee or beer into my hair and, even worse, could have found myself drinking shampoo which, though it probably wouldn’t have killed me, it may well have reached the parts that other drinks cannot reach.

Anyway, it’s the beginning of another full week for some and it’s the run-in to half term for others. The weather is set to start bad and get worse and, apropos of nothing, I have to note that I haven’t been bothered by the grammar bully’s to much. Maybe it’s because I’ve learned to easily write so good. On to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Drinks Recovery Tracker:

CGA’s latest Drinks Recovery Tracker shows that drinks sales are approaching pre-COVID-19 levels as a result of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. CGA says that in the ‘week to last Saturday (5 February), average drinks sales by value in Britain’s managed pubs, bars and restaurants were just 3% below the equivalent period in 2020. It builds on a steady recovery since the start of the year, when drinks sales were down by 25% on 2020 in the first week.’ Volumes may still be markedly down.

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Competitive socialising:

KAM Media suggests that demand for competitive socialising continues to grow. It says some ‘53% of us are visiting competitive socialising venues MORE now vs 2 years ago. This is highest for Gen Z (67%) but also with families (62%). Meanwhile, 75% of all UK adults would like to see more pubs and bars offer elements of competitive socialising – this could take the form of simply having a selection of board games, to the more traditional darts and pools and all the way up to some more high-tech gaming solutions.’

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Assosia reports that the price of pasta, tinned tomatoes and strawberry jam jumped last year as the cost of supermarket staples rose. Figures produced for the BBC suggest that ‘the price of a basket filled with 15 standard food items rose by £1.32, or 8%, in just one year.’ Assosia measured prices at Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

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Inbound tourism, impact on London.

Commenting on tourism into rather than from the UK, UK Inbound says that 2022 will still be “tough”. It says around 56% of inbound tourism businesses are confident in bookings and revenue. Its survey shows that business in Q1 is expected to be down for 78% of businesses compared to the same quarter pre-pandemic.

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The International Journal of Drug Policy suggests that ‘alcohol may fall down the policy agenda’ as youth drinking declines and policy-makers would have fewer incentives to address alcohol-related harm.

An immediate government review of fairness in the pig industry supply chain and has promised to look into pig contracts in response to a worsening crisis in the sector, as an estimated 200,000 pigs are backed up on farms and cannot be taken to slaughter.

ONS data shows that 63% of accommodation and foodservice sector businesses reported lower-than-expected turnover in the two weeks to 23 January 2022. Just over 18% reported that turnover had not been affected, while only 8% reported that turnover was up on normal expectations.

COMPANY & OTHER NEWS:

The Times reports that the private equity firm behind Burger King UK has added a third investment bank to its advisers as it pushes ahead with a £600m flotation. The paper says that Bridgepoint is ‘understood to have hired Peel Hunt alongside Bank of America and Investec to advise it on an initial public offering in the first half of the year.’

Formula 1 is reported to have joined forces with the founder of Flight Club and Puttshack to launch a series of entertainment venues featuring motor-racing simulators. Founder of Kindred Concepts Adam Breeden says the venues are “aimed at absolutely everyone, whether you are an F1 fan or not”.

Caffe Nero has reported that it has ‘reached an agreement to acquire SA Brain’s remaining 33% stake in Coffee#1. The Group and one of its supportive shareholders originally bought 67% of Coffee#1 in 2019 from owner S.A. Brain, the Welsh Brewery.’ Nero says ‘since buying the majority share of the Coffee#1 business in 2019, the Group has managed the Coffee#1 brand, including making significant operating improvements and growing the business from 92 stores to 102 stores today.’

Sky News reports that US-based private equity fund Knighthead Capital Management has tabled ‘a fresh offer to extract [Corbin & King] from insolvency proceedings.’ Corbin & King was forced into insolvency last month by Minor International, the company’s largest shareholder lender.

Gaucho will open its Glasgow site in March, launching with the brand’s redesigned concept by DesignLSM that speaks to its locality.

The Welsh government will drop the obligation to show a Covid pass to get into nightclubs, cinemas and theatres will be dropped from 18 February, and people will be able to go into some public places without a face covering 10 days later.

LEISURE TRAVEL & HOTELS:

France is to drop testing requirements for fully-vaccinated Britons from last Saturday, 12 February. The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice. The move should help the half-term and Easter ski markets. EasyJet has said that this is “amazing news”.

Travel agents report that holiday sales have overtaken pre-pandemic levels in volumes and sales value. Miles Morgan Travel chairman Miles Morgan said his business’ sales last week beat the same week in 2020 ‘by a lot’.

Spanish tourism minister Fernando Valdés has told the BBC that unvaccinated British teenagers will be allowed into Spain from Monday with a negative PCR test. At the moment everyone over 12 has to be double-jabbed to enter the country.

Secret Escapes reports a group net loss of £48.2 million in 2020, up from a loss of £12.8 million in 2019. The luxury travel deals brand said the results reflect the significant impact of Covid-19 on the international and domestic travel industry – but it reported a ‘strong rebound’ when restrictions were eased.

Heathrow reports demand for travel in January  was weaker than expected and more than 56% down versus pre-pandemic levels. More than 1.3 million passengers cancelled or did not book their trips because of Omicron restrictions. The airport handled 2.6 million passengers last month.

Knight Frank’s latest UK Hotel Capital Markets: Investment Review 2022 reports that investment volumes reach an impressive £4 billion in 2021.

OTHER LEISURE:

Amazon and Spotify are both reported to be considering takeover approaches for Audioboom, the London-listed podcasting group. Sky says any approach is ‘likely to be pitched at a significant premium to Friday’s closing share price of £17.60.’

FINANCE & MARKETS:

ONS numbers on Friday had the UK growing by 7.5% in calendar 2021 despite a 0.2% reversal in December. Chancellor Rishi Sunak says the economy was “remarkably resilient”. Whilst the country is 7.5% ‘better off’, it arguably does not feel that way to the people living in it.

Commenting on the UK’s trade figures, which were released on Friday, the BCC says ‘a late 2021 upswing in UK goods trade, particularly in chemicals exports to Ireland, doesn’t hide the significant room for improvement in trade needed if the UK is to make the most of recovery from the depths of the pandemic in 2020.’ It says ‘the UK is trading less with the EU, than it was three years ago. This gap is not currently being made up in terms of trade with the rest of the world.’

Analysts in the US now say there is a 90% chance of a 50bp increase in interest rates there next month. A rise of some 175bps over the year is expected.

Sterling higher at $1.3541 and €1.193. Oil price sharply higher on Ukraine concerns at $95.47. UK 10yr gilt yield up 2bps at 1.53%. World markets down on Friday & London set to open down a further 79pts or so as at 7.10am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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