Five Rightmove ads that show how screwed the London rental market is July 12, 2023 London’s rental market is hellish, with landlords selling up to avoid hefty mortgage payments and its supply pool dwindling daily, renters in the capital have their work cut out for them trying to find a place to call home. City A.M. has trawled the pages of Rightmove to showcase some of the ‘premium’ pads on [...]
Loungers: Cafe and Bar operator looks for further expansion as cooling inflation for hospitality boosts revenue July 12, 2023 Cafe and bar operator Loungers revenues jumped 19 per cent during the year, as the owner of the Lounger and Cosy Club was bolstered by 29 new site openings. The London-listed hospitality chain recorded earnings of £47.3m which represents growth of 66 per cent since it first listed on the stock exchange in April 2019. [...]
‘I started this as a hobby’: Cricket star Stuart Broad reflects on his naive start to the world of hospitality July 12, 2023 England cricketer turned pub landlord Stuart Broad has admitted he had a “naive” understanding about what it took to run a hospitality business, as he reopens his pub amid a period of soaring bills and red hot inflation. The 37-year old sports star has recently relaunched his pub and restaurant The Tap and Run in [...]
H&T shares up: Pawnbroker lending rockets as cash-strapped Brits sell valuables July 11, 2023 Britain’s biggest pawnbroker H&T saw its share price soar this morning, following news that lending grew 22 per cent as punters have been forced to flog off goods to secure extra funds during the cost of living crisis. Ahead of its interim results, which are due to be published in early August, H&T said that [...]
Retailers struggle to rack in sales in June as shoppers continue to scale back July 7, 2023 Retailers continued to show signs of struggling in June, new figures show, as sales growth remained well below inflation due to customers scaling back their shopping habits due to the cost of living crisis. Total like-for-like sales in June grew 1.9 per cent from last year’s base of 8.4 per cent, according to figures from [...]
We are not rip-off retailers, says Sainsbury’s July 6, 2023 Bosses at Sainsbury’s have said they are “not rip-off retailer” or “profiteers” as they defended the profit made by the retailer amid scrutiny related to food inflation over the past year. The company also defended increased pay packages for its senior executives at its annual general meeting in London, despite the continued cost-of-living crisis. It [...]
Young’s: Pub chain shrugs off inflation as London acquisitions spur revenue bump July 6, 2023 Young & Co’s Brewery provided a cheery update to investors this morning as the pub operator revealed a 8.3 per cent lift in revenues in the first thirteen weeks of the year. The 220-strong pub chain said it was boosted by a string of acquisitions it made last year in London and the wider UK, [...]
Currys: £60m wiped off market cap as share price tanks 12 per cent after retailer pulls dividend July 6, 2023 Around £60m has been wiped off Currys’ market cap this morning as its share price tanked over 12 per cent, following the retailer pulling its dividend in wake of poor results. Currys revealed that it would not be paying its final dividend to shareholders following poor performance, as its Nordic arm weighed down revenue. The retailer [...]
Brits spend £4.1bn drinking beer at home during cost of living and price of a pint crises July 4, 2023 Brits are staying at home and cracking open cold beers from the fridge, as twin cost of living and price of a pint crises change drinkers’ habits. New research out today show a 25 per cent surge in beer sales in supermarkets and shops outside local boozers, during the cost of living crisis. While the [...]
Le Pain Quotidien operator crashes into administration with only one London store to survive July 3, 2023 A City hotspot for morning coffee, Le Pain Quotidien, has closed all but one of its sites across London, in another fatal blow for the city’s hospitality sector. The Belgian coffee chain, which operates from eight sites across the capital, including a cafe on Fish Street Hill in Monument, has closed all of its sites [...]