Services sector, delivery, income levels, JDW, Entain & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I can’t help thinking sometimes that tech makes us lazy.

I mean Satnavs killed the map before being extinguished themselves by Google Maps, pelican crossings have replaced many zebra crossings and spell-checkers make even the least able correspondents vaguely readable.

And, re the latter, I have to put my hands up.

Practise, license, stationery and those other tricky words correct themselves and, whilst in former times I might have learned how to spell manouevre and boeuf bourgignon, now I can leave it to the spell-checker – or at least the squiggly red line – to tell me if I’ve made a mistake.

And here’s a test for you.

Of the three, Franco-centric words above, M, B and B, only one is spelled correctly. Which one and how do you spell the others?

Anyway, celebrating Hull City’s elevation to only 6th bottom in the Championship, 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:

Services sector:

S&P has updated on its Purchasing Managers’ Index for the UK’s service sector saying that the ‘data indicated that the sector eked out another slight rise in output levels. New orders and staffing numbers nonetheless fell at faster rates than at the start of 2025.’ S&P says that its measure rose ‘fractionally’ from 50.8 in January to 51.0 in February. Any number over 50.0 implies growth…

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.

Delivery:

CGA’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker reports that ‘restaurants’ delivery sales have slipped year-on-year after consumers reined in their spending after Christmas.’ It says that ‘January delivery sales at Britain’s leading restaurant groups were down by 1.0% from the same month in 2024. It is the Tracker’s first negative number since June 2023, and well short of the UK’s general monthly rate of inflation of 3.0%…’

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.

Income levels

The government looks set to cut spending – including on welfare payments – in order to increase spending on defence whilst staying within Budget guidelines…

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.

Chairman of the NTIA Sacha Lord tweets ‘after reading this morning that The Chancellor is about to make more cutbacks…I’m not optimistic in the slightest that Hospitality will get any help in the up coming fiscal statement. If I’m right, we will witness more Hospitality closures than any other time in our lifetime.’

Perhaps towards the other end of the spectrum, The Times reports on wealth saying that ‘Britain has the seventh largest number of residents in the world worth more than $10 million but the number is barely rising despite strong growth elsewhere…’

Elsewhere regarding disposable income levels, the Bank of England’s governor Andrew Bailey has said that US tariffs could hit UK consumers. He says ‘the risks to the UK economy, and indeed the world economy, are substantial….’

The High Street:

Bill Bryson, writing 10 years ago in The Road to Little Dribbling, noted of Eastleigh in Hampshire that ‘there were essentially two types of shop in the town, empty shops and coffee shops….’

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.

Other news:

UKHospitality has said the new guidance laid down re allergens ‘offers businesses flexibility and will ensure allergen information remains readily available for customers.’ UKH adds taht ‘the guidance says that written allergen information should always be available, supported by dialogue between servers and customers about their allergen requirements….’

Cask Marque has announced the appointment of two new directors to its Board. James Ullman, Personnel and Retail Audit Director at Wetherspoons, has over 30 years of experience in the pub and brewing industry whilst Will Rice On Trade Director of Heineken UK ‘brings a deep understanding of commercial leadership gained from over a decade of leading teams in the on and off trade.’

Knight Frank’s Wealth Report suggests that, with global wine consumption down by 12% from its 2007, the value of vineyards is becoming uncertain and potentially volatile.

COMPANY NEWS:

JD Wetherspoon is to run a 12-day beer festival running from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 16 March. It will feature some beers for sale at just £1.99. The company says the event will give ‘customers the opportunity to enjoy beers which have not previously been available in the pubs, as well as those brewed especially for the festival….’

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.

Restaurant Online reports that Sandwich Sandwich aims to operate 20 London sites within five years. The company is also reported to be considering a move overseas.

Recruitment:

Boxpark has announced the appointment of Matt Snell as CEO. Formerly CEO of Gusto, Mr Snell has over 25 years’ experience in the hospitality sector….

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.

Côte has announced that it has appointed Emma Dinnis as CEO. Ms Dinnis joins from furniture company Sofology.

Fast-growing fast food chain German Doner Kebab has announced that it is to open its 150th site on the M11 motorway in Cambridgeshire….

Aldi UK & Ireland has announced the appointment of Hayleigh Lupino as its new CFO. Marston’s on Tuesday announced that Ms Lupino would be leaving the company to take up a fresh position elsewhere.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

The government has confirmed that applications have opened for travellers to the UK to pay £10 for their Electronic Travel Authorisation to come to the UK from April 2.

The Trainline Partner Solutions has conducted a poll of 1,000 Gen Z professionals and suggests that there is currently a ‘major generational shift’ towards rail travel in order to reduce carbon footprints.

OTHER LEISURE:

Entain has reported full year numbers to end-December saying that the year ‘marked the Group’s return to organic growth with results at top of guidance.’ It says there is ‘continuing momentum’ and it ‘sees business well placed for 2025,’ The company reports that total group Net Gaming Revenue was up by 6%. Re the outlook, it says ‘year to date trading and ongoing operational execution supports our expectation to grow FY25 Online NGR in line with underlying markets.’ The group reports an underlying PBT up 16% at £518.4m…

Games Workshop Group yesterday updated on trading saying that ‘trading in January and February has been ahead of expectations, with strong trading across both the core business and licensing…’

Oakwood Theme Park in Wales has announced that it is to close with immediate effect after nearly 40 years of operation…

Adidas AG has reported strong FY24 sales saying that revenue rose by 11% to €23.6bn. The company says that the results exceeded its expectations.

Sales of Tesla cars in the UK rose by 20.7% in February compared with the same month last year reports the SMMT.

Sterling mixed at $1.2900 and Euro 1.1937. Oil lower at $69.74. UK 10 year gilt yield up 11 basis points at 4.67%. Markets mixed to better yesterday and London set to open around 56 points higher as at 6.30am.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Re tariffs, US President Donald Trump has told Congress that he is ‘just getting started’.

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.