Everyman Media, lending, societal changes, holidays, hotels & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

We do try to recycle.

We’re not heroic about it but, since the council won’t send the collection lorry down our lane, we do have to make a bit of an effort and, when the various bags and boxes in what used to be the coalhouse are full, we have to make a journey of it.

So it’s always disappointing when the otherwise empty clothes & shoes bin has got a huge binbag with a duvet in it stuffing up the hole.

Which has happened more than once and sure, you can pull it out – and indeed we did do – and there’ll be plenty of room thereafter but it’s a bit of a nuisance and, after we’d done that, we had to drive to a separate collection area that we knew took plastic as well as the more easily-recyclable tins and bottles.

And there the wheelie-bin too was full because someone had dropped two large water butts in it and there wasn’t any room for anything else.

Therefore, having battled the grime and muck to pull two messy water butts out of a dirty bin just to do my civic duty then yes, I did kind of think that I deserved a medal.

Or at least a round of applause. 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:

Lending from the lender’s viewpoint:

OakNorth is  major provider of capital to the hospitality sector, so its views matter. It has produced its latest Hospitality & Leisure Sector Pulse, for December 2025, and some comments therein are highlighted below.

The recent past: OakNorth, ultimately, needs lenders to survive and preferably thrive in order to pay interest and repay capital. The future is arguably more important than the past, but a comment on recent trends provides a useful starting point. OakNorth says ‘inflationary pressures have firmed again’ and it refers to margin pressures caused by higher NIC contributions and minimum wage levels….

• 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.

Demographic & societal changes:

OFCOM has reported that UK adults are now spending over half an hour longer online every day than they did during the pandemic. It says that people spend an averaged of four hours and 30 minutes online every day, compared with three hours and 59 minutes in 2021….

• 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.

Cost of living:

Worldpanel by Numerator has suggested that the cost of a Christmas dinner this year will be slightly down on 2024. It says that the cost of a traditional turkey dinner is now £32.46, down just a few pence (from £32.57) on last year, largely due to the drop in price of turkey and one or two root vegetables.

Zoopla has reported that rents, whilst still going up, are rising at their slowest rate in four years. The average cost of renting a home in the UK, which varies widely from region to region, now stands at £1,320 a month, up some 2.2% on the price a year ago….

• 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:

MW Eat Limited owns & operates the Masala Zone chain of restaurants alongside fine-dining outlets such as Chutney Mary. The company has reported full year numbers to 30 March 2025 to Companies’ House saying that revenues rose by 1.3% to £31.8m and the GP% rose from 82.8% to 83.8%. Admin expenses were controlled and, as the company has little interest pair (or received), the group’s operating profit and profit before tax are approximately the same at £4.43m, up 31% on the £3.38m reported in the prior year…

• 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.

Guinness owner Diageo will unveil its £73m visitors’ centre and microbrewery in London tomorrow…

• 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.

TGI Fridays’ parent company, Liberty Bar & Restaurant Group, has announced that it is preparing to appoint administrators….

Fuller’s has revealed a ‘new look for The Wellington at Waterloo.’ It says that ‘sport and exceptional hospitality remain at the heart of this iconic pub and hotel’, but adds that the site will ‘now open its doors for breakfast service – at 9am, Monday to Friday, and from midday on weekends and bank holidays – so anyone in the area can start their day with a warm welcome and a hearty meal.’

Starbucks workers in England and Scotland are to protest today in support of striking workers in the US, reports the BBC.

Cracker Barrel in the US has cut its sales outlook for its fiscal year, reports that FT. The company was earlier this year embroiled in a social media controversy over an attempt to modernise its logo….

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Lyons Holiday Parks, which has been offering holidays since 1924 and which operates 20 or so holiday caravan parks, mostly in North Wales, has reported 11 month numbers to 31 Jan 2025 to Companies’ House saying that revenues slipped by 1.8% to £54.9m compared wit the previous ‘year’s’ 13-month period….

• 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.

RSM updates on its view of the UK hotel market saying that the sector remained resilient in October, despite budget speculation…

• 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.

Premier Inn has acquired a further office building in London to convert into hotel rooms. The company has bought Victory House in Kingsway, close to Covent Garden. The hotel, once completed, will comprise 200 rooms, which will be run as a hub by Premier Inn.

Lender OakNorth reports that ‘CEO of Gold Care Homes, Sukhi Gidar, [is] to acquire the 382-key Delta Hotels by Marriott Heathrow Windsor, following £18.2m loan from OakNorth.’

IATA reports that European airlines are set to be the best performing geography in 2025 and 2026 compared with other regions.

CoStar reports that, in the week to 29 November, the US hotel industry reported mixed metrics. It says that occupancy was down 1.0% at 49.8% and ADR was up 0.2%. REVPAR was some 0.7% lower than in the same week a year ago.

OTHER LEISURE:

Everyman Media Group has today updated on trading for its year to 1 Jan saying that it is ‘operating in a challenging economic environment’. It says ‘as widely reported, UK Box Office performance in Q4 FY25 has been weaker than anticipated’ and adds that it ‘now expects Group revenue of no less than £114.5m (FY24: £107.2m) and EBITDA of no less than £16.8m (FY24: £16.2m)…

• 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.

Netflix is facing a consumer lawsuit attempting to block the company’s proposed purchase of Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming businesses.

City AM reports that Gary Lineker-owned podcast company Goalhanger has more than tripled its earnings to £4.6m. It says that ‘the group, which runs The Rest is History, The Rest is Politics, and The Rest is Money podcasts, among others, posted a near-doubling in the cash it holds to more than £5m.’

FINANCE & MARKETS:

A Bloomberg poll of City economists has the UK economy growing by just 0.1% in October. GDP shrank by around 0.1% in the previous month, largely due to the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover.

The Institute for Public Policy Research has suggested that the “premium” that the UK pays to borrow money on global markets could come down as the budget has restored some of the market’s confidence in the UK as a borrower.

Against a backdrop of growing disquiet, President Donald Trump has told a rally that consumer prices are falling “tremendously” in the US.

Sterling lower at $1.3305 and €1.1444. Oil lower at $62.10. UK 10 year gilt yield down 2 basis points at 4.51%. World markets mostly lower yesterday & London set to open around 27 points down 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.