Barclaycard data, jobs & wages, breweries, strikes, McMullen, D Lloyd etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Further to our comments a couple of weeks ago, which is the more annoying introduction to a cold email?

• I’m excited to let you know…(usually some IT, compliance or marketing tweak that is unlikely to rock your world)

• I’m just reaching out / circling back…(as above but from a thick-skinned, repetitive pest)

• I’m thrilled…(about anything, really. I mean, winning the lottery, maybe. Hull City into Europe, a definite but a new piece of employment legislation? Really?)

But maybe I’m being unfair.

Or maybe I’m so rarely thrilled, excited or delighted about anything these days that I’m just jealous when others can find the above in a bit of coding software or a compliance manual.

And while we’re at it looking for synonyms for ‘delighted’, why not use enraptured, intoxicated or feverish as suitable adjectives? At least they suggest that the person is a fundamentalist drunk, which conjures up some altogether more interesting images.

Anyway, on to the news:

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WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT:

Pay and inflation:

The ONS has released employment and wage data for the three month period to May 2023 saying that pay, including bonuses, was up by 6.9% year on year and pay excluding bonuses was up by 7.3%…

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Unemployment and vacancies:

The ONS reports that ‘the UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.0%, 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous quarter, and has risen to pre-pandemic levels…’

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Brewery numbers:

SIBA’s UK Brewery Trackers reports the net total number of breweries across the country increased by 2 in Q2…

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Trading:

Lumina Intelligence reports that consumer spend growth was up just 1.1% YoY in the 4 weeks to 11 June….

Springboard reports that footfall was down by 14.3% on the same period in 2019 in the week to 8 July this year. It says footfall was ‘virtually flat last week from the week before.’ It says rail disruption and hot weather could have impacted traffic.

Employment:

A report on jobs by REC and KPMG has found that the availability of candidates for new jobs rose in June at the sharpest rate since December 2020, while the number of people placed in permanent jobs by recruitment agencies fell….

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Nonetheless, Stephen Montgomery, chair of the Scottish Hospitality Group, has warned that hospitality businesses may struggle to cope over the summer holiday season due to ongoing labour shortages.

Delivery:

CoStar Group reports that demand for warehouse space is at its lowest in the last 11 years, as consumers shift from shopping online during the pandemic to in-person during the cost of living crisis…

Train strikes:

ASLEF has announced that its train drivers will walk out on London Underground on Weds 26 July and Fri 28 July. This is in addition to strikes called by the RMT union on Sunday 23 July and daily from Tuesday 25 to Friday 28 July.

Other news:

In the US, senator Charles Schumer has called on the FDA to investigate Prime, a beverage brand founded by the YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI, due to its potentially dangerous levels of caffeine….

In the US, a YouGov survey has found that the top 3 ‘most-liked’ beers in 2023 were Guinness, Corona and Heineken, with approval ratings of 58%, 53% and 51% respectively….

COMPANY NEWS:

McMullen & Sons reported revenue up 88% to £101.4m in the 53 weeks ended 1 October 2022, as the Hertfordshire-based brewer and pub operator bounced back from pandemic related disruption. Profit after tax reached £10.8m in the year, up from £6.2m the year prior….

Results also out from Everards, St Austell Brewery, Benugo and Forest Holidays.

The Pub People Group has made several freehold acquisitions and bolstered its management team and board by appointing Andrew Crawford as Managing Director (Sep 22), Sarah Strachan as CFO (Jan 23) and Mark Crowther as non-exec chairman (Oct 22)….

Vapiano has shut its Edinburgh city centre stores five years after opening near Princes Street. A noticed displayed outside the shop reads ‘we’d like to thank everyone who has joined us for our fresh pasta and pizza over the last five years.’

As a result of its takeover by Capdesia, shares in Fulham Shore will be suspended from this morning.

Chopstix is to open two new sites with Haven holiday parks this month. The two new openings at Presthaven, North Wales, and Haggerston Castle, Northumberland, follow the first launch with Haven last year at Craig Tara in Ayrshire.

HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

BR-DGE analysis of ONS data suggests that UK consumers are set to spend £40.9bn on package holidays at home and abroad this year….

EasyJet has cancelled 1,700 flights to and from Gatwick airport this summer, with 95% of affected passengers having been rebooked onto alternative flights.

Aberystwyth Marina  Ltd  entered administration on 30 June just 2 months after parent company The Marine and Property Group Ltd itself entered administration. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on marina occupancy and inflation in 2022 caused cash flow problems and trading performance to decline significantly.

Billing Aquadrome Ltd entered administration on 6 July, with Grant Thornton appointed as administrators. The company’s parent, Royale Life Group, said that the company had been placed in administration as part of a ‘recapitalisation process’, and that the 235-acre leisure park in Northamptonshire will operate as usual.

OTHER LEISURE:

The Daily Mail comments on sports hall operator David Lloyd saying ‘the firm has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to look at its options, including a possible sale, with a price of £2billion upwards being speculated. The process is in the very early stages….

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Threads, the Twitter rival operated by Instagram & Facebook owner Meta, has hit 100 million members in five days…

FINANCE & MARKETS:

For employment data see Pubs & Restaurants above.

Cost of government debt. Last week, the UK government issued a tranche of gilts with the highest coupon, 5.6%, offered this century…

The Telegraph reports that ‘new Brexit tariffs on electric car parts threaten the future of Vauxhall’s huge factory in Luton…’

Inflation. The governor of the Bank of England has said that inflation will fall “markedly” over the rest of the year…

Separately the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will announce plans to merge workplace pension schemes. It is thought this could release up to £75bn of retirement funds for investment in fast-growing startups.

Mortgage lenders are to be questioned by MPs today as the typical rate on a two-year fixed deal is around the same level as it was under Liz Truss…

Sterling mixed (against a weak dollar and stable Euro) at $1.2878 and €1.1685. Oil up at $78.07. UK 10yr gilt yield down 1bp at 4,64%. World markets higher yesterday and London set to open up around 5pts as at 7am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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