Mobility, costs, confidence, Covid, SBUX, holidays, 888, Entain etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Anyone else being plagued by deer out there?

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On to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Inflation:

Lower supplies may lead to higher imports and food prices.

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It’s beginning to look as though inflation is somewhat entrenched when The Telegraph is producing online tools for employees to work out how much of a pay-rise they need to demand in order to stand still.

City AM opines that the above inflation will lead the Bank of England to ‘hike interest rates at the quickest pace since 1988 this year as it scrambles to douse down rampant inflation.’

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Cost of living crisis:

Consumers trading down. Our thanks to Nick Bubb for pointing out that Mike Watkins of Nielsen said that “As we leave behind the pandemic, it`s clear that shoppers are re-evaluating what they spend. Whilst some of the changes in grocery spend will be due to consumers simply having a different basket mix compared with last year, our data also shows that consumers are now increasingly shopping for private label products as part of their coping strategy”.

KAM Media research study: The Return of the Pub.

KAM has produced research in partnership with the BII suggesting that ‘pub customer confidence is firmly back at pre-pandemic levels and that pubs are now more important than ever to Brits with 56% of pub-goers saying they will visit the pub at least once week over the next 12 months.’

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Covid, down but not out:

Deaths are rising. The hope is they will plateau and fall. Imperial College London’s latest React-1 study found that Covid infections were rising in over-55s, with no clear sign of when they will peak.

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Other news:

The British Institute of Innkeeping has launched additional support for members with BII Accredited Advisors – Accountants, Charted Surveyors and Solicitors.

The MCA reports that the mandatory requirement to display calorie information has been branded as ‘totally unnecessary’ by Patrick Dardis, CEO of Young’s. Peter Borg-Neal, Chairman of Oakman Group, said it would merely make the experience of eating out ‘less fun’ and drive further costs for business.

COMPANY NEWS:

MCA reports that multi-cuisine kitchen and grocery store concept, Neyba, has launched a £15m Series A funding round. The business is targeting 14 sites across London over the next year and  aims to ‘revolutionise the future of food consumption’ by offering a venue where some of the country’s best chefs create a collaborative menu.

Amazon’s planned internal employee messaging app could ban words such as ‘union’, ‘living wage’, ‘slave labour’, ‘restrooms’ and ‘pay rise’. Amazon spokeswoman Barbara Agrait told Fortune in a statement that ‘This particular program has not been approved yet and may change significantly or even never launch at all’.

Cains Brewery Village in Liverpool is once again home to brewing amidst a host of other leisure venues.

Moody’s reports that Starbucks Corp’s suspension of its share repurchases ‘to invest more heavily in its employees and its store base’ is credit positive. It says this is ‘because it will help Starbucks to shore up its employee base at a time when the restaurant industry is under pressure to retain staff with incentives and better work conditions.’

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HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Rising demand is exposing shortcomings in air travel:

ACI Europe reports that the level of travellers across the European airport network was down by 39% during February, an improvement from 45.7% down in January compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels. However, airports are beginning to feel the strain of staff shortages ahead of the Easter and summer travel peaks. British Airways has cancelled 78 flights scheduled at Heathrow Airport yesterday, four of them due to continued high levels of staff absence.

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Bristol airport is calling on passengers to get to the airport earlier than they would have previously done in order to cater for potential delays. Easter may be the busiest period in two and a half years.

The Times doesn’t do much to raise the gloom when it says that ‘those planning an Easter getaway are facing the prospect of a frustrating, and likely more expensive, journey than they were hoping for.’ It goes on to outline problems with airlines, airports. ferries and on the roads. It says that

Other travel news:

Uber is set to allow users to book airlines, trains and hotels, with inter-city rail and coaches being available to book through Uber in the summer. Uber northern and eastern Europe general manager Jamie Heywood said the changes would turn Uber into a ‘one-stop shop for all your travel needs’.

The Caterer reports that The Park Inn by Radisson Glasgow City Centre has closed and fallen into administration, with all 14 staff made redundant. The administration of both businesses was caused by unsustainable cash flow problems stemming from poor trading and low occupancy levels during the pandemic.

Apex Hotels reports a pre-tax loss of £16.4m for the year to 30 April 2021, down from a £7m profit the prior year. Operations and cashflow were significantly impacted by government and international travel restrictions, coupled with the move to working from home affecting business travel. CEO Angela Vickers said ‘we are in an excellent position to grow revenue once again and we are confident in our ability to drive long-term, sustainable growth as we near the end of the pandemic.’

OTHER LEISURE:

888 Holdings has updated on its purchase of Wm Hill and has announced a fund raise.

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Entain has updated on trading for Q1 to 31 March 2022 saying that it has made a ‘strong start to the year with Group NGR up 31%.’ It says ‘online net gaming revenue [is] down 8%…in line with expectations versus strong 2021 comparators.’

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FINANCE & MARKETS:

The Daily Mail reports that ‘approval ratings for Rishi Sunak have plummeted since he delivered his Spring Statement a fortnight ago.’

Markit has reported strong construction numbers for the UK saying that ‘March data pointed to a continued rise in UK construction output, helped by the fastest increase in new work for seven months.’ The number rose to 59.1, unchanged in March from February.

Sterling mixed at $1.3082 and €1.1982. Oil price down at $102.38. UK 10yr gilt yield up 6bps at 1.73%. World markets down yesterday and London set to open down around 8pts as at 6.45am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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