Leisure Report articles from April 2003

Leisure Report archives from April 2003

Fitness First directors to reinvest 15m [pounds sterling].
April 1, 2003... Fitness First directors who will share 30m [pounds sterling] after the company is sold to Cinven, the private equity group, have pledged to put hall of that straight back into the company. The health clubs operator was sold to Moray, a...

Bingo industry 'conned' by Treasury.
April 1, 2003... Bingo operators and players have been "conned" by the Treasury, which failed to deliver the tax reductions they expected in the Budget. The Bingo Association said Chancellor Gordon Brown's proposal to introduce a 15% gross profits tax for...

One loud voice must speak against stamp duty on leases.(Inside track)
April 1, 2003... The proposal by Gordon Brown in his Budget speech to levy stamp duty on leasehold properties at 1% of the capitalised value of rental paid under the entire lease term was greeted by a chorus of protests from bodies representing the leisure and...

Britain's first'racino' under starter's orders as Arena and Gala announce deal.(News)
April 1, 2003... Arena Leisure, the racecourse operator, and Gala Group, one of the UK's largest gaming companies, announced a joint venture to develop the UK's first joint racecourse and casino, or "racino', at Wolverhampton Racecourse. Under the...

Cinema industry awaits easyGroup's big screen debut.(News)(easyCinema)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Cinema operators will be watching with interest as Stelios Haji-Ioannou makes his long-awaited first foray into the industry next month. The first easyCinema, at the former UCI Cinemas 10-screen multiplex at The Point in Milton Keynes,...

X-Leisure reveals second brand.(News)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... X-Leisure, the branded leisure property arm of Capital & Regional, will develop X.Space as a concept for the traditional leisure parks it acquired through its 302m [pounds sterling] purchase of Marylebone Warwick Balfour Group's fund management...

Georgica looks forward to improvements.(News)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Georgica, the tenpin, cue sports, fast food and late-night venue operator blamed the Allied Leisure business it acquired in October 2000 for its slow progress in 2002. Allied was in worse shape than Georgica anticipated", the company said...

Call to arms as operators count cost of stamp duty plans.(Property--stamp duty proposals)
April 1, 2003... Operators will need to respond "quickly and forcibly" if they want the government to reconsider proposals to change stamp duty on leased properties, which could cost them tens of thousands of pounds per site. Chancellor Gordon Brown...

What the changes will mean.(Property--stamp duty proposals)
April 1, 2003... What the changes will mean Below is a rough calculation of what the changes will mean for each type of leisure operation. Please note, NPV has been calculated at a discount of 3.5%, a figure which is still subject to consultation, and...

Turok insists LA Fitness will remain public, despite reporting fall in profits.(Health & fitness news)
April 1, 2003... The chief executive of LA Fitness, Fred Turok, insisted he had no intention of taking the company private, as other health and fitness club operators are rushing to do. Turok said: "I am totally unconvinced that it is right thing to do to...

JJB reports strong trading at health clubs.(Health & fitness news)
April 1, 2003... JJB Sports, which runs health and fitness clubs alongside 10 of its sportswear superstores, revealed an 18% fall in annual profit to 90.3m [pounds sterling], but said it had seen a strong trading performance from its combined health...

Boots considers future for fitness centre concept.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Boots Group, the high street pharmacist, is considering the future for its only health and fitness club in Greenford, Middlesex. The firm confirmed it is "looking at a range of options" for the Boots Wellbeing Centre, after announcing its...

Kelly joins Esporta.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Maurice Kelly, the former chief executive of Esporta, has joined Crown Sports as a non-executive director. During his tenure at Esporta, Kelly oversaw the company's sale to Duke Street Capital for 145m [pounds sterling]. Kelly replaces...

De Vere liable for club's VAT.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... De Vere Group has made a 9.3m [pounds sterling] provision in its accounts relating to a contingent liability for VAT disclosed in its statutory accounts to the three years to September 2002. This was for a subsidiary company which treated...

Cannons announces 21m [pounds sterling] investment programme.(Health & fitness news)
April 1, 2003... Cannons Group is investing 21m [pounds sterling] to boost its UK estate to 53 Cannons Health Clubs with the opening of nine new clubs by the end of this year. The new sites are in Aylesbury, Bristol, Chichester, Guiseley, Hertford,...

Riverside doubles portfolio with SpringHealth sites.(Health & fitness news)(Riverside Leisure )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Gloucester-based Riverside Leisure has doubled its health club portfolio with the 2.45m [pounds sterling] acquisition of SpringHealth Leisure's Leicester and Bristol clubs. The privately-owned firm will rename the sites Riverside Bristol...

