Whitbread, cost of living, inflation, SSP, Thwaites, Amazon & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I think that there should be a competition launched to find the worst-designed carpark in the country and my goodness, it would be a competitive field.

Because there are no end of supermarket carparks out there that either feature spaces too small to park in or slopes that would have your unattended trolley skittering off into the distance and bouncing off assorted high-end automobiles.

And they may have kerbs that are impossible to traverse upwards with a trolley and, though aided by gravity, they will work when you’re going down them – this will only be at the expense of broken eggs, exploding fizzy drink bottles and other sundry broken glass.

But York train station would take some beating.

Car drivers have to get past no end of bus-stops and then push through exiting taxis before passing through an arch, wide enough only for one car, which leads to a thin parking area that is no more than a fat, dead-ended street.

Of course, it works when nobody’s there. But that’s not really the point of a carpark, is it and, if anyone turns up and you’ve been foolish enough to park nose first, you may never get out, you could grow old there, spend the rest of your life serenaded by ‘The Train on Platform Five…’ announcements.

Anyway, enough of that. On to the news:

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WHITBREAD – Q1 TRADING UPDATE:

Headline numbers: Whitbread reports that ‘Premier Inn UK delivered an outstanding performance during the first quarter.’ It says UK total UK accommodation sales were up 18% vs FY23 and UK LFL accommodation sales up 16% vs FY23 with strong demand from both business and leisure guests across the Regions and London. UK REVPAR was up 16% and +40% vs FY20. The group says F&B sales were +10% vs last year. Sales ‘benefited from several commercial initiatives put in place during the second half of FY23.’ In Germany, WTB says the company ‘also made good progress’. It says that its 18 more established hotels saw REVPAR of €63 (Q1 FY23: €44). WTB says the entire German estate generated REVPAR of €55 (Q1 FY23: €35) 

Current trading & Outlook: WTB says ‘the strength of our overall performance and forward booked position has increased our confidence in being able to deliver a strong first half result in FY24.’ It…

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Cost of living crisis:

Mortgages. The IFS claims that 1.4 million mortgage holders could  see their disposable incomes fall by more than 20% as monthly payments are set to increase by £280 on average. The think tank said people aged between 30 and 39 would typically pay about £360 more….

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Inflation:

See also yesterday’s email. Just how bad yesterday’s inflation number was (on the back of a bad number the month before) took a little while to sink in yesterday. Core inflation is rising and the UK is looking like more of an outlier in global terms.

CEO of the BBPA Emma McClarkin tweets it is ‘disappointing to hear today’s news of inflation staying damagingly high….’

Consumer behaviour.

Lumina Intelligence reports that ‘in response to the fiscal pressure, consumer behaviour has shifted towards value-led decision making with 78% of consumers stating this, a significant shift since 2022…’

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Other news:

Business costs. UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has challenged the government to tackle high costs of doing business ‘with urgency…’

Food costs. Researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) have found that Brexit changes could have accounted for over a quarter of the rise in food bills we’ve seen since the end of 2019. By contrast, the cost savings in new trade deals agreed since then have been minimal.

Jobs website Adzuna has said that university leavers this summer will face the worst jobs market for seven years…

The Federation Francaise des Spiritueux (FFS) reports that French spirits exports fell 20% in Q1 as a squeeze on disposable incomes led consumers around the globe to shift away from premium alcohol. FFS said ‘This market no longer seems able to relay international growth’.

Boxhall, a concept from Boxpark, is set to open on London’s Liverpool Street next summer, featuring  food and drink from independent food traders and restaurant operators, as well as a bar offering featuring draught, craft beers and cocktails.

COMPANY NEWS:

SSP Group plc yesterday lunchtime updated on strategy in a statement made to coincide with a presentation it was hosting in New York. The company reported that ‘for the first ten weeks of the second half of FY2023, revenue was 110% of 2019 levels….’

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Daniel Thwaites yesterday reported full year numbers for the year to end-March 2023 saying that revenue rose to £108.8m from £96.0m and PBT rose to £15.1m from £12.7m. EPS rose to 21.9p from 20.6p…

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In conversation with The Morning Advertiser, Nightcap CEO Sarah Willingham says here advisors told her she was ‘absolutely insane’ to start the business. She says the company features ‘really quick, fast growth, but chaos.’

US authorities have accused Amazon of misleading customers into signing up for auto-renewal on their Amazon Prime subscriptions…

Slim Chickens is set to open in Trinity Leeds in July, in the site of the former Carluccio’s.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

House of Gods hotel in Glassford Street, Glasgow has gained an alcohol licence as it plans to open as soon as August. House of Gods currently operates a site in Edinburgh, offering ‘a luxury experience’ to guests.

Distressed company Esken, whose shares have fallen over 250p to little more than 2p in the last five years and are down by more than 70% in the last year alone, has put Southend Airport up for sale….

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FINANCE & MARKETS:

The Bank of England’s MPC will update on monetary policy at 12.00. Langton tweeted yesterday…

The CBI has reported that manufacturing output in the UK fell in June for the fifth month running…

Brexiteer Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has said that selling goods abroad “isn’t too tough”. She says ‘there are many resources that are out there that can help….

The ONS yesterday reported that Britain’s public sector net debt rose above 100% of gross domestic product in May for the first time since 1961….

Sterling weaker despite likely rate rises at $1.2761 and €1.161. Oil up at $76.70. UK 10yr gilt yield up 8bps at 4.40%. World markets lower yesterday & London set to open down around 57 points as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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