Trading, business rates, MARS, Staycity, Time Out, JW Lees & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Whilst I can’t help thinking that it will age companies in much the same way that mullets and shoulder-pads have aged people of a certain age, It’s very fashionable these days to stick names together and, for a bit of added spice, perhaps add a capital letter in the middle.

A hyphen, or better still, nothing at all would arguably do as well.

But, on the above measure, the chippie should be TheChipShop, the local watering hole perhaps Booze-R-Us, bit retro that one and even humble Langton should be LangtonCapital.

However, having only just educated it that Langton was indeed a name and not a typo, I’m simply not sure that I could endure MS Word’s reproachful red squiggle every time I wrote the word down.

Furthermore, there are some people and bodies for whom it just wouldn’t work. I mean, you wouldn’t want to capitalise the R in the middle of ‘Therapist’, for example.

Trade would likely suffer – or certainly evolve materially and not in a good way.

Anyway, that’s enough of that. It’s the weekend and, before we pull stumps, just time to wish readers a restful one before we move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Recent trading:

M&B and Fuller’s yesterday reported positive trading numbers for the period (including Christmas) to 10 January….

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More on Trading:

The Oxford Partnership has updated on December trading saying that it ‘delivered the strongest engagement of the year for the UK On Trade’ but it adds that margins remain under pressure. The Partnership says ‘rising costs continued to cap real value and margin recovery…’

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Business rates:

Details are still missing but the Chancellor has not ruled out extending support for hospitality businesses impacted by higher business rates from April this year, beyond pubs alone. All hospitality businesses are facing an end to Covid-era rates discounts but the speed with which the change will be introduced – and the rise in rateable values – has led to suggestions that a large number of pubs will become non-viable…

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The Telegraph reports that pubs are being ‘penalised’ for operating in busy areas as the ratable value of their properties will have increased. It says Labour will ‘turn pubs in thriving areas into cash cows….’

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Other news:

Outlook for pubs. Christie & Co has updated on its views on the pub industry in the current year saying that it expects the market to remain polarised…

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Insolvency pressures. Alexander Muir of Hilco has said that, whilst retail, hospitality, and construction remain the most heavily affected sectors subject to cash flow pressures, other sectors are also feeling the strain…

Coffee wholesale prices. The International Coffee Organization has reported that wholesale coffee prices fell by 7.8% between November and December. The ICO says that supply problems had eased.

Ireland. Alcoholic drink exports from Ireland rose by 2% to €2 billion in 2025, this despite tariffs imposed by the US.

Prosecco sales are reported to have risen by 1.1% in volume terms in 2025. Some 667 million bottles were exported worldwide. The US, the UK and France are the three largest export markets.

COMPANY NEWS:

Marston’s. Shareholder Bradley L. Radoff who, with affiliates owns around 3% of Marston’s ordinary shares, has sent an open letter to fellow shareholders saying that he will vote against the re-election of the Company’s five non-executive members of the Board of Directors at the group’s AGM on 28 January. The five directors in question are Chair Ken Lever, Octavia Morley, Rachel Osborne, Bridget Lea and Sir Nick Varney….

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JW Lees has reported a record ever trading month for December. It says that ‘managed Houses led the charge, with Christmas Day sales up +20.5% on 2024 and over the six-week trading period to include Christmas and New Year retail sales were up +9.9%, with drink sales up +8.4%, food sales up +10.4% and bedroom sales up +15.7%….’

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Soho House has said that it has secured around $200 million in alternative financial commitments to fund its planned de-listing.

Time Out markets has closed its units in Chicago and Boston saying that they will cease to operate from 23 January…

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JD Wetherspoon has been recognised by the Top Employers Institute as a Top Employer United Kingdom 2026.

Urban Pubs & Bars has added former BrewDog site, the Birdcage, in East London.

Keystone Brewing Group is reported to have filed a second notice of intention to appoint administrators in a further attempt to secure funding.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Staycity Group has announced the acquisition of a second location in Vienna, Austria, which will be developed as part new-build and part conversion. The company says ‘the location, expected to be completed by 2028. is in Vienna’s 4th District within close proximity to tube, bus and tram stations which take around 15 minutes to reach central Vienna.’

CoStar reports that the U.S. hotel industry reported occupancy down 2.4pps at 48.1% in the week to 10 January. Daily rate was down by 0.9% and REVPAR was some 3.3% lower.

Hilton is to extend its presence in the aparthotel market via a new partnership with aparthotel company Placemakr.

OTHER LEISURE:

The Times reports an interview with BOWL CEO Stephen Burns who confirmed that the weather ‘is a massive factor in our business.’ Wet weather tends to benefit indoor leisure facilities…

X (was Twitter) is to prevent its Grok AI tool from creating naked pictures of real people. The rule change will apply to both free and paid users.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

The ONS yesterday reported that the UK economy grew by 0.3% in November, more than had been expected. The services sector was up by 0.3%, manufacturing was up by 1.1% (on a Jaguar Land Rover bounce-back) but the construction industry declined by 1.3%.

UK bond yields yesterday fell to their lowest level since December 2024.

The RICS has said that estate agents are becoming more optimistic with a net balance of 34% of respondents to its poll expecting transaction volumes to rise rather than fall.

Sterling lower at $1.3381 and €1.1533. Oil down at $63.47. UK 10 year gilt yield up from 13 month lows by 3 basis points at 4.37%. World markets better yesterday but Far East down in Friday trade. London set to open down around 9 points as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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