Operators hatch plan for new spa association.(Health & fitness news)(International Spa Association)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Spa operators from the UK, continental Europe, Africa and the Middle East will meet next month to discuss setting up a new association for the industry. The forum, which will be held in Germany, will look at creating The Spa Federation to...

CCL's Morgan switches management contractors.(Health & fitness news)(CCL)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Craig Morgan, the former managing director of CCL, the contract management firm, has become operations director at rival company Leisure Connection. Leisure Connection has 50 contracts including about 120 sites. Glynn Mellor, the chief...

LivingWell clubs aim to speed up medical referrals.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... LivingWell, the Hilton Group-owned health club brand, has employed a registered nurse to ease the process of gaining medical referrals for new members whose health could have an impact on their exercise regime. Under the LivingWell Medical...

Racecourse operators welcome OFT report into BHB regulations...(Sport news)(British Horseracing Board )
April 1, 2003... Britain's 59 racecourses could be on track to enjoy unprecedented freedoms to negotiate their own funding deals with bookmakers and to stage races whenever they wish after the long-awaited Office of Fair Trading report into the industry. ...

... As Arena mulls attheraces notice.(Sport news)
April 1, 2003... Arena Leisure, the United Kingdom's largest independent racecourse owner in terms of fixtures in 2003, is considering its response to an Office of Fair Trading notice into concerns that racecourses acted collectively to sell their rights during...

Clubhaus disposes of Fox Club.(Sport news)(Fox Club Capital)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Clubhaus, the operator of golf-based country clubs, has sold the Fox Club, its London members club, for 1.5m[pounds sterling], to a new company called Fox Club Capital. Charlie Parker, the managing director of Clubhaus, said: "The sale of...

Top Golf begins roll out drive.(Sport news)(Baydrive)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Baydrive has secured planning permission for the second site in its proposed chain of Top Golf Game Centres. The company, which has the rights to the high-tech golf-based entertainment concept in the UK and Ireland, will spend 4m [pounds...

Levy's Kondar acquires Enic.(Sport news)(Kondar)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Kondar, the acquisition vehicle of Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy, has acquired ENIC, the sports, entertainment and media holding company which has interests in Spurs, Glasgow Rangers and ukbetting.com. The firm bought 5.85 million...

Man U profits down on lower player sales.(Sport news)
April 1, 2003... Manchester United reported a 34% fall in pre-tax profit to 20.3m [pounds sterling] for the six months to 31 January, as a result of lower gains from player sales. The period saw none of the big sales of the previous year, when 16.3m...

Ridsdale quits Leeds as losses grow.(Sport news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Peter Ridsdale, Leeds United chairman, announced his resignation as the club reported a pre-tax loss of 17.2m [pounds sterling] for the six months to 31 December 2002, compared to a loss of 13.8m [pounds sterling] in the same period of the...

Chelsea continues to suffer.(Sport news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... In contrast to Manchester United, Chelsea Village, which has also dabbled in hotel ownership, reported half-year operating losses of 11.2m [pounds sterling] on a 6% drop in turnover. For the six months to 31 December 2002, the company...

Peace takes his piece of West Brom.(Sport news)(West Bromwich Albion)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Jeremy Peace, the chairman of West Bromwich Albion, has bought predecessor Paul Thompson's 20% stake in the club. Peace and Kappa Limited now own more than 50% of the club's issued share capital, meaning that Peace is now required to make...

Sunderland in 'painful restructuring'.(Shorts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Sunderland, which has been relegated from the Premier League, has warned that it faces 'painful restructuring' after reporting a pre-tax loss of 5.4m [pounds sterling]. The company said that it would have to make a "significant" number of...

Bolton ends AIM run.(Shorts)(Burnden Leisure)(Bolton Wanderers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Burnden Leisure, the company behind Bolton Wanderers, reported a loss of 2.5m [pounds sterling] in the six months to 31 December 2002, against a profit of 300,000 [pounds sterling] in the previous year. The company has ended its listing on the...

Magpies fly high.(Shorts)(Newcastle United )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Newcastle United saw its turnover increase by 57% from 35.8m [pounds sterling] to 56.2m [pounds sterling] in the half year to 31 January 2003. Pre-tax profit in the period grew from 1.4m [pounds sterling] to 11.5m [pounds sterling].

