Revolution Bars, PPHE Hotels, Flutter, mobility (up), footfall (up) & more:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Travel & meetings a bit difficult today with the Tube not running. And welcome to meteorological spring. Got thoroughly drenched on the way in. Time’s tight so on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Cost of living crisis:

Calculations by Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon, show that sustained elevated prices for oil and gas will heap an additional 1.5 percentage points on to the cost of living, resulting in a 2.2% erosion in Brits’ real disposable income this year. The price rises have been triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and are set to drive inflation beyond the 8% mark.

The RAC said the average price of petrol jumped to £1.51 a litre on Sunday, while diesel increased to £1.55, as prices continue to increase on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said despite oil prices calming, prices at the pump will continue to rise.

The highest train fare rises for nine years have now been introduced in England and Wales. Fares have just risen by 3.8%. This is below inflation. Labour has called the rise ‘brutal’ but, compared to rises in fuel and many other prices, they look somewhat modest. London is suffering through Tube strikes this week. The BBC reports that there is a “high chance” of no Tubes today and, judging by the crowds milling around outside Liverpool Street at just after 6am, that may be the case. The RMT is striking against plans to cut staff numbers in order to save costs. Demand for rail travel is said to be around a third below pre-coronavirus levels.

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Footfall:

The latest CGA and Wireless Social survey of mobility shows that ‘city centres building back from Covid as hospitality sales rise.’ The survey ‘shows the increasing vibrancy of major British cities including Bristol and Manchester, but ongoing challenges in London.’ it says ‘Bristol was the most vibrant of the 10 cities, with eating-out and drinking-out sales in modest growth from pre-COVID levels and check-in numbers improving. Sales were also up in Manchester, lifting the city from ninth place in the last report to second in this one. Glasgow is the third-placed city, while Sheffield moves up four places to fourth.’

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Separately Springboard reports that ‘footfall across UK retail destinations bounced back in overall terms last week from the severe impact of the storms in the previous week… The return of employees to their offices appears to be continuing, with a rise in footfall last week in Central London’. It says ‘the return of employees to their offices appears to be continuing, with a rise in footfall last week in Central London and in Springboard’s Back to the Office benchmark, which tracks activity in areas of Central London that are in close proximity to offices.

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The Welsh Beer and Pub Association says that ‘the brewing and pub sector has been disproportionately impacted throughout the crisis and latest figures from CGA highlight the extent of the recovery challenge. The latest drinks trading figure for pubs in Wales, show trade is still down 26% in the first seven weeks of this year following a fall of 29% in December, compared to usual trade and following the emergence of Omicron and additional restrictions.’

COMPANY & OTHER NEWS:

Revolution Bars Group has reported H1 numbers to 1 January 2022 saying that it has a ‘positive outlook following continued investment in all brands.’ It says that revenues rose to £74.1m from £21.6m in 2021. They were down from the £81.2m recorded in H1 2020. The company says that adjusted EBITDA was £12.2m (2020: loss £1.2m, 2020: £12.8m). The company reports a basic profit per share of 1.9p vs a loss of 15.7p in the prior year.

RBG says that it has seen ‘encouraging trading when restriction free.’ It says that ‘after restrictions were released on 19 July 2021, two weeks into FY22, the Group enjoyed strong trading. Life-for-like sales between then and 13 November 2021 were very strong at +14% ahead of the comparable period in FY20 aided by the return of students, the return of office workers, staycations and investment in our guest propositions.’

RBG reports that ‘despite the disappointing messaging by the Government around Omicron, our bars performed admirably, and our sales teams have worked tirelessly to rebook our corporate guests’ Christmas parties into the next few months; and since “Plan B” restrictions ended, we have seen positive LFL2 sales versus FY20 of 6% in February, notwithstanding some ongoing restricted trading in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, taking the year to date LFL2 sales since Freedom Day on 19 July 2021 to 0.5%.

