JD Wetherspoon reports “slightly weaker” sales as World Cup fans drink at home July 9, 2014 Pub group JD Wetherspoon has revealed that sales have been slightly weaker during the World Cup, reflecting suggestions fans have been drinking at home during matches instead of going to bars. The results were released as part of a pre-close statement covering the financial year, which ends on 27 July. The statement also showed that like-for-like [...]
Guinness brews up competition for craft beers September 4, 2014 Diageo is fending off rising competition from craft beer makers by launching its own under the Guinness brand, the drinks giant revealed yesterday. The FTSE 100 company said it had launched two new beers, a Dublin porter and a West Indies porter, which will be available in certain pubs and shops by mid-September. The West [...]
Punch Taverns launches long-awaited £2.3bn debt deal August 18, 2014 BRITAIN’S second largest pub group yesterday launched a £2.3bn debt restructuring proposal, largely unchanged from the one announced in June and aims to reduce Punch’s debt by £600m, now with the support of 65 per cent of its lenders. After nearly 650 days of negotiations with lenders over how Punch could best secure the future [...]
Bottom Line: The pub group’s grim warnings failed to land a knockout blow January 15, 2014 THAT’S not the way to do it. Punch Taverns was well aware of the problem some of its lenders had with its restructuring plan as set out in December last year. Yesterday, it tried to bludgeon the opposition, announcing proposals it called final, the result of 14 months of engagement. Setting out certain concessions, it [...]
Twitter chatter about BBC One’s Sherlock nets London £11m in free advertising November 13, 2014 Twitter chatter about the BBC One drama Sherlock has generated millions in free advertising spend for London's tourism industry, according to new research by Film London. The study crunched nearly 35 million likes, mentions and tweets from a range of websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Pinterest to establish the "screen tourism" effect. Adrian Wootton, [...]
Enthusiastic UK shoppers boost growth hopes as spending on cards increases October 13, 2014 Shoppers are splashing out more in almost every area of spending, Barclaycard numbers showed yesterday, indicating there is more life yet in the economic recovery. Overall, spending on cards last month was 4.8 per cent higher than it was in September last year – the fastest annual increase since May 2013. Spending in restaurants jumped [...]
Opcapita exec made chairman at Dairy Crest September 17, 2014 DAIRY Crest, the owner of Cathedral City cheese, yesterday named non-executive director and Opcapita partner Stephen Alexander as its new chairman. Alexander has worked in the consumer industry for over 30 years and joined Dairy Crest as a non-executive director in 2011. He replaces Anthony Fry, who is stepping down due to ill health, with [...]
Royal Mail and miners weigh heavily on FTSE – London Report November 19, 2014 THE FTSE 100 ended a four-day rally yesterday as falling iron ore prices hit mining stocks and trading updates from Royal Mail and testing firm Intertek disappointed investors. Hit by its heavy weighting in commodity-related stocks, the blue chip index underperformed European peers, dropping 12.53 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6,696.60 points. One of the [...]
Karen Hester: From part-time cleaner to Adnams director October 7, 2014 Karen Hester was scouring for a job that would allow her to juggle being a full-time mum to her two young children when she came across a vacancy at the Suffolk brewer Adnams for a part-time cleaner. It was 1988 and Hester had returned to the UK after living in Germany with her former husband, [...]
London Report: Economic data to show UK recovery on a steady course August 31, 2014 ECONOMIC data due this week appears to show continuing steady growth in the UK’s economy, with little chance of an interest rate rise when the Bank of England announces its latest decision on Thursday. Mortgage approvals data for July, due today, may have dipped slightly, but analysts expect this weakness to be temporary. Meanwhile manufacturing [...]