Hollywood Bowl, Big Mamma, weather, trading, food prices & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Right, enough of the sun.

I think 17 degrees, sunshine, light cloud and a gentle breeze is what’s called for.

Maybe 15 degrees cooler in the winter, 20 degrees cooler with written notice and four or five degrees hotter in midsummer.

But no more than that because I’m too mean to shell out for aircon and I don’t want my pillow sticking to my head every night. And I’m not carrying the dog around the block and I’ve got to get some work done.

Anyway, got that off my chest. And the out-of-office responses came back a-plenty yesterday suggesting that half term, a short week and the decent weather had taken its toll on the workplace.

Still, we’ll soldier on and, though there isn’t too much of it, let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Trading and the weather:

The beer garden remains for many pubs ‘the largest room in the house’. Outside the house, actually but, when the sun shines, pubs, much more than restaurants and certainly more than indoor attractions, can generate substantial income. Thanks to those who supplied some trading feedback yesterday, which was broadly as anticipated…

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Market growth:

Lumina Intelligence has cut its estimate for growth across the UK eating out market, saying that it should reach a value of £102.8bn in 2026, up 1.8% on 2025. Lumina had been looking for growth of over 2% earlier in the year…

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Trading:

The Oxford Partnership reports that suggests the hospitality industry may need to rethink traditional matchday strategies ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, with the biggest commercial opportunity expected to come before kick-off rather than after the final whistle….’

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Food prices:

The BRC reports that higher energy, shipping, insurance and other costs, that are already in the product pipeline, mean that higher prices are likely to last until the end of the summer, even if the Iran war is resolved immediately…

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Other news:

Ready to Drink products. Data produced by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association has suggested the RTD products are once again in growth…

COMPANY NEWS:

Big Mamma Holdings, which is a subsidiary of the Big Mamma Group, a French-based Group of Italian restaurants founded and which operates from a number of Italian trattorias with products imported directly from Italy and which has restaurants in Manchester, Birmingham & London, has reported results for the year to 31 December 2025 to Companies’ House saying that revenue rose by 26.9% to £56.2m…

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The MCA reports that Marcel Khan is to step down as Fulham Shore CEO. It notes that his departure follows the CVA and restructure of Franco Manca and the sale of The Real Greek, earlier this month, with Fulham Shore CFO Colin Berry understood to be leading the business on an interim basis.’

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

EES. Delays to departures to the Continent on Friday have fuelled further calls for EES requirements to be eased or dropped during periods of heavy traffic.

Travel companies Tripsmiths Ltd and TS Travel Ltd have been sold out of administration to The Travel Network Group. Former CEO Charles Starmer says that the long term effects of Covid and general difficult trading conditions had led to the collapse.

HOLLYWOOD BOWL – H1 RESULTS:

Hollywood Bowl Group reports revenue rose by 9.5% to £141.5m with LFL revenue up by 2.3% overall (up by 2.6% in the UK and up by 0.5% in Canada). The company reports adjusted PBT up by 8.1% at £32.1m with adjusted EPS some 11.3% higher at 14.51p. The group is proposing a H1 dividend of 4.52p, up 10.2% on last year’s payout. The group reports ‘continued strong growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA’ and says it is seeing ‘strong conversion of increased revenue through to increased profit.’ The company has ‘maintained strong cost control across the Group’ with £8.5m capex in H1 and a closing net cash balance of £26.0m. The company has an undrawn RCF of £25.0m and has put in place a £5m Buyback programme for H2 FY26.

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FINANCE & MARKETS:

Sterling lower at $1.3455 and €1.1559. Oil down at $97.95. UK 10 year gilt yield down 2 basis points at 4.88%. World markets mixed & London set to open down around 7 points as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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