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Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) has appointed a property consultancy to market its London Fields Brewery site. The Hackney-based brewery is located under railway arches and houses a 15-hectolitre Kasper Schulz brew kit. Gerald Eve is to market the brewery, which is situated under Hackney’s railway arches  the brewery was closed four years after Carlsberg bought it.

Be At One’s Shake Off Showdown competition for bartenders will return for 2022. Each submission must take no more than 60 seconds to create, be served in the bar’s premium glassware, and contain the brand’s curated selection of spirits and mixers.

KAM Media has ranked Manchester brewery JW Lees as No.1 out of 20 leading UK pub companies in its Licensee Index. For the third consecutive time, the survey found that JW Lees scored highest; with their Pub Partners very satisfied with the quality and depth of support received. William Lees-Jones, Managing Director of JW Lees, said, ‘The Licensee Index has given JW Lees an essential benchmark in terms of how we support our Pub Partners better.  We have been challenged in terms of our own assumptions about what is important and, as with everything in life, what gets measured gets done.  We’re delighted that we’ve been top for the third time and that the continued efforts of the team have improved the service and support received by our Pub Partners.’

Deliveroo has opened its first physical restaurant, a neighbourhood pizzeria in Swiss Cottage called in London, Pizza Paradiso. Deliveroo tells the WSJ that it wants to ‘understand restaurants’ pain points with the aim of solving them…and to do this by having a deep understanding of restaurant owners’ mind-set.’

Mission Mars will open a new Liverpool site, located on Bold Street. The company currently operates restaurants on the city’s Castle Street and Bold Street.

LEISURE TRAVEL & HOTELS:

PPHE Hotels has reported full year numbers saying it is ‘well positioned for long-term growth, underpinned by attractive pipeline. It says it is seeing ‘strong customer demand and [is making] operational progress.’ CEO Boris Ivesha, President and Chief Executive Officer PPHE Hotel Group comments ‘we are very pleased to have delivered strong progress against our long-term strategy during what has been a year of continued challenging trading conditions. In the year, our financial performance and position have improved, we have expanded into the new markets of Austria and Italy, and have made excellent progress with the projects in our development pipeline.’

Russia has banned airlines from 36 countries from using its airspace in a response to Western sanctions. On Sunday, Europe shut its skies to Russian owned or controlled planes.

The latest ASAP/Savills sentiment survey for February 2022 shows that eight out of ten (80.8%) respondents expect serviced apartments occupancy to recover fully by the end of 2022. Over half (57.7%) are already reporting occupancy at pre-Covid (2019) levels.

TUI’s largest shareholder.

TUI, the world’s leading tour operator, currently lists Alexey Mordashov as its largest shareholder, with some 34% of the company’s votes. Mr Mordashov is a reportedly-Vladimir Putin backing Russian oligarch, who owns the shares through a Cyprus-based company. The oligarch has been a member of TUI’s supervisory board, sitting on its strategy, nomination, and presiding committees since 2016.

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Pragma consulting comments on transport hubs, saying that there are a number of features that differentiate them from shopping centres found elsewhere. It says the hubs need to be ‘’convenient, accessible, and relevant.’ This is certainly the case because, unless there are delays, dwell times will be limited. Channelling footfall is particularly important and the captive customers will not be the same as those found in more general shopping areas.

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OTHER LEISURE:

Flutter reports full year numbers saying that group revenue rose by 37% to £6.04bn with group EBITDA down 6% at £723m. The company is reporting a loss before tax of £288m versus a profit last year of £1m. It says that Q4 was ‘challenging’.

Neil Diamond has become the latest musician to sell his catalogue to a major music company for an undisclosed sum. The buyer is UMG.

Warner Bros, Disney and Sony have said that they will not release new films in Russian cinemas, after the invasion of Ukraine.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Sterling up at $1.3416 and €1.1981. Oil price lower at $99.61. UK 10yr gilt yield down 5bps at 1.44%. World markets mostly lower yesterday. London set to open down around 23 points as at 7am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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