FDEV, GYM, JDW, incomes, flight disruption, vertical drinking & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Do you use metres for measurement or feet and inches?

And yards, for that matter, or is it more complicated, for height do you use feet (and sometimes metres) but for horizontal distance you use yards?

Which seems normal but hard to rationalise.

More sensibly, you could use yards for longer distances than feet. The fence line is thirty yards away, for example, rather than about 100 feet but, if yards should be the unit for longer distances, then why not say Ben Nevis is 1,471 yards high?

Because it’s 4,413 feet high, isn’t it?

Or 1,345 metres if you’re in a metric mood or if you’re looking at a relatively modern OS map.

Anyway, I don’t think it’s a problem my kids have as they’re well into the metric system but, for people like me, it’s an issue. And don’t get me started on temperatures. For years it was Fahrenheit – although I always struggled with it freezing at 32 degrees, and then it was Celsius for cold weather and Fahrenheit for hot and now, to be honest, I don’t often have a clue as to what’s going on.

So the above occupies a chunk of my brain that I could be doing something useful with. That’s my excuse, anyway but, with that one tucked away and with commiserations to Hull City who have ‘decided to concentrate on the league’, let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Disposable incomes:

Mortgage costs would appear to be going up with a number of major lenders announcing rises in rates over recent days. Moneyfacts notes that ‘borrowers expecting mortgage rates to drop in the coming weeks have had their hopes dashed…’

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Vertical drinking:

Westminster Council, which appears pretty friendless in what could be couched as its campaign against drinkers, is pushing on with plans to cut back on drinks without food or when not seated, leading to London mayor Sadiq Khan criticising the local body for its ‘breathtaking arrogance…’

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Other news:

Late night. Writing on the importance of nightlife in a community, NTIA CEO Michael Kill says the sub-sector ‘creates jobs, supports businesses, attracts visitors, drives culture and gives people places to meet, socialise and connect….’

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COMPANY NEWS:

Tax Equality Day. JD Wetherspoon is set to cut the price of the food and drink sold in its pubs by 7.5% for one day, 17 September, in order to illustrate the tax disparity between pubs, restaurants and supermarkets. Chair, Sir Tim Martin, says ‘the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the vast disparity in tax treatment among pubs, restaurants and supermarkets….’

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And JD Wetherspoon has further announced that it is set to open its new pub at Manchester Airport on Tuesday 15 September – with the creation of 150 new jobs. It says that the pub, which will be named The Belle Vue, will open in Terminal Two [airside] following a development project costing £3.2m.

Tilray Brands has announced that BrewDog has signed a ‘five-year partnership with Leicester Tigers, one of England’s most iconic rugby union clubs, naming BrewDog the club’s Official Beer Partner from the start of the 2026-27 season.’

And former BrewDog CEO James Watt has written on LinkedIn that tens of thousands of former investors had become co-owners of his recently launched beer venture, Second Best….

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Pretzel company Auntie Anne’s is reported set to open its 50th store across the UK and Ireland in Eastbourne on 12 September.

Restaurant Online reports that the company behind Belgravia multi-venue hospitality complex 19 Motcomb Street has entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation. Companies’ House notes that the liquidator was appointed on 23 August.

Red Lobster in the US is reported to have closed dozens of restaurants this year in a continued move towards ‘rightsizing’ the business. The company now has some 468 locations in the US, down from 520 at the end of 2025.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Flight disruption. British Airways and Ryanair are amongst airlines to confirm cancellations as a result of disruption caused by a technical problem affecting the air traffic control provider Nats. Nats noted around 5pm yesterday that its systems were starting to recover but it has since said that resolving the issue had taken ‘longer than hoped’ and disruption will continue into today…

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Airbnb. The European Commission is set to give cities across the trading block more powers to cut short term rentals such as those offered by Airbnb. The move is aimed at bringing down housing costs for local people…

Starboard Hotels added a portfolio of seven Accor hotel sites including units in Birmingham, Sheffield, Luton, Southampton and London. The sites will be managed by Starboard under existing Accor franchise agreements.

Ryanair has become the latest airline to report that flight prices are set to rise further. It says it will cut some 2 million seats from its winter schedule and cut its FY27 traffic target from 216 million to 214 million passengers….

FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS – FULL YEAR NUMBERS:

FDEV reports revenue up 16% at £104.8m with adjusted operating profit up by 62% at £21.4m. PBT was £25.3m compared to £12.4m in the prior year. EPS is 70.0p on a diluted basis (versus an unadjusted EPS of 40.7p in the prior year. The company has announced a special dividend (see below). FDEV reports that revenue growth was ‘led by the success of Jurassic World Evolution 3, and the ongoing strength of the Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo franchises.’ It says that ‘excluding a non-recurring £3.9m gain from the sale of publishing rights in FY25, Adjusted Operating Profit more than doubled year-on-year.’ The company adds that ‘cash increased to £44.0m at 31 May 2026 (31 May 2025: £42.5m), despite investing £17.5m in Frontier shares during the year. Excluding this investment, cash increased by a record £19.0m (FY25: £13.0m).’ As at 31 August, the company has some £51.4m in cash and the board has
announced a £5.0m special dividend (14.1p per share) payable on 9 October 2026.

Outlook:

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OTHER LEISURE:

Gym Group has announced H1 numbers to end-June saying that revenue for the period increased by 10%, with average members up 5% to 1 million and average revenue per member per month up 5%. It adds that LFL sales rose by 3% and adds that ‘Group Adjusted EBITDA Less Normalised Rent at £30.8m was 12% ahead of the prior year period as revenue growth continues to outpace cost inflation…’

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Channel Four. The Guardian reports that the state-owned operator Channel Four is set to cut about 300 jobs, around a quarter of its workforce, in what will be the biggest round of layoffs in its 43-year history.

The Daily Mail reports that Bet365 is ‘slashing hundreds of UK jobs following the Government’s tax raid on the gambling sector.’ It says that the business, which is run by Britain’s best-paid woman Denise Coates, said it was shedding 300 jobs at its headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, which employs around 5,500 people. Then chancellor Rachel Reeves increased the tax on remote gaming from 21% to 40% in her last Budget….

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And staying with gambling, The Guardian reports that ‘half of the Premier League’s 20 clubs have sponsorship or advertising deals with unlicensed gambling companies that could be illegal next year under plans being developed by the government.’ This will clearly impact their income, at least in the short term.

Merlin Entertainments: Sky News reports that Merlin is ‘nearing a £650m refinancing that will involve some of its best-known British attractions.’ It says that the visitor attractions company has ‘reached agreement on a deal to replace debt which was due to mature next year with new borrowings secured against assets including the London Eye, London Dungeon and Shrek’s Adventure London.’

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Canada’s PM, Mark Carney, has said that Canada’s pivot away from the US as its largest trading partner ‘will come at a cost’. This as US President Trump further threatened to halt all US business with Canada-based airplane maker Bombardier.

Sterling mixed at €1.1644 and $1.3547. Oil up at $99.00. UK 10 year gilt yield up 5 basis points at 5.20%. World markets mostly lower yesterday & London set to open around 46 points lower as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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