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A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Youngest is doing A-level mocks this week and quite stressful it is too.

But, as she’s the fifth next-gen Brumby to run this course, it made me consider just how many GCSEs and A-levels, mocks and actual exams, added to university exams, year ones and finals alongside Masters’ exams, professional business exams, Registered Reps papers, CFA exams and Chartered Accountancy papers, I’ve had to vicariously ‘sit through’.

And the total, each one a big deal when it was actually taking place, is somewhere between 220 and 250 and we haven’t finished yet.

So there’s no wonder my hair turned grey. And then started falling out altogether but that’s enough of that, let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Accountancy firm Price Bailey has reported that restaurant closures reached the highest quarterly figure in a decade in Q1 this year…

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The consumer:

Generation Rent says that the average time it takes to save for a home deposit in England has risen to almost 10 years…

Putting cash into consumers’ pockets – bank bosses are being told to increase savings rates. Though welcome, this would be meaningful for a relatively limited number of consumers.

And taking it out again – much more material is the fact that a typical five-year fixed mortgage deal now has an interest rate of more than 6%….

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Inflation:

Sainsbury yesterday suggested that the rate of food price inflation is starting to fall. It isn’t forecasting absolute price reductions but just a slackening in the rate of growth…

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WFH:

This has slipped from the headlines but it’s still a thing. CoStar reports that around 105 million sq ft of office space is vacant nationwide, up 68 per cent on the pre-pandemic level with more capacity coming on every month…

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Other news:

In the USA, restaurant sales growth picked up in May, largely as a result of increased prices…

New Zealand’s wine exports rose in value by 25% in the year to May 2023.

COMPANY NEWS:

Oakman CEO Peter Borg Neal has told the MCA’s Pub Conference that ‘a ten-pound pint will come – the sooner the better as far as I’m concerned….’

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Naked Wines yesterday mid-morning released a profits warning for the year just started, news that its figures (expected on 6 July would be delayed) and said that its chairman, David Stead, would step down and leave the company…

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Danish coffee firm Joe & the Juice has reported record 2022 revenues with sales up 49% in the 12 months ended 31 December 2022 to reach DKK 1.7bn ($247.6m). Operating profit reached DKK 277m ($40m) in 2022….

Krispy Kreme U.K. Ltd has reported its FY numbers for the period ended 1 January 2023 to Companies House. The company is a specialty retailer and wholesaler of doughnuts. Turnover increased in the year as Q1 lapped lockdown comparatives. Adjusted EBITDA fell Year-on-Year (YoY) as cost pressures increased and one-off benefits from 2021 fell out….

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Unilever has defended its decision to keep operating in Russia saying to leave the country was “not straightforward.”

The new owners of The Black Sheep Brewing Company have closed three pubs that it deems uneconomic. The units are in York and Leeds.

Commenting on the sale of its tenanted pub division comprising 27 pubs, Cameron’s Brewery CEO Chris Soley says the sale ‘provides a strong platform for us to focus on investment for growth within both our brewing facility and managed pub estate….’

Founder of plant-based group VBites and former Mrs Paul McCartney Heather Mills, has acquired the assets of Plant & Bean out of administration….

Diageo-owned Guinness has announced a €25m investment in a new facility at St. James’s Gate in Dublin, Ireland, for its non-alcoholic stout….

The Estate Tea Company plans to open a unique day-into-night venue at its Heaton based headquarters in Newcastle….

The MCA reports that better kebab brand Döner plans to reach a global estate of 50 sites in the next two years….

Caravan is to open what will be its largest restaurant later this year in London’s Covent Garden. The site will be in the Grainhouse on Drury Lane.

HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

The Times reports that bidding on the planned £4 billion sale of Center Parcs has not lived up to expectations and says the sale is ‘hanging in the balance after a number of prospective bidders dropped out of the race amid a sharp downturn in private equity dealmaking….’

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The Labour-led Government in Wales plan to increase council tax on second homes by up to 300% from April this year has reportedly backfired….

OTHER LEISURE:

Meta is launching its Twitter rival, Threads, on Thursday….

City AM has put itself up for sale after the pandemic left it with £1.2m in debt at the end of the pandemic….

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Sterling higher at $1.2704 and €1.1679. Oil price up at $75.82. UK 10yr gilt yield down 6bps at 4.42% having earlier hit 15yr highs yesterday. Markets mixed yesterday & London set to open down around 4pts as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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