Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Time Out Group – Markets revenue up, agrees new loan facility: Time Out Group has reported that its Markets FY25 revenues grew to £47m, an increase of 10% versus FY24 (£42m), but said that trading performance in the final quarter of FY25 was below management expectations. It said that its group revenues stood at £75n, 4% lower than FY24 (£78m), with Media revenues of £28m, 22% lower than FY24 (£36m), 20% lower in constant currency. It said that lower media revenues than forecast, was partially due to a delay in contracts that subsequently completed in FY26. It said that extreme heat impacted June US market revenues, but that the markets have since returned to growth. It said that adjusted group Ebitda for FY25 is now expected to be in the range £7-£9m vs previous withdrawn guidance of £11-£13m (FY24 £12.4m). At the same time, the company announced it has entered into a loan note instrument to raise £6m of additional growth capital with its existing shareholder Oakley Capital. An initial £1.5m of the instrument has been drawn for working capital, with potential for further drawdowns to fund the group’s continued growth strategy. On its Markets division, the business said that its current portfolio of Markets is growing in line with management expectations. Two new markets are on track to open in H2 CY25: Manhattan (an owned and operated market) and Budapest (a management agreement market). A further four management agreement markets are contracted to open by 2027, with a “strong pipeline of additional opportunities”. New site negotiations are ongoing such that further announcements are expected later in this calendar year. The expanding footprint, including management agreement locations, has driven strong growth in customer transactions, up 21% year on year to over 11 million transactions in the period. The company said: “The strategy review previously announced in May 2025 is progressing, with the evaluation of potential growth strategies to deliver sustainable Media division profitability through effective monetisation of unique content and growing global audience and driving customer visits and revenue to our Markets.” The company said it remains focused on the growth that Markets will deliver with the objective of doubling Market Ebitda over the next two years, whilst improving the profitability of media, by converting a strong pipeline of potential new sites, driving like-for-like growth in existing Markets, out-of-home advertising, loyalty programmes and a growing and valuable customer database. The group expects to announce the outcomes of the media review alongside the FY25 audited results this autumn. Chris Ohlund, chief executive of Time Out Group plc, said: “While Media and Market performance during June was softer than anticipated, our markets have since reverted to growth and we see considerable headroom, both through deepening our presence in existing locations and accelerating rollouts into new ones. The strategic review of Media is progressing well, with clear momentum emerging in high-value areas including social media, email engagement, and the delivery of scalable brand campaigns and live events. These strengths position us to drive sustainable revenue growth and enhanced returns for shareholders. Our audience is highly engaged and continues to seek out trusted human advice and recommendation. In a world where algorithmic and AI generated content is pushed higher up search rankings, we are developing and evaluating multiple new ways to reinforce a direct connection between human editor and people seeking the best of the city.”

Premium Club members to receive updated Multi-Site Database with 3,451 operators and 25 new companies on Friday: Premium Club members are to receive the updated Multi-Site Database on Friday (29 August), at noon. The next Propel Multi-Site Database provides details of 3,451 multi-site operators and is searchable in seven main segments. The database features 1,003 (29%) operators from the casual dining sector, 801 (23%) pub and bar operators, 600 (17%) cafe bakery operators, 483 (14%) quick service restaurant (QSR) operators, 283 (8%) hotel operators, 227 (7%) experiential leisure operators and 53 (2%) fine dining operators. The database is updated each month, and this edition includes 25 new companies. The database includes new companies in the QSR sector such Flame & Ice, specialising in flaming smash burgers, and Manchester gourmet burger concept Shakedown. Premium Club members also receive access to five additional databases: the New Openings Database, the 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 Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers 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 subscribers 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.

Fairgame plans to secure further funding for US expansion: Fairgame, the competitive socialising concept from Richard Hilton, plans to secure further funding for US expansion. Hilton told The Times that while licence agreements and franchise partnerships may work in some markets, he hopes Fairgame will operate directly in big cities such as New York and, potentially, Las Vegas, Chicago and Boston. The business recently opened its second site in London, a 24,500 square-foot Fairgame at One New Change, after making its debut in Canary Wharf in October 2022. The latter welcomes about 330,000 guests a year. The site made an adjusted profit of £4.2m last year, having turned over £12m in revenues. Corporate guests represent about 40% of Fairgame’s business and Hilton reckons the big draw for companies is that the venues are “terrific, because everyone is mixing, flitting between one group and another”. Hilton reckons the St Paul’s venue will attract about 8,000 customers a week, including repeat visits – down to the variety of its games compared with some of its competitors, which specialise in just one or two activities. However, he acknowledged that only so many people will want to visit indoor fairgrounds, which means he will not be rushing to expand the concept any further in London. While he reckons Fairgame would do well in other regional cities such as Manchester and Dublin, he is instead turning his attention overseas, with New York the next natural step. “Their market is more immature in terms of competitive socialising, but they’re switching into it in a big way.” Hilton insisted the bar should rival any premium venue’s, given just a third of revenues come from game sales. It is not just about alcohol-fuelled team building. “We have so many corporate customers that want to make sure we’ve got a really good alcohol-free drinks menu – a mocktail menu,” he said. “It’s not about going to the pub and getting drunk anymore, it’s about going to do something together.”

BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie steps down: BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie has left the Scottish brewer and retailer, saying that he took the decision for personal reasons. Dickie, who founded the Ellon-based firm with James Watt in 2007, recently launched his own medicinal cannabis business. Last year, Watt stepped down from his role as chief executive of the company and said he would move to a newly-created position of “captain and co-founder”. BrewDog chief executive James Taylor described Dickie’s contributions to the company as “immeasurable”. He said: “His creativity, passion, and relentless drive have shaped our company over the years and inspired countless others in the industry.” In recent years Dickie had helped oversee BrewDog’s expansion into the spirits and cocktail market. He said his decision to leave, which will not result in any changes to the company’s leadership team, had been a difficult one. “After over two decades in the brewing and distilling arena sadly for personal reasons it’s time for me to leave the industry that I love deeply and hopefully had a positive impact in,” he said. “Leaving BrewDog isn’t easy, but I’m ready to spend less time travelling and spend some more time at home with my young family.” He is retaining his shares in the company.

Cost of living bites after food inflation hits 17-month high: Food price inflation in the UK accelerated to a 17-month high this month, worrying policymakers at the Bank of England and worsening the cost-of-living pressures on British households. The Times reports that the latest measure of shop prices from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenQ (NIQ) showed food price inflation year-on-year was 4.2% in August, up from July’s figure of 4%. The Bank is growing increasingly concerned about renewed inflationary pressures spreading from food prices through to other parts of the economy. According to its estimates, food price inflation could exceed 5% later this year. The BRC said the biggest increase was for “staple” items such as eggs and butter, while chocolate prices also rose after poor cocoa harvests. Mike Watkins, head of retail and business insight at the market research firm NIQ, said: “The uptick in prices reflects several factors: global supply costs, seasonal food inflation driven by weather conditions, the conclusion of promotional activity linked to recent sporting events and a rise in underlying operational costs.” By contrast, non-food item prices continued to fall with an annual disinflation rate of 0.8% after a 1% decline in June, the BRC said. Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said higher consumer prices were partly the result of retailers passing on the £7bn tax rise on the retail sector from last autumn’s budget. The government raised national insurance costs for employers and lifted the national living wage from April this year. The Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee cut interest rates this month to 4% but warned that food price inflation has become a new, unexpected source of inflationary pressure that could mean no further interest rate cuts this year. Households are traditionally more sensitive to rising grocery bills and policymakers think this risks raising domestic inflation expectations. Higher inflation expectations can in turn push up wage growth and lead to firms raising the prices they charge consumers.

Hospitality boss ‘insulted’ by claims that workers are exploited: The owner of Llandudno Pier, who played host to a business minister last week, said claims that people working in tourism need more protection from exploitative employers were “insulting”. Adam Williams, managing director of Tir Prince Leisure Group, which runs Britain’s “pier of the year”, welcomed the employment rights minister Justin Madders on an official trip on Thursday. The Department for Business and Trade‘s press release after the visit stated that “workers in coastal towns such as Llandudno” would see “improved living standards and financial security” following the passage of the Employment Rights Bill, which tackles the misuse of zero-hours contracts and gives employees a right to guaranteed hours. “From arcade operators on the pier to restaurant staff serving Welsh lamb and wines on the seafront, the [bill] is strengthening protections for workers,” the government stated in the release. Williams told The Times that insinuating the pier was exploiting staff was “insulting”, saying he paid “mainly above the minimum wage” and treated workers well. “They are making us look like companies who put their staff on the sidelines and will call them in if they need them and if they don’t they can go away,” he said. “It is not like that one bit. It is quite insulting. All my staff love working there. A lot of them have been there for years and years. We give them more hours than they actually want. We look after them massively as they work hard.” Williams described Madders as “a very nice chap”, adding: “I take my hat off to him for actually visiting our industry. We rarely get anyone of any importance ... I really thought the meeting went a lot better than that release.” He said he told the minister that blanket employment rights rules were not flexible enough for seasonal businesses in coastal towns – the very businesses the minister said he was there to help. The legislation looks set to provide guaranteed hours based on the working patterns of the previous 12 weeks, but Williams told the minister this was not practical for seasonal work, where working patterns during peak times were not typical for the year as a whole. “Four or five months of the year, we might be shut in different locations,” he said. “No one seems to respect what seaside business, tours and hospitality on the coast means to the country.”