Punch Pubs, ROO, Soho House, TGI Friday, Oxford St & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Forgive the masculine references and more a question than a statement but, if you live long enough, will you become your father?

Admittedly, you might not wear a trilby and smoke a pipe.

But, in other regards, some justifiable and others not so much, like worrying about smudges on the wallpaper, getting vaguely but unjustifiably annoyed when someone uses your drive to execute a U-turn and considering the space outside your house on the public road somehow ‘yours’, you might not be so different.

And that can be a bit of a revelation.

Indeed, one you may deny for some time as it’s more noticeable to other people than it is to yourself but, rather than kick against it, why not accept that being early on Radiohead doesn’t make you something you aren’t and, whilst you probably scoffed at the time, the Old Man quite liked The Stones.

Anyway, enough about that. 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:

Oxford Street:

UKH says that ‘plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street must have hospitality and leisure at its heart.’ It has ‘signalled its support for the proposed development and pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, and said that hospitality is crucial to plans to bring the new area to life….’

• 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:

The Guardian reports a study undertaken on Merseyside that has concluded that children will eat significantly more calories in a day after watching just five minutes of junk food advertising. It says that ‘young people who saw or heard adverts for products high in saturated fat, sugar and salt consumed an average of 130 extra calories, equivalent to two slices of bread….’

• 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.

WFH: Further evidence, albeit anecdotal, that the drift back to the office is ongoing. Real Estate Investment Trust Derwent reported on Friday that high demand for central London offices had boosted its performance in Q1 this year. It said that ‘the central London office market continues to see strong occupational demand against an ongoing backdrop of low supply.’

PUNCH PUBS GROUP:

Punch Pubs Group, which is owned by Cayman Isles company CF Cooper Holdings LP (which is itself controlled by Fortress Investment Group), has reported H1 numbers for the 28wks to 23 Feb 2025. Revenue for the period was £168.3m compared to £165.1m in the prior year period. Underlying EBITDA rose by 8.5% to £46.9m and the operating profit was some 10.6% higher at £36.5m. Finance costs amounted to a net £25.9m (2024: £25.3m) and PBT was therefore up some 38% at £10.6m. After exceptional charges largely relating to the revaluation of properties, the loss before tax was £36.3m (2024: £8.1m profit).

• 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.

COMPANY NEWS:

Commenting on the likely sale of his company to DoorDash, Deliveroo CEO Will Shu has told The Sunday Times that his business was not a failure. The IPO of Deliveroo was labelled ‘Flopperoo’ after the price collapsed post its arrival on the Stock Exchange…

• 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.

Soho House & Co Inc on Friday reported Q1 numbers saying that total revenues came in at $282.9 million, 8.0% year-over-year growth. It said that ‘membership revenues grew to $112.9 million, a 14.1% increase year-over-year’ and the company reports ‘In-House revenues of $112.4 million, up 1.9% year-over-year. Net income attributable to Soho House & Co Inc. was $8.2 million or $0.04 per share…

• 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.

Soho House has also updated on the likely opening date for its Manchester house saying that this has slipped from ‘early 2025’ to October.

TGI Fridays is reported to be preparing for a brand relaunch after having been acquired out of administration by Breal Capital and Calveton last year….

The MCA reports that investment firm True has announced a strategic investment in German Doner Kebab to support and accelerate the kebab concept’s rollout across existing and new markets.

Joe & The Juice has reported global revenue of DKK 2.8bn and EBITDA of DKK 560m, up 12% on the prior year…

Chinese brewer Tsingtao is to buy local wine company Jimo Yellow Wine for 665m yuan. Tsingtao says the deal ‘expands the cross-industry portfolio of [our] non-beer business, promotes diversified development and brings new development opportunities for the company in the future.’

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Stansted passengers faced delays on Sunday as a result of IT problems affecting check-in, baggage and security systems.

Travel Trade Gazette reports that ahead of this week’s Advantage Travel Partnership conference, chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said has said that ‘US trading tariffs are sending shockwaves through global markets – a situation we’re monitoring closely. Their impact will ripple across industries, including travel.’

Travel booking site Expedia Group has reported Q1 numbers below market estimates saying that it had faced ‘weaker-than-expected travel demand in the U.S. and into the U.S..’ The company reports that bookings for the company were up by 4% year over year and revenue increased 3% to $2.9 billion vs Q1 last year…

Nonetheless, IAG on Friday reported what were deemed to be a solid set of Q1 results that featured a strong performance in North Atlantic routes.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey has said that the UK needs to ‘rebuild’ its trade relationship with the European Union. He told the BBC ‘it is important we do everything we can to ensure that whatever decisions are taken on the Brexit front do not damage the long-term trade position. So I hope that we can use this to start to rebuild that relationship.’

The Halifax Building Society on Friday reported that house prices rose by 0.3% in April having fallen by 0.5% in March. The Halifax reports that the annual rate of growth is now at 3.2% up from 2.9% in the year to March…

• 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.

US President Donald Trump has reported that a deal has been struck with China over tariffs.

Official stats in China show that its trade with the United States fell in April but total exports beat forecasts. Exports to the US were down by 17.6% in April but total exports were up by 8.1%.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has welcomed the US-UK trade deal but says that Britain is still worse off under the deal than it was before President Trump began his trade war earlier in the year.

Sterling up at $1.3283 and €1.1836. Oil higher at $64.30. UK 10 year gilt yield up 3 basis points at 4.57%. World markets broadly better on Friday with the Far East up in Monday Trade. London set to open around 31 points higher as at 6.30am.

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.