JDW, PFD, Amber Taverns, Coaching Inns, Everplay, inflation & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Well, whilst hospitality is gearing up for Burns Night, Valentines’ Day and the like, you can’t move in the shops for Easter eggs, and many of them seem to have been there since a few days after Christmas.

And it’ll be beach balls and Speedos next.

Illustrating, I suppose, that a) lead times, at least for physical products, are longer in retail than they are in hospitality and b) retail’s having to pedal pretty hard to get anybody to buy anything.

Because I’m sure all of the above is happening sooner.

And yes, clothing summer ranges really do start to arrive in February. But that’s always been the case, they’ve been ordered for six months and the product, with no real ‘sell-by’ date except for fashion twists, takes time to produce.

But it’s a market, I suppose.

And if your competitor wants to sell Easter eggs to some nutcase in December, then you have to offer them too and, with that in mind, don’t be surprised to see the Christmas decorations coming out in August.

Well done The Mighty Hull on managing to get the ball into the net (at the right end) three times away from home. On to the news:

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DECEMBER SALES TRACKER:

NIQ (was CGA) reports that ‘Britain’s leading managed hospitality groups managed a 2.9% rise in LFL sales in December. This is a) better than the number has been for some time but b) it is still sub-inflation. To the numbers, NIQ says this was ‘the Tracker’s highest point since April, and only the second time it topped 1% in the whole of 2025.’ Including new outlets, the companies supplying information saw revenues rise by 6.2%—around twice the rate of inflation….

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Inflation:

The ONS has updated on the rate of CPI in the UK saying that ‘the Consumer Prices Index rose by 3.4% in the 12 months to December 2025, up from 3.2% in the 12 months to November.’ It adds that ‘on a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.4% in December 2025, compared with a rise of 0.3% in December 2024….’

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Jobs in hospitality:

UKH reports on yesterday’s ONS jobs data saying that it ‘reveals that hospitality employed 20,014 fewer people in December 2025, compared to September 2025.’ It points out that ‘this comes at a time when the sector would be traditionally staffing up, in preparation for the busy festive season….’

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Other news:

Jobs: ASDA has put ‘hundreds’ of jobs at risk as it seeks to cut costs against the background of a falling grocery market share. Some roles will be outsourced, in which case jobs will not be lost. Others will be straight cuts.

French wine: As a part of his Gaza push, US president Trump has threatened, maybe in jest, to add tariffs of up to 200% on French wine and Champagne if French president Emmanuel Macron declines an invitation to join Mr Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ initiative….

Champagne: The number of bottles of Champagne shipped in 2025 fell by 2% to 266m bottles….

JD WETHERSPOON – Q2 UPDATE:

JDW reports LFL sales ‘in the 25 weeks to 18 January 2026, LFL sales were +4.7% higher than the same period a year ago.’ It reports that bar sales increased by +6.9%, food by +1.3% and slot/fruit machines by +9.1%. Hotel room sales decreased by 0.7%. The group adds that ‘LFL sales for the last 12 weeks of the 25-week period (the second quarter of the financial year) were +6.1% higher than the same period a year ago.’ It adds that, factoring in some openings and closures, ‘total sales have grown by +5.3% in the year to date.’ The company says that ‘LFL sales for the main Christmas period, the three weeks from 15th December 2025 to 4th January 2026, were +8.8%….’

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COMPANY NEWS:

Amber Taverns, which operates ‘187 high quality wet-led pubs’, has updated on trading over the festive period saying that ‘across the key Christmas and New Year trading period spanning 19 December to 4 January 2026, like for like sales were up 9%. Furthermore, the pub group has achieved like for like sales growth in 25 of the last 26 weeks….’

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YouMeSushi has reported that it plans to open 14 sites in the UK this year. The company currently has 29 locations across the country.

RedCat Hospitality has updated on Christmas sales saying that it generated ‘exceptional results’ for the festive period at its Coaching Inn Group sites. Coaching Inn units recorded LFL sales 11.7% growth during the two-week encompassing Christmas and New Year. LFL sales were up by 8.4% over the six week seasonal period….

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And Knoops has said that it should exceed £20m revenues in the year to end-March with LFL UK sales growth of 12% in its UK stores over the six week Christmas period…

PREMIER FOODS – Q3 TRADING UPDATE:

Premier Foods reports revenue Q3 Branded revenue up 5.2% with total revenue up 4.1%. It adds that Grocery Branded revenue is up 5.8% with Sweet Treats Branded revenue up 3.1%. The group has gained share in both categories. The group adds that revenue from New Categories increased 29% and it says that international revenue is up 10% with a ‘strong quarter for Australia in all categories.’ Re acquired brands, The Spice Tailor, FUEL10K and Merchant Gourmet, these ‘all delivered double-digit revenue growth.’ The group concludes that it is now expected that full year Trading profit will be at the upper end of market expectations…

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HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Aviation firm OAG reports that London Heathrow remained Europe’s busiest airport in 2025 with a total of 52.1 million departures, just ahead of Istanbul with 51.5 million departures….

And the much-smaller Teesside International Airport reported its busiest year in a decade last year with over 260,000 passengers in 2025, up 14.5% on the prior year.

CoStar reports that REVPAR for the calendar year 2025 fell on the prior year for the first time since 2020. It reports that occupancy was 1.2pps lower at 62.3%, ADR was up by 0.9% and REVPAR was down by 0.3%.

OTHER LEISURE:

Everplay, was Team 17, has updated on its games development and publishing business for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025 saying that it ‘continued to trade well across H2 2025, including a significant uplift in new release revenues, double-digit growth in first-party IP revenues, an improved back catalogue performance and the signing of anticipated license deals….’

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Elon Musk has raised the stakes in his spat with Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary musing whether he should buy the company. Musk floated the idea on X, asking followers whether or not he should make the move.

Netflix Q4 numbers came in ahead of sales expectations as subscribers rose to more than 325 million. The company reported quarterly revenue of $12.05 billion, up 18% on the prior year number and ahead of estimates of $11.97 billion. Net income was $2.42 billion, ahead of a consensus of $2.39 billion. The group’s shares nonetheless fell $4.18 (4.8%) after hours as the company sweetened its deal for Warner and warned that closing deal would add $275 million in costs for this year.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that the current tariff uncertainty is a negative when it comes to global financial stability. This will, perhaps, surprise nobody.

Sterling lower at $1.3437 and €1.1471. Oil up at $64.30. UK 10 year gilt yield up 5 basis points at 4.46%. World markets lower yesterday & London set to open around 11 points lower as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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