Latest / Hospitality News Briefing / Thursday 15 October: Stonegate nears £300m pub sell-off to Heineken to tackle debt mountain
Transcript
- Good morning. This is the Hospitality News Briefing, from Ops Club. Episode twenty, Thursday the fifteenth of October. Here is what the UK trade press reported this morning, collated for operators. Stonegate is reportedly close to selling three hundred pubs to Heineken for three hundred million pounds, as the industry delivers a four hundred thousand signature V A T petition to Downing Street ahead of the Budget. First, the numbers. Langton Capital reports that Nightcap has narrowed its losses. The group saw a pre-tax loss of four point three seven million pounds for the year to September twenty twenty five. That's down from nearly twelve million the year before. Revenue fell twenty per cent, but that was over a shorter fifty two week period. The eighty point four per cent gross profit margin shows the brand is staying resilient. Propel Hospitality Info reports a record year for Scotsman Hospitality. Sales climbed five point five per cent to over one hundred and eighty four million pounds. Their ee bit dah rose nearly twelve per cent to thirty three point one million. The group is investing sixty million pounds into new hotels and student housing to protect the bottom line. Three quick briefs from the morning reports. Langton Capital says D P Poland saw system sales rise over ten per cent in the third quarter. That was mostly down to higher spend per order. Also in Propel, Academy Music saw profits top five million pounds as admissions reached two point six million. Finally, Domino's franchisee Silver Fox Acquisitions saw revenue rise, but pre-tax profits dipped to just under sixty three thousand pounds. On to who is buying what. Stonegate is set to exchange contracts with Heineken's Star Pubs and Bars for about three hundred sites. Propel reports the three hundred million pound proceeds will help Stonegate chip away at its three billion pound debt pile. It's a major move in the leased and tenanted sector. Elsewhere in investment, Propel notes Admiral Taverns has boosted its capital expenditure budget to thirty eight point four million pounds for twenty twenty seven. The Caterer reports Leonardo Hotels has bought The Bristol for eleven point five million pounds. They plan a major revamp. Ace Padel has secured five hundred thousand pounds to expand in the Midlands and the North. Also, Langton Capital reports The Adil Group has acquired twenty two K F C sites from a former operator. Looking at new openings, a French giant is heading our way. Marie Blachere operates over eight hundred and eighty sites in France and is now looking for U K partners. Propel reports they're planning large out of town bakeries and smaller travel hubs. They sell three hundred million baguettes a year, so they'll be a serious competitor for high street coffee and bakery brands. In other opening news, The Caterer reports the building housing Rules, London's oldest restaurant, has been gifted to the National Trust. Propel reports that Spanish brand GoodNews is making its London debut in Cheapside. Noble Hospitality Group has taken the former Soif site for its pizza concept, Alley Cats. Iro Sushi has reached forty sites with a new opening in Glasgow. And The Caterer reports Cafe Francois will debut in Dubai in twenty twenty seven. A few moves to note. Louise Orrin-Seemann has joined Neos Hospitality as C F O. Also, Charlotte Horler has been named General Manager of the Guild Hotel Marble Arch. Bigger picture, the C B I is calling for a change to National Insurance. City A M reports they want the employer threshold raised to six thousand pounds. This could help firms struggling with the cost of hiring young workers. On the markets, Langton Capital reports grocery inflation has edged up to two point five per cent. Sterling rose to one point one eight Euros, while the ten year gilt yield, which is what it costs the government to borrow for a decade, rose to five point four four per cent. Finally, the industry is making its voice heard on V A T. The Morning Advertiser reports that Tom Kerridge and Allen Simpson from U K Hospitality have delivered a petition to Number Ten. It has four hundred thousand signatures calling for a cut to ten per cent V A T. Elsewhere, a strike at a Diageo distillery has been suspended for talks, and Liverpool council has approved a plan to curb excess drinking while supporting the night time economy. Three things to think about before you get on with the day. With Stonegate offloading three hundred sites and Heineken snapping them up, have you reviewed your own estate's tail lately? Is it time to sell the bottom ten per cent to fund the top ten per cent? If the C B I gets its way and the National Insurance threshold rises by one thousand pounds, how many more junior roles could you afford to add to your Christmas rota? Marie Blachere is coming for the U K high street with a massive baguette volume play. How does your lunch offer stand up against a specialist French bakery moving in next door? The full rundown is at ops dash club dot com, where every story links back to the publication that reported it. Today's pulled from Langton Capital, Propel Hospitality Info, The Caterer, City AM and The Morning Advertiser - a signpost to their reporting, not a replacement for it. Scripted and read by AI and published without a human check, so check the original before you act on anything. For longer conversations with the people running the sector, find the Hospitality Ops Club podcast. That is your briefing. Have a great day.