Premium Club members to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database this week: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club members on Friday (6 December). The database will show the details of 193 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. It will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club members will also receive a 10,943-word report on the 193 new additions to the database. The database is now segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. The database includes new openings in the pub and bar sector such as Sebb’s, the new underground bar from Scoop, Dubai operator Admo Lifestyle Holding’s rooftop bar and restaurant brand CeLa Vi, opening in London, and Ego Death, the “hidden bar” opening in Manchester. Premium Club members also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

SSP FY lfls up 9%: SSP Group, the operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, has reported revenue of £3.4bn for the year ended 30 September 2024, up 17% on the previous year, including like-for-like growth of 9%, helped by a good performance in the UK. It posted Ebitda of £343m (2023: £280m), while operating profit was £206m, up 32% on the previous 12 months. The company said it saw good performances in North America and the UK, benefiting from “strong sales growth and operating margin improvements year-on-year”. Its UK business posted full-year revenue of £893m, with like-for-like growth of 11%. Since year-end, the company said that trading has been “encouraging”, with total revenue during the first eight weeks (from 1 October to 25 November) up 13% on FY24 levels on a constant currency basis, including like-for-like growth of 5%. Patrick Coveney, chief executive of SSP Group, said: “We have delivered a strong second half performance and I would like to thank our colleagues, clients and brand partners around the world for all their support. SSP has strong fundamentals and benefits from the global travel market's sustained long-term growth trends. This was clearly visible in the FY24 performance in three of our four regional markets. However, Continental Europe performed below our expectations, which in turn impacted Group EPS and free cash flow. As we reach the next phase of our evolution post-Covid and with strong underlying growth across the group, our focus now is on driving greater value from a strengthened base. In Continental Europe, we are accelerating our profit recovery plan, in particular by building returns from the significant number of recently renewed and extended contracts. Across the wider group, our priorities remain on sharpening our performance culture to drive profitable growth and returns, so as to unlock the full potential of SSP. I am excited about the prospects for our company and look to FY25 and beyond with confidence as we continue to see significant opportunities for SSP to drive compounding long-term growth and deliver shareholder returns.”

 

Wells & Co acquires three pubs from Adnams: Brewer and retailer Wells & Co, which operates 200 pubs across England and France, has acquired three pubs from Adnams, Propel has learned. A spokesman for the company said: “We can confirm the purchase of three partner pubs from Adnams: the Castle in Cambridge, the Horse & Groom in Wivenhoe and the Hospital Arms in Colchester in November. The pubs were marketed by Adnams as part of a selective disposal of some non-core assets in its estate, a plan which was announced in its Interim results earlier this year.” In June, Wells & Co added another pub to its growing French estate when it opened The Queen Elizabeth in Strasbourg. In April, the company said it had agreed a one-year extension on its three-year bank facilities with HSBC, which are now in place until September 2026, with the option to extend for a further one year. It came after Wells & Co reported its Ebitda grew from £8m in 2022 to £9.5m in the year to 1 October 2023, while total revenue increased from £55,242,000 to £62,305,000. Of this, £42,659,000 came from the UK (2022: £37,947,000), £14,005,000 from Europe (2022: £11,745,000) and £5,641,000 from UK pub partners (2022: £5,550,000). Its pre-tax profit narrowed from £5,851,000 to £1,313,000.

 

