London loves Thursday! 3.3m use Tube in return to (co-working) office – and the pub This train terminates at, the pub Thursday is now the most popular day for London workers to head into the office – with over 3.3m jumping on the tube to join colleagues for after work drinks. According to the latest ridership from TFL and WeWork shared exclusively with City A.M, Thursday is now the most popular weekday to travel on the [...]
Tim Martin’s JD Wetherspoon blames ‘ferocious’ inflation for profits plummeting 91 per cent JD Wetherspoon The chief of JD Wetherspoon has said blamed “ferocious” inflationary pressures in the pub industry as the pub giant reveals a 90.9 per cent loss in profits for the 26 weeks to January. As the cheap beer chain felt the hangover from Covid-19 and Brexit supply issues, pre-tax profits were down to £4.6m compared to [...]
Retail: 40 per cent of high street shops will have to be repurposed or they will ‘wither on the vine’, local leaders warn Retail Some 40 per cent of high street shops will have to be repurposed or they will “wither on the vine” as the demand for physical retail dwindles, local leaders have warned. According to a survey by trade body Revo and consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton, as first reported by The Guardian, the need to reinvent retail [...]
888: Share price tanks as betting giant struggles to regain market confidence following chief’s exit March 23, 2023 The share price for William Hill owner 888 tanked this morning as the group struggles to regain investor confidence following an investigation of its VIP services and exit of its chief executive earlier this year. It comes despite the betting giant, which also owns gambling brands such as 888 Casino, revealing that it is trading [...]
Share price down for 32Red and Platinum Gaming owner after £7.1m fine for failing gamblers March 23, 2023 Online gambling group Kindred Group’s share price slumped more than two per cent at the open this morning, after two of its major operators 32Red and Platinum Gaming were slapped with a £7.1m fine for regulation failures. The betting firm was wrapped for failures in its social responsibility duties and anti-money laundering measures, according to [...]
First Kingfisher now Wickes: DIY drop off dents profit for home improvement – but it’s not all bad news March 23, 2023 Wickes has seen a drop in profits for the year as consumers’ love for home improvements took a dent from rising costs, despite the company reporting ‘record’ sales. The DIY retailer posted pre-tax profits of £75.4m down from a “record” £85.0m in 2021 when Brits were engulfed in a number of circuit breaker lockdowns and [...]
Budweiser hints at future price rises as cost inflation starts to bite March 22, 2023 Budweiser has hinted that it might have to raise its prices in the UK and Ireland in the future as cost inflation continues to hit companies’ bottom lines. Brian Perkins, group president of Budweiser Brewing Group in UK and Ireland, told City A.M., that “no company has been immune to cost inflation”. Explaining the dilemma [...]
London renters forking out ‘unseasonable’ £570 a week as supply of homes dwindles March 22, 2023 London rent prices have shown no sign of cooling in February, with renters in the capital now forking out up to £570 per week on affordable accommodation costs. According to figures by letting agent Foxtons, a limited pool of supply and challenging economic outlook has forced rent prices up five per cent in the capital [...]
The imperfect tonic: Fever-Tree to raise prices amid soaring cost inflation March 22, 2023 Up market tonic maker Fever-Tree has revealed plans to hike its prices, as it continues to navigate a surge in production costs. The company said made a loss in earnings for the year with revenues down 0.2 per cent to £116.2m from £118.3m the prior year. The London-listed adult drinks company said it felt the financial [...]
Superdry share price up three per cent after sale of Asian Pacific IP for £40m March 22, 2023 Struggling fashion brand Superdry has sold the intellectual property of its Asia Pacific offering to South Korean retail group Cowell Fashion Company for $50m (£40m) in a bid to boost funds. The deal will see Cowell own and sell the Superdry in the Asian market starting with its home market of South Korea and then [...]
