Langton Capital – 2022-12-12 – Covid, football and footfall, drinks, cash, strikes, labour, flight delays etc.:
Covid, football and footfall, drinks, cash, strikes, labour, flight delays etc.:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Weekend over. Have put the tree up, done the shopping, some decorations strewn around the house and, ah yes, there was some football, the main features being a Hull City thrashing of Watford, nil-nil and England came second in a match vs France. That’s left us a little drained so, as we start the Monday slog towards Friday, let’s move on to the news: LANGTON EMAIL: The Free Email is now written in short form. Extended versions of many stories (after the ellipses) are in the Premium Email. Reply to this email if you would like to upgrade. Prices for the Premium at time of writing are £345 for one subscription, £595 for multiple, both plus VAT. Or sign up for easy in, easy out monthly option HERE https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Footfall (not football): CGA and Wireless Social have updated on their stats re the UK’s Top Ten Cities, saying that eight of them are now ahead of pre-Covid levels of trading with London once again att he bottom of the rankings. The numbers are not adjusted to take account of inflation. CGA says ‘pubs, restaurants and bars have made a good start to the festive season in Britain’s major cities—but high inflation and rail strikes continue to make trading conditions very challenging…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Springboard comments on November footfall across retail as a whole, saying ‘November was undoubtedly saved by Black Friday in terms of footfall in UK retail destinations. Black Friday occurred in the last week of the month, with footfall rising in that week from the week before particularly in shopping centres which aligned with Springboard’s Black Friday forecast, and also demonstrates that the day is now a firm fix in the annual retail calendar. Sales: CGA has also produced its Drinks Recovery Tracker, saying that the World Cup is ‘firing drinks sales but rail strikes threaten festive footfall.’ It says ‘last week’s [week to 3 Dec] drinks sales in the On Premise were up by 8% on 2021 as the football World Cup continued to boost pubs and bars… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Use of cash: The BRC has updated on the use of cash in the UK and the stats here are pretty stark. The BRC reports that cash now is ‘accounting for just 15% of all transactions in 2021.’ It adds that ‘90% of retail spending, and 82% of transactions, used debit or credit card…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. World Cup: With England now out of the competition, the boost to trading will moderate. The BBPA commented ahead of the England France quarter final, saying that it should have been able to boost beer consumption in the on-trade by around six million pints. This should have taken beer consumption for the day in total to some 28m pints… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. David Lee of Insight & Solutions reports that ‘Saturday 10.12.22, saw the busiest sales day of the year and the busiest sales day of the last 3 years.’ This on the back of England’s Quarter Final match with France. Insight & Solutions says that ‘against pre World Cup 4 week Saturday average the sales uplift was +45% on the day…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Train strikes: The RMT warns that strikes could continue ‘indefinitely’ unless ministers back down on key demands. These demands include ministers reneging on calls to remove guards from trains, and for the train network to be a driver-only operation (DOO). Tipjar reports that hospitality workers could lose as much as £15m in tips due to the December train strikes, with it being ‘Arguably the busiest week of the year for the industry, and the first year since Covid with no restrictions’. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, boss of the City Pub Company Clive Watson has said that this weeks’ rail strikes are ‘mean-spirited’. He said the walkouts could be the ‘end of the road’ for businesses still struggling in the wake of the pandemic. Watson says ‘a strike day can hit business by 20 per cent or more. But when strikes are back-to-back and there’s disruption throughout the week, it can be more significant.’ Cost of living squeeze: Zoopla reports that the cost of a new rental agreement rose 12.1% in the 12 months to October, compared to 6% annual growth in earnings in the three months through September. Renters who stay in the same property faced gentler price hikes, with an average rise of 3.8% over the year, Zoopla said. The BBC runs a piece saying that the sale of second hand tech items is booming. It says this is against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis with accountants PWC saying that 86% of UK adults are concerned about affording the necessities of day-to-day life and Accenture adding that 70% of UK adults are planning to spend less this festive period. LABOUR ISSUES: Backdrop: • Over the past few months the challenges of the current macro environment have been well documented. Operators are facing high inflation, high interest rates and a growing cost of living crisis. Some of these external headwinds can be hard to mitigate, such as the price of energy, but others can be met and mitigated with business optimisation and innovation. Labour: • One such area is labour. • Tech can help but, in a service industry, operators need staff. • Companies can use the current challenging labour environment to spur optimisation of recruitment and retention strategies by partnering with businesses that are innovating in this area. Where we are: • Mitigation, innovation, solutions • Langton is currently working with one such business that aims to optimise recruitment systems by working alongside the HR component of its clients. • Its strategies help attract talent from lesser-tapped social media, increasing exposure to the new generations as the way younger people look for work opportunities continues to evolve. • Business testimonials have been very positive. • To find out more and/or for an introduction, please contact Langton by REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL. COMPANY NEWS: PizzaExpress MD Zoe Bowley has said that its delivery offer has made up for a significant drop in trade caused by the timing of England’s World Cup games… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Fever-Tree has announced the appointment of Domenic De Lorenzo, a Non-Executive Director of the Board since May 2018, as Non-Executive Chair of the Board, to take effect on completion of the Company’s AGM in May 2023. The company says ‘Domenic will work closely with Bill Ronald during a handover period before assuming the role of Chair.’ The Telegraph reports that ‘upmarket bakery Gail’s runs out of eggs.’ It says that the chain, which is chaired by former Patisserie Valerie chief Luke Johnson, ‘has been forced to remove soufflés and quiches from its menu because of egg shortages.’ It reports that JDW has also taken eggs off its menu. Gail’s is now majority-owned by Bain Capital. Wadworth Brewery plans to expand into craft beer after investing between £7m and £10m in a new brewery to be in operation by Spring 2023. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: HM Passport Office has been told by a government spending watchdog to ‘learn the lessons’ from this year as similar levels of demand are again expected in 2023. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Soldiers are being drafted in to check passports at some of the airports affected by Border Force strikes, with around 100 troops being sent to Heathrow and Gatwick. Ice, snow and fog have been causing flight delays and cancellations with all flights currently suspended at Stansted Airport. Stansted said yesterday that its only runway was closed to allow for snow clearance and it has not yet reopened… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The 16th annual Post Office Ski Resort Report, produced with Crystal Ski Holidays, has suggested that ski holiday bookings for this winter are running ahead of pre-Covid levels despite the weaker pound and higher resort costs. Bulgaria has the cheapest resorts whilst Switzerland remains the most expensive country in which to ski. Carnival Cruises announced on Friday that the first six cruises that it had booked on its new Carnival Jubilee will have to be cancelled. The company says that ‘because of shipyard delays, delivery of the ship has been postponed and the first cruise will now be the Dec. 23, 2023 embarkation from Galveston, Tex.’ STR reports that demand for hotel rooms in the US picked up again after the week of Thanksgiving. It says that weekly demand growth of 10% was below its expectations. Ardian has sold its stake in European OTA eDreams Odigeo (eDO), placing its 15.6% shareholding with institutional investors. The value of the stake was undisclosed but eDreams said it welcomed ‘strong investor support’ with the sale of Ardian’s stake. Travel Weekly reports that bosses believe there will not be a repeat of the price war of 2022 in the cruise industry… FINANCE & MARKETS: Very busy week for stats this week as the various bodies look to clear the decks for Christmas. Three central banks updating on interest rates and a hatful of other numbers. • Tuesday – UK labour market and wage data. • Wednesday – UK inflation data & the Fed in the US on interest rates. • Thursday – Bank of England & the ECB both updating on interest rates. • Friday – GfK on consumer confidence in the UK & ONS data on retail sales and public borrowing. Rightmove reports that asking prices for UK houses fell by an average of 2.1% in December vs November. Prices are up 5.6% this year as a whole. Sterling mixed at $1.2226 and €1.1625. Oil lower at $76.52. UK 10yr gilt yield up 9bps at 3.19%. World markets broadly lower on Friday with London set to open down some 21pts as at 6.30am. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. |
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