C&C, SSPG, Shepherd Neame, consumer confidence, rates & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

We had an internet outage and it had the temerity to last more than 24 hours.

I sent it to the corner to think about what it had done but that didn’t fix it and, when a line engineer finally did have a look, it came back on.

But, in the meantime, we were obliged to tether mobile phones to laptops and the like but, horror of horrors, we found out in the evening that our Firestick, Netflix, Prime and whatever else we’ve got on the telly was reliant on the Wi-Fi and it had all packed up in sympathy.

So we were reduced to finding where the aerial cable had got to and, when found, we had to stick it into the TV.

Which brought back memories because we have Tyne Tees in the living room & Yorkshire in the kitchen, which is interesting when the local news comes on.

And the same was broadly true when we lived in Hertfordshire. We had LWT or Carlton in one room and Anglia in the other, so you’d have riots, assaults and arson in the kitchen and a lost sheep eating someone’s washing in the other.

Anyway, good luck to Hull City vs Swansea on Saturday, have a good weekend, and let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Consumer confidence:

GfK has updated on consumer confidence in the UK saying that it has moved up one point to minus 16 in January. It adds it is now ‘ten years since consumer confidence was last in positive territory.’ It says that three of its measures were up and two were down compared to last month’s announcement….

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Government & hospitality.

The House of Lords yesterday debated the impact of government policy on the retail and hospitality sectors. A number of enacted and upcoming changes have and will impact the two sectors materially, not least, the changes in the rate and starting point of employers’ NIC, duty changes, upcoming changes to business rates and rises in the national living wage…

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The Budget, what’s left of it?

We put this out last week to clients. With U-turns coming thick and fast, it’s not entirely clear just what’s left of November’s budget. That’s not entirely fair, of course. Because most of it will pass into legislation, even if business rates reform doesn’t survive entirely intact. And the chancellor seems now to be suggesting that other hospitality – and possibly other – businesses will be spared the worst of the rises scheduled to commence in a tapered fashion from this April….

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Other news:

UKH Cymru reports that business rates for the hospitality sector in Wales will rise by 35% (on FY26) in FY27, by 48% in FY28 and by 63% in FY29. Business rates payable will rise by some £122.1m between now and FY29 in cash terms…

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Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has warned that higher business rates from April ‘simply will not work’. He says the move will make hospitality businesses ‘lambs to the slaughter….’

C&C – TRADING UPDATE, PROFIT WARNING:

C&C Group plc reports that ‘overall trading is below the Board’s expectations.’ It says that ‘customer performance across November and early December was impacted by weak consumer confidence associated with the November UK Budget.’ CCR adds that it faced ‘softer than anticipated demand in hospitality, alongside adverse product mix, as consumers continue to move away from the consumption of wine and spirits, in favour of beer, across the market.’ The group says that the ‘Christmas fortnight was in line with expectations.’ Moving into January, the company says ‘to date we have seen continued softness of consumer demand in the market and anticipate that this will continue for the balance of the current financial year.’ It says that cost cutting and efficiency moves ‘were not sufficient to offset the combination of subdued market volumes, unfavourable category mix and competitive pricing
dynamics across the market.’

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SSP GROUP – AGM & Q1 UPDATE:

SSP reports revenue up by 5% on a LFL basis across its estate. North American sales are up 1% LFL, sales in Continental Europe are up 2%, UK & Ireland at 8% better and APAC &EEME are up 10%. The company reports that ‘the positive trading momentum we saw in the first eight weeks of Q1 to 25 November, with like-for-like sales growth of 4% (as reported at our FY Results), has continued through the remainder of the quarter, with LFL sales growth of 5% for Q1 overall. As such, our expectations for FY26 remain unchanged.’ It says that North America was ‘driven mainly by net gains’ and in ‘Continental Europe, sales grew 1% YoY (on a constant currency basis), reflecting 2% LFL sales growth despite weak consumer sentiment and lower spend levels in several markets.’

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COMPANY NEWS:

Shepherd Neame has updated on trading saying that ‘like-for-like sales growth across our pubs has remained strong, with Retail like-for-like sales up +4.5% for the 26 weeks to 27 December 2025.’ It adds ‘our Retail pubs traded well over the Christmas and New Year season, with Retail like-for-like sales up +8.1% for the five weeks to 3 January 2026, driven by a strong performance inside the M25 at +12.6%….’

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Keystone Brewing Group, which has filed a number of intention to appoint administrators notices in recent weeks, has been ‘rescued from the brink of collapse by Saltaire Brewery, a Yorkshire-based rival,’ reports Sky News…

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Shares in Young & Co, which yesterday updated on strong Christmas trading, rose by 59p (or 7.3%) to 871p on the day.

Boparan Restaurant Group reports that CEO Satnam Leihal resigned yesterday as a director. Mr Leihal was appointed to the board on 23 April 2020.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Eurostar has reported that it served a record number of passenger in 2025, with over 20m journeys, up 2.6% on the prior year. The company reports that it saw good demand from both leisure and business customers…

OTHER LEISURE:

Paramount Skydance has extended the deadline on its bid for Warner Bros Discovery. It has said it will ask investors to vote against a sale to Netflix.

TikTok is reported to have closed a deal that will see the short-video app in the US both continue to operate and be owned by new stakeholders.

The Telegraph reports that the manufacturer of the yacht in which businessman Mike Lynch, his daughter and a number of other passengers and crew died, is suing Mr Lynch’s widow…

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FINANCE & MARKETS:

The ONS yesterday reported that UK government borrowing fell in December as income from taxes rose by a greater amount than did spending. The ONS reports borrowing of £11.6bn on the month, down by 38% on the figure for the same month last year.

Sterling mixed at $1.3496 and €1.1490. Oil lower at $64.90. UK 10 year gilt yield down 1 basis point at 4.44%. World markets better yesterday & London expected to open down around 6 points as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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