Section Title

Amber Taverns, ART, C Parcs, TUI, train strikes, insolvencies etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Well, I got the grass cut yesterday and, not that I want to wish the summer away, I won’t be sorry if that’s the last time before April next year.

Because being bumped and shaken for two hours isn’t much of a way to spend a Sunday and, as the thing’s too noisy to listen to podcasts or anything else for that matter, it’s boring into the bargain.

And it’s chucking it down up here at the moment but anyway, enough of that.

It’s the beginning of another scintillating week in the world of leisure so, without further ado, 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 are £395 for one subscription, £695 for multiple, £995 for very large subscribers, all plus VAT. Or sign up for easy in, easy out monthly option per subscriber HERE

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN

PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Pavement licenses:

The City of London Corporation has agreed to extend pavement licences to hospitality businesses, up to September 2024. There are currently 176 live licences, all of which are expected to reapply using the extended provisions….

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.

Selling prices:

The MCA reports that prices at QSR restaurants have increased significantly since 2020, with the price of a McDonald’s Big Mac up 64%, a Subway Italian BMT up 61% and a  fish finger wrap up 51% at Leon….

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.

Trading:

CGA has updated on weekly drink sales saying that these leapt 16% due to the good weather. CGA says ‘Britain’s early-September heatwave helped Britain’s On Premise to double-digit drinks sales growth last week.’ It says overall drink sales were 16% ahead of the same period in 2022 ‘as consumers flocked to pub gardens and terraces’….

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.

DesignMyNight’s city survey has suggested that a half of Millennials in the UK say that drinking and dining out are ‘essential spend’. It adds that 46% of people of all ages would happy to spend up to £60 on a meal and says that 83% of respondents have changed their spending habits due to the cost of living crisis….

The consumer:

A KAM survey shows that 34% of people say they are planning to spend less this year in pubs and restaurants over the festive period this year, with around 49% saying they will visit a pub or bar or restaurant over the period. Over 39% of people said they will definitely be visiting a hospitality venue with 12 or more people.

Insolvencies:

The Insolvency Service has published its monthly numbers for July. This has been running on a monthly basis since Covid impacted in Q1 2020 and is intended to give an almost-real-time signal as to how the economy is performing. In August 2023, there was a total of 2,308 registered company insolvencies across England and Wales, 112 in Scotland and 12 in Northern Ireland….

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.

Train strikes:

The Aslef union said its members at 16 train companies in England would walk out on 30 September and 4 October. In addition, an overtime ban for drivers will take place on 29 September and for five days from 2 to 6 October.

Other news:

National Pubwatch (NPW) has launched its latest range of free information films to help licensees and pubwatches, including several short films offering free advice and help on a range of challenging issues such as whether Pubwatch membership should be a condition of a licence to how to promote The Ask for Angela initiative.

Demographics: Estate agent Hamptons has reported that rising interest rates have kept would-be buyers out of the property-owning marked and have forced up rents. It says residential rents across Britain are rising at their fastest on record and are up around 12% on this time last year….

COMPANY NEWS:

The MCA reports that Amber Taverns is open to new equity investment, with the group open to acquiring packages of pubs should the right opportunities arise.  CEO James Baer said ‘The key for us, is obviously there has to be a plan, and we would like to grow by 12, 14, 16, 18 pubs a year – but the most important thing is to get the right pubs….’

The Artisanal Spirits Company, which curates a number of single-cask and limited-edition whiskies and owns The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, has reported H1 numbers to end June saying that revenue rose 3% to £10.2m ‘with growth momentum gained in Q2-23, delivering +7% growth following a relatively flat Q1.’

The company reports ‘SMWS membership growth of 9% vs H1-22, with double digit growth in Europe, US, Japan and Franchises.’ It says ‘China also returned to membership growth through Q2, with membership up +8% vs H1-22.’ The company reports an adjusted EBITDA a loss of £1.8m against a prior year EBITDA loss of £0.3m. The group reports a loss before tax of £3.5m against a loss last year of £1.4m….

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.

Meal-kit delivery service Gousto cut 100 jobs at the end of last year, as the company falls short of its 2020 target of creating 1,000 new jobs by the end of 2022.

Heineken plans to build a new €430m brewery in Mexico’s Yucatan state, creating 2,000 jobs. A spokesperson for Heineken said the new brewery will also ‘operate with minimal waste and utilise renewable energy sources through advanced processes, equipment, and technology’.

MadaLuxe Spirits, a MadaLuxe Group Company, has acquired a majority of the UK-founded Tequila Enemigo brand. MadaLuxe Spirits is North America’s leading luxury distributor.

Marks & Spencer is rolling out paper bags in all of its stores in a bid to cut plastics use. Supermarkets Morrisons, Waitrose and Aldi all use paper bags for customers, though some stores offer plastic bags as an option.

HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Sky reports that the owner of Center Parcs’ operations in Britain, Brookfield Property Partners, is in talks with some of its own investors about the sale of a stake in the holiday resorts chain. It quotes a City source as saying the talks are understood to be at a preliminary stage, and may not lead to a deal.

TUI is to open its first hotels in China. The group plans six units as a part of a pipeline of 23 new hotels across four continents.

Eurocontrol has reported that the number of flights across European airspace was at 93% of pre-Covid 2019 levels in the first 12 days of September.

Gatwick Airport  had to cancel flights on Thursday  due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. The National Air Traffic Services (Nats) apologised for its staffing shortages….

EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said the lack of staff had ‘plagued the industry and repeatedly let down customers all summer…Immediate action must be taken to fix the staffing shortages now while a more wide-ranging review examines broader issues to ensure Nats delivers robust services to passengers now and in the future.’

OTHER LEISURE:

Apple is to modify its iPhone 12 in France after radiation concerns were raised in that country. The phones will remain unchanged in other territories.

TikTok has been fined €345m by  Ireland’s data watchdog following an investigation into how the social media platform processed children’s data. The DPC ruling described how child users progressed through the sign-up to the TikTok platform in such a manner that their accounts were set to public by default.

Everton Football Club owner  Farhad Moshiri has agreed to sell his 94% stake to American investment fund 777 Partners. The takeover would mean half of the 20 top-flight clubs are now American-owned.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Public confidence in Andrew Bailey’s Bank of England is reported to have fallen to a record low as questions have been asked over its forecasting and handling of the economy….

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.

Rightmove reports that over a third of homes currently for sale have had at least one price cut whilst on the market. This is the highest proportion recorded in more than a decade. The size of the reduction, averaging 6.2%, is also the largest since January 2011.

Sterling weaker at $$1.2392 and €1.1615. Oil unchanged at $94.47. UK 10yr gilt yield up 8bps at 4.36%. World markets broadly better on Friday but Far East mixed in Monday trade. London set to open around 17pts lower.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out.