Charlton profits up.(Shorts)(Charlton Athletic )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Charlton Athletic reported an 18% rise in turnover due to increased revenues from broadcasting contracts with the Premier League and from the club's expanded north stand. The company reported profit of 64,000 [pounds sterling] in the six...

ITV Digital costs Preston North End.(Shorts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The collapse of ITV Digital has resulted in a loss of over 2m [pounds sterling]mper year to Preston North End. The club will now look for additional income streams and cut its overheads and players' wage bill.

Aberdeen gloomy.(Shorts)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Aberdeen football club has cut its operating loss from 1.2m [pounds sterling] to 591,000 [pounds sterling] from June to December 2002. Turnover also increased for the same period to 4.5m [pounds sterling] from 3.5m [pounds sterling]. But...

VisitBritain springs to life with domestic and overseas marketing campaigns.(Tourism & attractions news)
April 1, 2003... VisitBritain, the government-funded tourism body formed this month from the merger of the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council, is embarking on England's first domestic marketing campaign for several years and has announced...

Uncertainty marks UK hotel performance.(Tourism & attractions news)
April 1, 2003... Uncertainty was the key factor affecting chain hotels in the United Kingdom in February, the latest research from TRI Hospitality revealed. London hotels have seen their performance worsen since January with losses of 1.1 percentage points...

EuroDisney gets new CEO.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Andre Lacroix, the former President of Burger King International, has been named the chairman and chief executive officer of Euro Disney SA, the managing company of Euro Disney SCA, which operates Disneyland Resort Paris. Lacroix will take...

Johnson extends PizzaExpress offer and board recommends Gondola bid.(Eating & drinking news)(Venice Bidder)
April 1, 2003... Venice Bidder, Luke Johnson's investment vehicle, extended its 360p-a-share offer for PizzaExpress by a further two weeks, until 3pm on 24 April, and urged shareholders not to rush to accept the rival 387p bid from GondolaExpress, saying it was...

McDonald's to cut budget and beef up image.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... McDonald's has announced that it will cut $700m (446m [pounds sterling]) from its 2003 budget, mostly from construction plans. As part of plans to improve the company's poor fortunes of late, McDonald's will introduce a premium hamburger...

Pret chief says 'we were sacked' by Metcalfe.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Andrew Rolfe, the chairman and chief executive of Pret A Manger who left the sandwich chain with Harvey Smyth, the deputy chief executive and UK managing director, has hit out angrily at the company's official line that they left by mutual...

Hemmings snaps up Brannigans.(Eating & drinking news)(Brannigans Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Trevor Hemmings, the leisure and property tycoon, has bought the nationwide Brannigans chain of bars in a joint venture with Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking. The deal, for an undisclosed fee, was made by Brannigans Limited, a new...

Council launches plan to revamp Leicester Square as entertainment hub.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Westminster City Council)
April 1, 2003... Leicester Square could be transformed as a modern entertainment hub for central London, similar to Times Square in New York, under proposals by Westminster City Council. The council has launched a feasibility study into the future of the...

Tenpin bowling centre awards shortlist announced.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Tenpin Bowling Proprietors' Association)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... A total of 12 centres and managers have made the shortlist for the Tenpin Bowling Proprietors' Association 2002 awards. Bowlplex, owned by Wessex Leisure Group, was nominated in four of the five categories, which recognise excellence in...

Mezzanine chief leaves with nightclub.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Marios Georgallides has resigned as chief executive at Mezzanine, amid rumours that he is about to announce a management buyout with Roddy Sutherland, the company's chairman. On 29 October 2001 the company announced that Georgallides and...

UK could get network of digital screens.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Film Council is considering creating a nationwide circuit of up to 250 digital screens. In June, the strategic body for film in the UK is expected to announce details of how it will invest between 14m [pounds sterling] and 15m [pounds...

PB Leisure opens third bowl.(Cinema & entertainment news)(PB Leisure )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Tenpin operator PB Leisure has opened its third site, a 1.2m [pounds sterling], 14-lane centre, in Chichester, West Sussex. The facility is the firm's second under its BowlXtra brand and includes a pool lounge, lounge bar, diner and video...

UK gaming companies 'will need to change tack' to survive deregulation.(Betting & gaming news)
April 1, 2003... Existing gaming operators in the United Kingdom will need to totally change the way they structure their business if they are to survive and prosper in a deregulated environment. Panellists speaking at The Art of Gambling in Europe session...

Sportingbet liable for embezzled bets.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Sportingbet, the online bookmaker, has been found liable for 1.3m [pounds sterling] that an Australian businessman embezzled from his employer and lost on the site. Dennis Craig Telford is accused of embezzling about Australian $21m (8m...

