Hollywood Bowl reports record first half group revenue: Hollywood Bowl Group, the UK’s largest ten-pin bowling operator, has reported record first half group revenue of £119.2m (H1 FY2023: £110.2m), with UK like-for-like revenue growth of 1.3%. The company said that for the six months ended 31 March 2024 group adjusted Ebitda increased by 10% to £38.6m, while adjusted profit before tax grew by 11.7%, to £30.9m. Statutory profit before tax grew by £2.8m to £29.5m (H1 FY2023: £26.7m) up 10.5% on the prior period. The company said that on a like-for-like basis, UK spend per game increased by 3.2% in the period, to £11.21 in H1 FY2024, whilst volumes, on the back of exceptionally strong growth over the previous two years, were down only 1.6%. It said its Canadian business continues to perform strongly with 8% like-for-like revenue growth on a constant currency basis in the bowling centres during the period. The company said: “In line with our value for money positioning, we increased headline prices by only 1.4%, well below inflation, maintaining affordability for our customers. We are currently on-site refurbishing Hollywood Bowl at the London O2 and Portsmouth Gunwharf Quay and will complete at least two further refurbishments during the second half. Pins on Strings were installed in a further six centres during the first half and by the end of the financial year all but two of our centres will benefit from this cost saving and customer experience enhancing technology. We are currently on site at new centres in Westwood Cross in Kent and Colchester, at the Northern Gateway leisure complex, combining 26 bowling lanes, mini-golf, bar, diner and an amusement offer.” The company, which operates 71 sites in the UK at the period end, said it was well positioned to grow group estate to over 130 centres. Stephen Burns, chief executive, said: “We are pleased to have welcomed so many families, friends and colleagues to our centres in the first half, demonstrating the continued demand for high-quality, family-friendly leisure experiences at affordable prices, particularly against the backdrop of higher living expenses. I am extremely grateful to our excellent team members whose hard work has resulted in even longer customer dwell times and higher satisfaction score. We are proud to invest in our team and to once again be recognised as a top company to work for. We continue to expect further, modest like-for-like growth, even with the very strong prior year comparative, as a result of our customer-led innovation and investment in our profitable growth strategy. We are confident in the outlook for Hollywood Bowl and in our ability to capture the longer-term opportunity to grow our estate to over 130 centres in the next ten years.”

Restaurant-brand ‘fakeaways’ are latest treat for cut-price dining: Nothing beats a home-cooked meal but a decent takeaway can also be a real treat. Now Britons are trying to get the best of both worlds by turning to shop-bought “fakeaways” as a way of treating themselves on a budget, according to supermarket sales data. The Times reports that figures from Ocado show that sales of restaurant-branded products such as Franco Manca pizzas, Gourmet Burger Kitchen burgers and Itsu meals have soared by more than 50% over the past year. Customers are significantly more likely to have these products delivered on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the online grocer’s data reveals, suggesting that people are using them as a weekend treat in front of the TV or when seeing family and friends. Ocado said that Friday was the most popular delivery day for products from Franco Manca, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Leon and Pizza Express, and shoppers were most likely to buy Nando’s, Wagamama and YO! Sushi food on a Sunday. Customers can even get a taste of Michelin-starred dining at home. Sales of sauces from Gymkhana, a Michelin two-star Indian restaurant in London, have risen by 111% at Ocado, while sales of Hawksmoor steaks are up 32% since last year. While restaurant-branded products are generally more expensive than other brands or own-brand alternatives, they are still markedly cheaper than in the restaurant or to have delivered. For example, Franco Manca’s spicy salami and fried onion pizza costs £5.75 at Ocado but the equivalent pizza would cost £12.30 in the restaurant or £14.25 for delivery by Deliveroo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, most reviews suggest that the pizza, while nice, is not near the standard of the restaurant equivalent. Ocado said consumers were facing “difficult choices” about how and where to spend and that was driving the trend for fakeaways. Research by Savanta last month found that three quarters of Britons say they are more conscious of their spending on takeaways and meals out than they were a year ago. This has also been the experience of Just Eat, the delivery service, where order numbers fell 6% in 2023 compared with the previous year. The Savanta research also found that more than half of people said that buying restaurant-branded products rather than ordering takeaways was a way to treat themselves whilst still being money-conscious.

Gender pay gap ‘will close in 45 years’: The gender pay gap in Britain is closing more slowly than it was, with companies still struggling to promote women to more senior roles. The Times reports the average male worker earned 11.8% more than the average female last year, according to data from PwC, the Big Four accounting firm. That is down from 12.2% in 2022, which itself was an improvement on the 12.9% recorded in 2021. The gender pay gap has come down in each of the past three years, but PwC said the “rate of change remains modest”. On its calculations, it will take more than 45 years for the gap to close completely, meaning that parity “remains out of sight for a 21-year-old woman entering the workforce today”. Of the 10,000 or so businesses that disclose their gender pay gaps, six in ten reported an improvement last year, although most of these reductions were of less than two percentage points. A fifth of companies said their gaps had stayed the same or had worsened, slightly more than in the previous year. “While the gender pay gap continues to move in the right direction, the data once again highlights that organisations are facing difficulties in meaningfully reducing reporting figures,” Katy Bennett, diversity and inclusion consulting director at PwC, said. “Societal barriers play a strong part, but there are still things businesses can do to drive change.”

Major closure alert for hundreds of pubs as fears in Ireland: Hundreds of pubs in rural Ireland are in danger of closing unless the government helps them bring their costs down. The warning was issued by members of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) after a nationwide survey among its publicans showed many are struggling to survive. The Sun reports the survey focused on factors contributing to the cost of doing business and was published in the Spring VFI Voice magazine. It found that almost one in two – 44% – of country pubs have seen their business costs rise by over 30% in the past year, which is affecting their viability. Their greatest concern in the battle to keep their doors open is energy prices, followed by increased staff costs, taxation – including business rates and excise duty – and insurance. Meanwhile, 24% said their costs had gone up by between 21% to 30%. The VFI is demanding that the government reduce the VAT rate for the hospitality sector back from 13% to 9% to relieve the financial pressure and to get energy costs down. A recent report from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland showed that 2,000 pubs across the country had closed since 2005, with the country pubs most at risk. In 2022 alone over 120 shut down and never re-opened.