Enterprise sales hit by snow January 20, 2011 ENTERPRISE Inns said snow kept drinkers at home in December wiping up to £2m off its first-quarter profit. The group, which has around 6,800 pubs across Britain, said a cold snap of snow and ice leading up to Christmas caused a loss of earnings for many of its pub landlords. Net income at pubs where [...]
Private equity hits back after union blames it for mishandling business March 22, 2011 THE body representing private equity players has hit back at comments by the GMB union against pub group Punch, following its announcement of a demerger. Unions claimed Punch’s debt pile had been triggered by private equity failures and suggested that the business was being poorly run. The GMB described private equity as the “fifth horse [...]
REVEALED: HOW RICHARD DESMOND FIRST DRUMMED UP NEW BUSINESS June 1, 2011 EVERYONE has to start somewhere. Even Richard Desmond, the media baron with a personal fortune of £950m who bought Channel Five last July with some spare change he found down the back of his sofa. Desmond started on the road to founding his media empire early – aged 13, in fact, when he took his [...]
M&B to offload pubs for £373m August 20, 2010 Pubs and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has announced plans to sell 333 pubs as it concentrates on its premises offering food. The pubs are being sold to Stonegate Pub Company – which is controlled by TDR Capital – for £373m. Earlier this month, M&B announced the sale of its Hollywood Bowl 10-pin bowling [...]
A BUDGET FOR GROWTH | WHAT MEASURES COULD THE CHANCELLOR INTRODUCE THIS WEEK? March 20, 2011 ● National insurance to be merged with income tax The chancellor is expected to signal his intention to allow employers to pay national insurance and income tax in a single combined payment. ● Apprenticeships In a bid to tackle the high number of young “NEETS” (not in employment, education or training) 50,000 apprenticeships could be [...]
A BUDGET FOR GROWTH | WHAT MEASURES COULD THE CHANCELLOR INTRODUCE THIS WEEK? March 20, 2011 ● National insurance to be merged with income tax The chancellor is expected to signal his intention to allow employers to pay national insurance and income tax in a single combined payment. ● Apprenticeships In a bid to tackle the high number of young “NEETS” (not in employment, education or training) 50,000 apprenticeships could be [...]
Mitchells & Butlers chairman John Lovering to resign January 23, 2011 JOHN Lovering is set to step down as chairman of the pubs group Mitchells & Butlers this week, a year after taking over following an investor-led board battle. Lovering, the former chairman of retailer Debenhams, has told the board he wants to leave as soon as a successor is found, because he feels he has [...]
“Excellent” Christmas puts Marston’s ahead again January 28, 2011 Pub landlord Marston’s has delivered another warming trading update, beating sales and profit expectations in its three divisions. Marston’s, which owns and manages pubs and brews its own beer, said customers turned out to celebrate Christmas despite the snow and ice, with food sales the clear driver of its strong results. Like for like sales [...]
M&B sales rise fuelled by food January 27, 2011 Pubs and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers said it had seen strong trading over the Christmas period, boosted by food sales, but remained cautious on the outlook for consumer spending. The company, which has over 1,600 pubs and restaurants and whose chains include Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery, said like-for-like sales in the [...]
Wetherspoon sales growth accelerates January 19, 2011 JD Wetherspoon has reported accelerating sales growth in the second quarter of its fiscal year and said it was confident of a reasonable performance in 2011. The pub operator, which has nearly 800 premises across Britain, said sales at pubs open more than a year rose by three per cent in the 12 weeks to [...]