Stanley warns of shortfall.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Stanley Leisure profits will "fall short of current consensus Stanley said estimates" when it reports results for the year to 27 April on 10 July. The betting shop and casino operator said while profits would be ahead of last year they...

Gala reveals details of Electric concept.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Gala Group has unveiled further details of its proposed new casino concept, which will launch at its new 2.5m [pounds sterling] site in Cardiff in June. The first Gala Electric casino will offer about 55 electronic gaming machines, fast...

Ukbetting signs online poker deal.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Ukbetting, the digital wagering operator, plans to launch a poker and casino product on its ukbetting.com and totalbet.com websites after signing a software deal with CryptoLogic. The new products will also be marketed through ukbetting's...

Leisure sector still being hit by profit warnings, says Ernst & Young report.(Industry news)
April 1, 2003... The number of profit warnings issued by companies in the leisure sector fell in the first three months of 2003 compared to the last three months of 2002--but it was still the third worst quarter in five years, according to accountancy firm...

Bouncers to be licensed.(Industry news)(Security Industry Authority )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The launch of the Security Industry Authority will see workers in the private security industry, such as doorman, forced to obtain a licence. Under the new system, workers will have to prove they have had no involvement in crime for up to...

Springboard Award winners.(Industry news)(Claridge's)(The Deep )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Claridge's in London and The Deep aquarium in Hull have been named the Best Employers in the inaugural Springboard Awards for Excellence. The hotel scooped the award in the hospitality and leisure category and the attraction won in the...

Entrepreneurs hit back at Westminster policies.(Industry news)(Westminster City Council)
April 1, 2003... A double attack has been launched by leisure entrepreneurs on Westminster City Council's policies on entertainment licences. Vince Power, chairman of Mean Fiddler, has slammed the council's decision to appeal against the renewal of the...

Industry gives mixed reaction to NMW increase.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The 30 pence an hour increase in National Minimum Wage met a mixed response from the industry. Patricia Hewitt, the trade and industry secretary, said the NMW would go up to 450 [pounds sterling] from October, double the rate of average...

Stub-it-out Bill presented.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... A back-bench Bill to ban smoking in restaurants and cafes was introduced in the House of Commons, backed by up to 100 MPs, as Leisure Report went to press. A Mori survey found that more than half of Britons back New York-style bans on...

Modest Budget brings little cheer: RSM Robson Rhodes looks at the chancellor's mixed bag for leisure operators.(Budget report)
April 1, 2003... The 2003 Budget was surprisingly modest. Having announced substantial tax rises last year, Gordon Brown chose to make only minor changes to the tax system and stick to his long-term plans. In reality many of the changes were aimed at...

Driver for growth: Melanie Swift talks to Stephen Lewis about his plans to take Top Golf Game Centres nationwide.(Profile)(Baydrive)(Top Golf Game Centres)
April 1, 2003... Innovation is often cited as a key driver and characteristic of the leisure industry. Yet it is hard to remember what the last truly innovative concept was. Most things are a variation on a theme, such as equipment that helps improve the health...

Between Iraq and a hard place? Allyson Stewart-Allen looks at the differences between the effects of the Gulf War now and 12 years ago.(Special report--the impact of war)
April 1, 2003... Well of course this war, Gulf War II, is very much like Gulf War I in its effects on the global leisure and tourism industries, right? They're both in the same geographical region, both have affected hotel, holiday and flight bookings? Both...

When Frankie and Benny went to the movies: Peter Martin says leisure parks have proved the stars for City Centre Restaurants.(Behind the headlines)(Frankie & Benny's)
April 1, 2003... Frankie & Benny's, the New York-style Italian diner chain, is proving to be one of the UK's hottest eating out concepts. It may not be the most fashionable or exotic, but it is turning out to be one of the most profitable. With...

Leisure report LR index leisure stockwatch April 2003.(Sharewatch)
April 1, 2003... This month only 15 companies, well under half of those in the list, suffered a fall in share price compared to 19 fallers in March. However, the overall average share price of the Leisure Report selection did drop slightly, from l09.51p last...

Diary dates.(Sharewatch)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... May Event: FIBO 2003 Date: 1-4 Location: Essen, Germany Description: Europe's leading fitness industry exhibition. Contact: 0049 211 9019 1130, www.fibo-messe.com Event: Tenpin Bowlina Proprietor's Association Annual Awards Date: 9...