Gregg’s, Luckin, Nightcap, Heathrow, confidence, politics & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Don’t you find the rule ‘I before E except after C’ rather weird.

I mean ‘weird’ and many other words like neighbour, weigh, seize, protein and either either or neither prove its not true and even the reverse isn’t right as you’ll find MS Word will tell you if you try to spell ‘receive’ in the way the rule suggests.

So why have the rule?

Well, I don’t know. maybe it’s because you can sing it in class when you’re six or seven and then find out gradually, like our dear, benighted Labour politicians, that life just isn’t as simple as you thought it was.

It seems like a very slow news day but still, though we’re all recovering from the heat, let’s move on to what news there is:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Advertising:

A YouGov poll suggests that 65% of UK adults support a ban on TV alcohol advertising before the 9pm watershed. Only 20% either ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly’ oppose such a ban. Support was slightly stronger across women than men…

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Politics.

Sacha Lord, who was Greater Manchester’s Night‑Time Economy Adviser from 2018 to January this year, has said on LinkedIn that ‘to save the Party from complete obliteration at the local elections next May, the PM has to replace The Chancellor’….

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Jobs market:

More redundance risk news in that the Santander purchase of TSB is deemed likely to lead to further branch closures and job losses. The TSB currently has around 5,000 staff working out of 175 branches. The degree of overlap with Santander’s 349 branches is not yet clear to outsiders…

Business Confidence:

There are a number of measure out there. Today we consider the report from the Institute of Directors’ which, across the various groups of observers, should be in a good position to assess the mood of business leaders. Its Economic Confidence Index, which measures business leader optimism in prospects for the UK economy, fell back to minus 53 in June 2025, having risen to minus 35 in May….

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Other news:

US restaurant sales. The NRA has reported that same-store sales rose in May 2025 vs the same month a year earlier. It reports that 45% of operators pointed to a rise in sales and 41% to a decline. Traffic was perhaps marginally down with 40% of operators reporting a rise in footfall and 42% suggesting that it fell.

COMPANY NEWS:

Gregg’s shares yesterday fell by 300p or 15.2% as the market digested the news that, as temperatures rise, people are predisposed to buy fewer pasties.

Luckin Coffee has opened its first stores in the U.S.. The two stores are both located in Manhattan, New York City, and they opened on 30 June. The chain is currently offering app-only ordering and drinks priced at $1.99….

Nightcap tells the MCA that the addition of the Brighton i360, an iconic building in the city Brighton, has proved to be a hedge for the group – which is mainly made up of basement bars. It should pull some revenue into the summer months…

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William Grant & Sons has completed the purchase of The Famous Grouse brand from Edrington reports Drinks Business.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Heathrow. An investigation by the National Energy System Operator has concluded that the cause of the substation fire that shut Heathrow was a preventable technical fault that National Grid had been aware of for a number of years…

OTHER LEISURE:

Squid Games III has become the biggest ever TV launch for Netflix. The show hit over 60m views in its first three days. An English-language remake is said to be potentially on the cards.

Tesla car volumes fell by 14% in Q2 compared to the same quarter a year ago. The manufacturer sols 384,000 vehicles between April and June. The drop was a little less than had been expected and the group’s shares rose on the numbers. President Trump said that ‘Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far.’

Microsoft is cutting more jobs with up to 9,000 workers set to go (4% of total headcount) as the company invests heavily in AI. MS cut around 6,000 jobs in May….

FINANCE & MARKETS:

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that the UK retirement age may have to rise to 74 if the triple lock is to be maintained. Payments per individual are currently promised to rise by the higher of 2.5%, average earnings or inflation. Labour and the Conservative Party have both committed to kicking the can down the road and to keeping the triple lock.

Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has said that interest rates in the US are set to remain higher, for longer, as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs….

Bank of England MPC member Alan Taylor said that the Monetary Policy Committee should vote for interest rate cuts sooner in order to allow a ‘soft landing’ in the battle against inflation…

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Donald Trump has called on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to resign straight away sending out on Truth Social the comment ‘Too Late. Should resign immediately!!!’ Mr Trump gave Mr Powell his job in 2017 during his first term.

And in the UK, bond yields rose sharply yesterday after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, was filmed crying in the House of Commons during PMQ. Markets reacted on the assumption that all was not going well. Supporters put the chancellor’s tears down to a personal issue.

Sterling lower at $1.3629 and €1.1562. Oil up at $68.56. UK 10 year gilt yield up 17 basis points at 4.61%. World markets mixed yesterday & London set to open around 25 points higher as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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