AG Barr, Vianet, Theakston, labour regs, food prices, tubes & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Dogs understand a lot, don’t they?

But they’ve got a blind spot when it comes to the word ‘not’ as in ‘we’re not going for a walk’ or ‘it’s not tea-time yet’.

And, whilst most if not all of their attention is focused in one way or another on walking and eating, they’re not very good when it comes to listening to the end of a sentence.

For example, if you say ‘we’ll go for a walk later,’ you may as well have saved yourself a bit of breath and dropped the last word.

Same with ‘we’ll get a bone from the butcher for tonight’ and here they have something in common with excitable people who might hear the exclamation ‘the fire is out’ and leap for joy without hearing the last words ‘of control’ that come later.

Anyway, most of us read the bits we like and skip the bits we don’t so, before rushing in too harshly to judge, let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Youth employment, unemployment & the cost of labour:

The Guardian suggests that Alphabet, parent of Google, YouTube and Fitbit’s plan to raise some $80bn for AI spending will put downward pressure on demand for entry-level jobs….

And The Daily Mail, citing work done by The British Chambers of Commerce, suggests that cutting taxes on jobs ‘amid warnings youth unemployment is heading towards 18% for the first time in more than a decade’ may do something to arrest the slide…

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More on labour regulations: Regulations tend to add cost and UKH has urged the government to avoid ‘over-regulating flexible work’. It says in its consultation on exploitative zero hours contracts, which is open until 25 August, that moves should be about ‘striking the right balance’ between worker protection and flexibility with any moves to restrict the latter likely to lead to job cuts…

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Food & drink prices:

NIQ and Prestige Purchasing’s latest Foodservice Price Index suggests that food and drink prices in the hospitality sector rose by 0.2% month-on-month in April. It says this ‘marks a return to inflation after a brief period of relief on domestic costs led to deflation in March….’

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Tube strikes:

The 24-hour strike by London Underground drivers belonging to the RMT, which began, has caused ‘huge disruption to tube services and on the roads’ reports The Guardian. Footfall in office-heavy areas is likely to be reduced and the revenues for F&B operators in such locations will have been similarly hit…

Other news:

Rating changes: Dubbed a ‘nice pubs tax’, moves to change ratings valuations could lead to pubs in picturesque locations facing higher bills. The owner of The Station Inn at Ribblehead, The Tan Hill Inn near Richmond and The Green Dragon Inn at Hardraw has said that trade can be seasonal and suggests that to view the units at busy times is only to get a half of the picture…

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COMPANY NEWS:

AG Barr has updated on the formal launch this week of its summer football campaign, saying that ‘with Scotland reaching the global stage for the first time since 1998, A.G. BARR has launched an IRN-BRU consumer campaign which will extend across the summer, with a new advert activated on TV as well as Out-of-Home, social media, PR, and in-store and in-depot merchandising displays….’

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Vianet Group plc has reported today that it ‘is pleased to announce the renewal of its contract with Admiral Taverns for a further five-year term.’ It says that ‘the renewed agreement covers almost 1,100 sites across the Admiral Taverns estate and will see Vianet continue to provide its Smart Zones Beverage Metrics draught beer monitoring and data analytics solutions….’

Greene King has commented on the impact of sport on trade last weekend saying that ‘Saturday’s Champion League final was the highest-booked club match to date across its managed pubs with 4,000 more bookings than the previous biggest-booked sporting event of this season (England v Wales in the Men’s Six Nations).’ It says that ‘bookings more than doubled in the week running up to Saturday’s Arsenal vs PSG final….’

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Shake Shack in the US yesterday updated on trading and cut forecasts. CEO Rob Lynch said the ‘updated guidance reflects the current macroeconomic uncertainty, competitive landscape, and related impacts now that we are more than two-thirds through the quarter.’ Using mid-range numbers, the company has guided down on revenue from around $426m to $417.5m with LFL sales up around 2.75% (former estimate c4%). The company is likely to open 16 new units in the quarter (former estimate 16-19)…

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Brewer T&R Theakston has reported results for the year to 31 December 2025 to Companies House. The company reports that revenue rose 5.0% to £9.239m but GP% slipped to 27.9% from 32.0% in the prior year, meaning that GP in absolute terms fell by 8.4% to £2.576m….

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HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

YouGov reports that two thirds of UK consumers intend to spend the same or more on a holiday this year compared to 2024. YouGov further reports that more people are likely to take a staycation this year…

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CoStar reports on higher costs for UK hoteliers now that the business rates Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Relief Scheme has ended.

OTHER LEISURE:

AI company Anthropic is reported to have filed confidentially for an IPO on the US stock market. The company, which owns the Claude chatbot, has not spoken to valuation.

Bluesky has suggested that users are increasingly moving to social media platforms not controlled by a ‘few billionaires’. COO Rose Wang says consumers are becoming more aware of the dangers of concentrating influence in a few hands. She says the billionaires ‘control what information is in front of you and what gets taken away. In short, they control speech all over the world, and we’ve seen the consequences of this.’

New registrations of Tesla cars have risen sharply across several European markets in May.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

The rate of inflation across the Eurozone rose to 3.2% in May, reports the ECB.

Sterling mixed at $1.3459 and €1.1581. Oil up $3 at $97.12. UK 10 year gilt yield down 4 basis points at 4.86%. World markets mixed yesterday and into today & London set to open little changed as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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