PureGym – acquisition of US brand ‘provides platform for growth in world’s largest fitness market’: PureGym, Britain’s biggest health and fitness club operator, has said the acquisition of US brand Blink Fitness “provides a platform for growth in world’s largest fitness market”. PureGym last week completed the transaction of the 67-strong Blink Fitness portfolio in New York and New Jersey, having last month had the $121m deal approved in the US courts. Giving an update in the company’s third quarter results to 30 September 2024, PureGym said: “On 29 November, PureGym acquired the corporate operations of Blink Fitness & up to 67 sites in the New York (NY) & New Jersey (NJ) areas. The asset purchase agreement includes the right to reject sites if suitable rent reductions from landlords are not forthcoming within three months of the completion date. We are in intense, ‘live’ negotiations with a large number of landlords and other vendors/suppliers. While this process of negotiation concludes, we are working with our new colleagues to prepare detailed plans for transition and transformation. The operating model and format of the assets acquired are closely aligned to PureGym. There are clear opportunities to improve already robust gym level operating performance and overhead productivity. In paying $121m, we believe the deal represents very good value for a portfolio of this nature and will be value accretive to PureGym. It gives a strong foothold in the NY & NJ markets, complementing existing sites in the Washington DC area, and a meaningful US presence provides a platform for further growth in the world’s largest fitness market.” PureGym said its new chief executive, former Punch Pubs chief executive Clive Chesser, was involved in “all aspects” of the deal. It comes as PureGym reported a performance “in line with expectations” for the quarter, with adjusted Ebitda of £35m (up £2m versus Q3 2023) and run rate adjusted Ebitda increasing to £165m (up £26m versus Q3 2023).  Six new corporate sites opened in the quarter and the company is on track to deliver 40-45 for the full year. It reported 5% revenue growth to £144m (2023: £138m) and 4% member growth to 1,997,000 (2023: 1,923,000) versus Q3 2023 and had a total of 611 sites open at the yerar-end (2023: 595). Total capex was £19m (2023: £23m), with an average of £1.2m per site. In 2025, PureGym expects to open 70-plus new organic corporate sites, including 14 high-quality UK sites sourced via the Carpetright administration process. It said the UK Autumn Budget impact is estimated at circa £5m before mitigating actions, and that like-for-like operating cost inflation across the group should be contained to under 5% year-on-year. Circa £1.2m average capex per new site is expected, with a £40-50m refurbishment and maintenance investment.

 

New ban on junk food advertising set to have ‘minimal impact’ on children’s diets: A new ban on junk food advertising on TV and online will cut just two calories a day from children’s diets. Ministers will today (Tuesday, 3 December) introduce legislation curbing the commercials despite acknowledging it could cost firms £199m a year while having a marginal impact on diets. The policy will come into effect from October next year and apply to advertising on TV before the 9pm watershed and on the internet at all times. Firms will also be banned from promoting junk food outside the home on the likes of billboards, reports The Daily Mail. However, the government’s impact assessment says the measures are likely to reduce children’s exposure to such adverts by just 8.9 seconds and cut 2.1 calories from their diet each day. Officials will today also publish a detailed list of the food and drinks that will be subject to the ban. Chris Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “The ban on food advertising has no global precedent so Britain is in uncharted territory, but I predict that it will not lead to a reduction in obesity. Every other anti-obesity policy has failed, including the sugar tax and mandatory calorie labelling, and I see no reason why this will be any different. If, in five years’ time, obesity rates have not fallen, the ban should be repealed, and serious questions should be asked of the pressure groups who pushed for it.”

 

Generation Z buyers shun properties more than one mile from local pub: Generation Z house buyers are turning down properties because they are too far from the local pub, a study suggests. Buyers under the ager of 27 were more than twice as likely as the rest of the population to factor the nearest pub in their decision to get on the ladder, according to property website Zoopla. Some 53% of Generation Z weighed up the proximity and quality of the local boozer when making their choice, compared to 24% of all homeowners, reports The Telegraph. Over a third of Brits (36%) would not put in an offer for a home if it was too far away from a pub, with 0.7 miles (around a 13-minute walk), the ideal distance. On average, over one mile would be a “dealbreaker”, according to Zoopla. Dan Copley, of Zoopla, said: “The research shows what a surprisingly strong role the local pub plays in the home buying process – whether that’s to get a feel for the local community, discuss if you want to put an offer in, or even a as decisive factor in going ahead with a purchase.” The survey of more than 2,000 homeowners across the UK was carried out in November by Mortar Research. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “A good local offers so much more than just a quality pint; they can boost house prices and are also a sign of real social value in their communities.”