Spring Statement, price inflation, travel disruption, GRG & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

A mouse got into an overturned watering can in our garden the other day and, though it was able to hide itself halfway up the spout, it was being terrorised by the dog and it didn’t seem to be able to get out.

So, being the empathetic creature that I am, I rescued it.

But, further demonstrating that nice guys can finish last, the thing seems to have got into the boxing around the RSJs in our house, got up to the first floor, chewed through the skirting and eaten a hole in the middle of one of my favourite pullovers.

Hence lessons learned include a) empathy need not be reciprocal and b) don’t spill food on your clothing and expect it to remain unmolested by vermin.

Oh, and move the bird-feeders further from the house, don’t interrupt the dog when it’s on ‘important vermin duty’ and periodically inspect the outside of your house for small holes.

Commiserations to Hull City, who went down 0-1 to Ipswich in a six-pointer at Portman Road last night and let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Spring statement:

Chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday announced that growth forecasts for the current year would be cut from 1.4% to 1.1%. She stressed the idea of ‘stability’ but added little that was not already known…

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Shop price inflation:

The BRC has reported that shop price inflation slowed in February, dropping to a rate of 1.1% from 1.5% in the year to January…

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COMPANY NEWS:

Share price movements: Some sharp falls yesterday with Gregg’s coming in as one of the few shares managing a share price rise. It was up 2.16% on results that were perhaps not as bad as expected. Most of the sector saw share prices fall yesterday and the drops were relatively uniform with a whole host of stocks losing more than 4% of their value but few losing more than 5%…

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Some 38 BrewDog bars have now closed as a result of the sale of the ‘once-a-unicorn’ company to Tilray Brands for just £33m. Around 500 jobs have been lost as a result of what union Unite calls years of mismanagement. Around 733 jobs were saved, with staff moving across to the new owners.

Gerry’s Offshore Incorporations Ltd, which is actually a franchisee of Costa Coffee established in the United Kingdom in July 2004, operating 35 outlets (2023: 35 outlets) across the UK, has reported late accounts for the year to end-2024 to Companies’ House. It reports that revenue rose by 4.8% to £21.3m…

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McDonald’s has said that it plans to open 25 new restaurants in the Republic of Ireland over the next five years as a part of a €150m investment programme that will create 1,750 jobs….

Starbucks in the US has said that it aims to entice customers into staying for longer in its cafés by the introduction of new chairs and ceramic mugs…

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GREGG’S FULL YEAR NUMBERS:

Gregg’s yesterday reported full year 2025. It reports revenues up to £2.15bn from £2.01bn in the prior year. PBT down by 9% at £171.9m and earnings down to 119.3p from 137.5p in the prior year. The group has held its full year dividend at 69.0p. GRG has a net cash position at its year end of £45.8 million. This is down from £125.3 million at the end of last year, which the group says is ‘reflecting the level of capital investment in supply chain capacity’. The group had previously announced Q4 LFL sales up by 2.9% and total Q4 sales up by 7.4%. For the year as a whole, total sales rose by 6.8% with managed LFL sales up 2.4%.

Outlook: GRG maintains ‘looking forward we expect like-for-like costs to be less inflationary in 2026, with overall input cost inflation of around 3%.’ It says that ‘employment cost inflation will again be the biggest driver of higher costs, but at a lower level than seen in recent years, reflecting changes to the National Living Wage.’ The company adds that ‘we leverage our scale and vertical integration to keep costs low’ and it maintains ‘we have a rolling programme of cost-saving initiatives with the aim of mitigating as much cost pressure as possible.’

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HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Widespread travel disruption as a result of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran has continued, although a number of flights have made it out….

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Booking platform Amadeus has reported Q4 numbers saying that bookings were up by 3.3% year-over-year in the quarter….

OTHER LEISURE:

All3Media, which makes TV programme The Traitors, is to merge with French rival Banijay Entertainment in a £6bn deal that will create the largest independent TV programme maker in the world to be called Banijay.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

For Spring Statement, see Pubs & Restaurants above.

Inflation across the Eurozone rose to 1.9% in the year to February, up from 1.7% in the month to January.

The Nationwide has reported that UK house prices rose in February by around 0.3% compared with the prior month. The annual growth rate held at 1%.

President Trump has said he may cut off all trade with Spain, after the latter declined to allow the US to use its military bases as part of its operation in Iran. There are some concerns that the UK, which initially barred the US from using its airstrip on Diago Garcia, may be in line for some sort of punitive action. 

Sterling mixed at $1.3314 and €1.1492. Oil another $3.50 higher at $83.22. UK 10 year gilt yield up 15 basis points at 4.52%. World markets down yesterday but, after two days of sharp falls, London is set to open around 30 points higher as at 6.30am.

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