Pubbers in need of an everyday treat boost Greene King June 28, 2012 GREENE King’s full year results suggest that the pub industry, if anything, is recession resilient. The pub operator and brewer posted record pre-tax profits of £152m, up 8.6 per cent on the year before, as revenues jumped 9.4 per cent to £1.14bn. Chief executive Rooney Anand told City A.M., “After reaching the £1bn turnover landmark [...]
DO YOU STILL GO OUT TO EAT IN PUBS AND RESTAURANTS? June 28, 2012 MARTIN JACKS SKANSEN INTERIORS “I still go to restaurants and pubs as much as I used to, in fact probably more, as I want to take my mind off everything that is going on economically. People are more picky about where they go and pubs are considered cheaper.” STEPHEN ALLEN RFC AMBRIAN “Of course I [...]
FOCUS ON: GUILDFORD June 28, 2012 ALBURY HEIGHTS Price: £4.95m Albury Heights is a substantial family home recently built in the Georgian style. It includes six bedrooms and six en suite bath/shower rooms, reception hall, drawing room, dining room, family room and office. Contact Savills on 01483 796 820 or go to savills.com. ENNISMORE AVENUE Price: £1.85m A five bedroom double-fronted [...]
First dip in net mortgage lending since counting began, say banks June 27, 2012 NET MORTGAGE lending fell in May for the first time since the British Banking Association (BBA) began measuring the figure in 1997, the financial sector industry group said yesterday. With capital repayments outpacing stable gross lending, net mortgage lending dipped by £73m from April. And mortgage approvals fell 3.4 per cent in the year to [...]
Restaurant Giraffe looks east after Johnson leads growth June 25, 2012 RESTAURANT group Giraffe is set to open a branch in Dubai as its turnaround continues under serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson. The firm, backed by 3i and Johnson’s Risk Capital Partners, posted an operating profit of £1.1m for the year to 25 March, after recording a £2.5m loss for the same period the previous year, when [...]
Touch-down in Shanghai: getting ready for business June 24, 2012 MAKING my way across Shanghai following a 12 hour flight from London and a six hour flight from Boston left me urgently desirous of a tranquil bedroom, soft bed and a deep bath. As I was heading to the Four Seasons, I figured the only obstacle to achieving these would be traffic – an elegantly [...]
Costa Coffee owner Whitbread boosts sales by 13.9 per cent June 19, 2012 Sales at hotel and restaurant group Whitbread, the owner of Costa Coffee, were up 13.9 per cent in the last quarter. Excluding new openings, like-for-like sales were up 4.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to 31 May 2012, the group said this morning. Most of the growth came from the firm’s flagship coffee chain, [...]
Majestic Wine finds reason to celebrate with record profits June 18, 2012 THE BOSS of Majestic Wine said the UK public was as much in love with food and wine as ever, after consumers spending on special occasions helped to drive record full-year profits. The wine retailer posted pre-tax profits of £23.2m, up 14.5 per cent in the year to 2 April, helped in part by growing [...]
Luke Johnson sinks his teeth into new deal June 17, 2012 LUKE Johnson, the entrepreneur behind Italian restaurants Strada and Pizza Express, is set to buy struggling dental care chain James Hull. A source close to the deal told City A.M. that Johnson, chair of private equity firm Risk Capital Partners, is in advanced talks with the high-end dentistry firm over a takeover. The recession has [...]
The ace of clubs: Building an innovative legacy at Home House June 17, 2012 WHEN the offer went up by yet another £1m I had to say yes. My heart was heavy though because I was proud of what we had created from scratch, against the odds. I’d also had a lot of fun. The business was the now famous London club, Home House. Eight years earlier, Brian Clivaz [...]