Inflation, London trading, Rekom, St Austell, Carnival, Meta & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I was thinking the other day about the many and varied ways there are of saying that you’re bugging or pestering someone.

For instance, you can be ‘just reaching out’ to them.

They may not know you or care to know you. But you may still be enquiring by email as to whether someone’s a) moving offices, b) in need of a life-enhancing spiritual adviser for their staff, c) absolutely beside themselves with the desire to appoint a data-mining, advertising optimising or IT consultant or d) just to see if they are on the verge of changing their broadband supplier.

But what you are really doing is simply bugging the person on the other end of your missive. And, if you’re ‘just circling back’ on any of the above, then you’re pestering them for a second time and simply didn’t make the ‘unsubscribe’ button obvious enough to prevent this from happening.

And if someone is ‘circling back’ after ‘reaching out’ to help you ‘drill down’ to your ‘core needs’ in order to ‘curate’ them and take a ‘holistic view’ of how you can grasp the ‘low hanging fruit’ that abound in Central London, then they’re clearly beyond hope.

Anyway, just another of life’s little irritants. Rather less news than normal but let’s move on to what there is of it:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Inflation:

The BRC and Nielsen have suggests that food inflation in the UK slowed in June, but remains high at 14.6% in the year to June (down from 15.4% in the year to May)…

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The ONS reported last week that the price of a pint of draught lager rose by 11% in the year to May 2023. It says the figure is up between May 2022 and May this year, from £4.09 to £4.56.

Central London hospitality:

CGA reports that ‘Central London’s hospitality sector is recovering after suffering hundreds of closures of licensed premises during the turmoil of COVID-19.’ It adds ‘central London saw a net decline of 540 licensed premises in the three years between March 2020 and March 2023—15.6% of the city’s pre-COVID total and equivalent to one closure every two days….’

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Footfall & retail spend:

Springboard reports that footfall in shopping centres was up 4.8% YoY in the week ended 24 June….

The CBI Distributive Trends Survey shows that retail sales volumes declined by 9% in the year to June but are expected to be unchanged next month (0%)….

Salary levels, consumer incomes:

Sky News reports that the Prime Minister has hinted he will ignore recommendations for public sector pay rises in an attempt to tackle soaring inflation in the country…

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Other news:

Commenting on the proposed visitor levy in Scotland, UK Hospitality Scotland Executive Director Leon Thompson comments ‘the introduction of the visitor levy represents yet more red-tape being forced upon hospitality, at a time when businesses are under pressure across the board from increasing regulation and rising costs….’

COMPANY NEWS:

Rekom UK Chairman Peter Marks has admitted when speaking at MCA’s Pub Conference last week that reaching the company’s target of 200 sites ‘might take a little longer than we thought’…

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St Austell Brewery reports revenue up 34% YoY to £209.2m, representing a 10% increase on pre-pandemic levels….

Shake Shack operator Diverse Dining reports revenue of £44.2m in the year to 31 December 2022, up from £34.8m the year prior. Gross profit was up from £24.3m in 2021 to £29.9m but its loss for the year increased from £2.5m to £4.6m.

Inception Group has taken a site in Borough’s Stoney Street, with the company saying it has ‘exciting plans for a very original bar concept in this world famous destination.’

The MCA reports that self-order kiosks are to be introduced into Subways later this year, with the company focusing on digital enhancements to its offer….

HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Carnival Corporation yesterday reported Q2 numbers. Although the group broke a number of records (positively), its shares fell by 12% on the news…

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OTHER LEISURE:

Netflix has begun its crackdown on UK password sharing…

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Facebook owner Meta is to launch a virtual reality subscription service that will allow users access to two new games a month…

FINANCE & MARKETS:

The CEBR says that the UK housing market could be a ‘ticking time bomb’ as house prices slow amid mortgage mayhem.

Friday’s UK flash PMIs came in below estimates (as they did in Europe)…

Sterling slightly weaker at $1.273 and €1.1648. Oil price up at $74.59. UK 10yr gilt yield down 2bps at 4.29%.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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