UK top pubs, restaurants and cafes ranked: Costa, Greggs and Wetherspoon top consumer opinion poll of high street brands with the best reputation April 20, 2018 Public perception is rising for a clutch of major high street food and drink brands, a new report has revealed. Costa, Greggs and JD Wetherspoon have gained the most momentum when it comes to consumer attitudes, data research company CGA said. The report ranks operators by how fast they are building their brand awareness, positive [...]
DEBATE: Could quitting social media like Wetherspoons did be a good idea for brands? April 18, 2018 Could quitting social media like Wetherspoons did be a good idea for brands? Beatrice Timpson, director at Media Intelligence Partners, says YES. A social media profile is only as good as its content. If, like Wetherspoons, you have 900 Facebook and Twitter accounts, each attracting very moderate engagement from followers, and no overarching sense of [...]
FTSE firms including Persimmon, BP and JD Wetherspoon warned of investor revolts over gender diversity April 17, 2018 A number of FTSE 350 companies could face investor revolts over low female representation within leadership roles, the investment managers’ trade body said today. It warned that investors were “becoming restless” over the lack of progress being made. The Investment Association, which represents investment managers collectively owning one third of the FTSE, and the government-backed [...]
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin: We’ll shut down our social media after privacy, addiction and trolling concerns April 16, 2018 JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin today slammed social media sites as he vowed to shut down the pub chain’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages. In the wake of the Facebook privacy scandal as well as the use of social media to troll figures including MPs, Martin said this morning that all accounts would be shut [...]
Drinks giant AB InBev urges shareholders to support Conviviality March 25, 2018 AB InBev is urging shareholders of troubled drinks distributor Conviviality to support the business as it seeks out support from the City. Conviviality is under pressure after it discovered errors in its accounts and an unexpected tax bill of £30m. Management has now embarked upon an equity fundraise. Read more: Troubled Conviviality to raise funds [...]
Rihanna roils markets as China bags a key element March 21, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (March 12 to March 16, 2018). This week, Barbadian singing sensation Rihanna managed to wipe $1bn off the valuation of tech group Snap, the Chinese secured a major cobalt deal to help it produce electric [...]
Rihanna roils markets as China bags a key element March 16, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (March 12 to March 16, 2018). This week, Barbadian singing sensation Rihanna managed to wipe $1bn off the valuation of tech group Snap, the Chinese secured a major cobalt deal to help it produce electric [...]
Wetherspoons sales and profits up but tax troubles lie ahead March 16, 2018 JD Wetherspoon enjoyed a boost in profits last year, with operating profit up nearly 14 per cent and profit before tax up more than 20 per cent. The pub chain also saw its revenue increase by 3.6 per cent to £830.4m and its like-for-like sales increase by 6 per cent. Earnings per share were up [...]
Pub group Hawthorn Leisure to attract interest from competitors as private equity owner calls closing time on investment March 4, 2018 The 300-strong UK pub group Hawthorn Leisure is up for sale, according to industry sources, as its private equity owner looks to pass the group on. The young pub group, which was founded in 2014 by former Merrill Lynch banker Noah Bulkin with funding from Avenue Capital, is in the early stages of a process [...]
British pubs closing at rate of two a day since April business rates hike | City A.M. February 5, 2018 Two pubs a day have shut their doors since last April, according to new research. Some 616 pubs have been demolished or converted to other uses since the change in business rates came into force, real estate adviser Altus Group has said. But the overall rate of decline has slowed since the decade following the [...]