Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Jeremy Hunt to cut business tax and national insurance: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will use his autumn statement to cut national insurance for 28 million people and unveil permanent tax cuts for businesses. Hunt is expected to reduce the headline rates of national insurance for employees and the self-employed. A 1% cut would cost about £5bn and be worth roughly £380 a year to someone earning more than £50,000. Hunt will also make permanent a £10bn-a-year tax break for companies that invest in equipment and technology, a move he will bill as the biggest tax cut for businesses in modern British history, reports The Times. Yesterday (Tuesday, 21 November), Hunt said the lowest-paid workers will have their wages raised by almost 10% next year after he approved a significant increase in the National Living Wage. From April, businesses will be required to pay all workers £11.44 an hour, up from £10.42. Ministers said this represented a rise of more than £1,800 a year for a full-time worker, the third-largest increase in real terms since the living wage was introduced in 2016. The move has been criticised by hospitality businesses that are now facing even higher labour costs. Ministers have become markedly more upbeat about the public finances in recent days, meaning “we can now talk about tax cuts”. However, even as Hunt insisted the economy was “back on track”, the governor of the Bank of England said that the risk from inflation was being underestimated. Andrew Bailey told MPs that market expectations of cuts in interest rates in the middle of next year put “too much weight” on recent falls in the speed of price rises, saying that rate-setters remained “concerned about the potential persistence of inflation”. Hunt has decided to put cuts to national insurance at the heart of his budget because they affect people who are in work. Plans to reduce income tax were considered but are more likely to be unveiled in the spring budget. At present, employees earning more than £12,570 a year pay 12% national insurance on their earnings up to £50,200, while self-employed workers pay 9%. A 1% cut would cost about £5bn, less than cutting inheritance tax. However, the Resolution Foundation think tank said that most people would still pay more national insurance overall because of the impact of the decision to freeze the threshold at which people pay it. Critics have described the policy as a “stealth tax” because freezing thresholds rather than raising them in line with inflation means the government takes more of people’s income.

Premium subscribers to receive all videos from Propel Multi-Club Conference on 1 December: Premium subscribers are to receive access to all the videos from this month’s Propel Multi-Club Conference. Premium subscribers will be sent 12 videos on Monday, 1 December at 9am. The videos will include Michelle Hazlewood, partner at specialist licensing solicitors John Gaunt & Partners; Yolk founder Nick Philpot; Laura Mimoun, co-founder of Kaleido Rolls; Shereen Ritchie, chief operating officer of Buns from Home; David McDowall, chief executive of Stonegate Group; Clare Clough, UK managing director at Pret A Manger; Richard Ferrier, chief executive of the Heartwood Collection; John Eckbert, chief executive of Five Guys; and Jeremy King, the co-founder of Corbin & King, and doyenne of London’s dining scene. Emma Bernardez, head of hospitality at haysmacintyre, talks to David Roberts, corporate partner at CMS McKenna, Chris Miller, chief executive of White Rabbit, Thomas Boszko, partner at Alchemy Partners, and Craig Rachel, director at AlixPartners, about the current investment market, where the buyer activity is centred and current investment criteria in a volatile market. Propel group editor Mark Wingett talks to leading sector property directors on how the industry landscape is changing and what buyers are looking for, with Sophie Street, head of acquisitions at Zambrero, Marcello Distefano, managing director of San Carlo Group, Chris Moore, property and strategy director at Star Pubs & Bars, and Graeme Bunn, property director at Red Oak Taverns. Mark Stretton managing director of Fleet Street, talks to Gabriella Overeem, head of partner management at Uber Eats, Joe Heather, general manager of UK & Ireland at Deliverect, Johnnie Tate, founder of Yard Sale Pizza, and Mark Murphy, founder of Burgerism, about what comes next as the sector continues to seek the best way of integrating a delivery model after the boom during the pandemic. Premium subscribers receive all the videos from Propel conferences each year – around 100 in total. Propel managing director Paul Charity said: “This is a great way to keep you team abreast of what’s happening in the sector.” Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Premium subscribers also receive access to six databases: the Propel Multi-Site Database, which is produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database; and the Who's Who of UK Food and Beverage. They also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Mark Wingett.

Britvic reports GB revenue up 7.9% as turnover from hospitality increases 8.9%: Britvic has reported revenue in its Great Britain division increased 7.9% to £1,187.7m for the year ending 30 September 2023 compared with £1,100.4m the previous year with turnover from hospitality up 8.9%. The company also reported a 2.3% decline in volume. Britvic stated: “The volume decline was primarily driven by a softer fourth quarter performance, reflecting a tough comparable from the hot summer last year and the disappointing weather across this year’s summer. The average realised price growth resulted from the actions taken during the year to mitigate cost inflation, including implementing price increases, optimising promotional activity and brand/channel mix. Revenue increased across both the retail and hospitality channels, up 7.2% and 8.9% respectively. Consequently, brand contribution increased 12.6% and brand contribution margin increased 170 basis points. Both our owned-brand and PepsiCo portfolios were in growth. Pepsi, led by MAX, and Tango were the major growth drivers, with revenue increasing 7.7% and 20.7% respectively. J2O, Fruit Shoot and Lipton also enjoyed strong growth and we delivered significant acceleration in London Essence, Plenish and Aqua Libra, where we are investing to realise the long-term future growth potential in these fast-growing spaces. Robinsons growth was led by the ready to drink pack format, while the flavour concentrates pack format was broadly flat. Up to quarter three, Robinsons was in strong growth, before the poor summer weather heavily impacted the category, which underperformed total soft drinks. While Rockstar continued to be a drag on performance, we did deliver a significant improvement in the second half of the year, following the upweighting of marketing activity and field sales resource. Full year revenue declined over 19%, compared to a 25% decline in the first half, with a sequential improvement into quarter four.” Group revenue increased 6.6% to £1,748.6m for the year ending 30 September 2023 compared with £1,618.3m the previous year as it made “excellent progress in a challenging market”. Adjusted Ebit was up 5.9% to £218.4m from £206.0m the year before. Pre-tax profit was down to £156.8m from £175.1m the previous year. Chief executive Simon Litherland said: “We have delivered another set of excellent results, making strong progress across our people, planet and performance measures. Our portfolio of family favourite brands and focus on great tasting, healthier drinks offer both quality and value at affordable prices. We have continued to invest across our supply chain, adding capacity and upgrading technology, while also building our brands and portfolio, including the acquisitions of Extra Power in Brazil and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee in Great Britain. Looking ahead, we have clear strategic priorities for 2024 and an exciting programme of marketing and innovation launches coming to market. With our fantastic portfolio and talented, engaged team, I am confident Britvic will continue to make excellent progress next year and beyond, delivering growth and creating value for all our stakeholders.”