Leisure Report articles from April 2005

Leisure Report archives from April 2005

X-leisure eyes new snow venues.
April 1, 2005... Fresh from unveiling the 39m [pounds sterling] purchase of Cambridge Leisure, a 130,000 sq ft leisure and shopping scheme, X-Leisure is turning its attention to the development of new Xscape snow destinations, to follow on from the planned...

Online poker to overtake land-based market.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The market for playing poker online is set to grow so fast that it will be the first online gaming product to outstrip its land-based equivalent, by the end of 2005, according to a study by Dresdner Kleinworth Wasserstein Research, growing to a...

City warms to leisure after years of the cold shoulder.(Inside track)
April 1, 2005... Amidst the glut of results which were published this month, two things sprang out, most notably the success of the X-Leisure fund, almost hidden away in the depths of figures that Capital & Regional, the property developers, released to the...

888.com raises stakes with eyes set on $1.6bn IPO.(News)(initial public offering)
April 1, 2005... 888.com, the online casino company owned by Cassava Enterprises, has hired Credit Suisse First Boston to prepare a flotation of the company, which has been valued at $1.6bn (836m [pounds sterling]). Details of the listing have not been...

Wembley completes track sale to Johnson's Risk Capital Partners.(News)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Wembley has announced that it has completed the sale of its gaming division to Risk Capital Partners for 50.3m [pounds sterling]. Risk Capital Partners, the investment vehicle for Luke Johnson, signed an exclusivity agreement with Wembley...

FOBTS 'addictive' says GamCare.(News. Fixed odds betting terminals.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Fixed odds betting terminals are creating a new generation of gambling addicts, a report from support group GamCare, will say when it is published in April. The gaming industry says an independent review by Mori found there was no evidence...

No stink over Gambling Bill.(News)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... British casinos opened post-deregulation will be banned from using Las Vegas style tactics like pumping pheromones into the air to keep customers betting aggressively. Tessa Jowell, Culture secretary, said that safeguards will be put into the...

Racing UK advertises its subscribers.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Racing UK, the subscription only horseracing channel, took the opportunity to broadcast on air the names of pubs that subscribe to the channel during its coverage of the Cheltenham Festival, as Leisure Report went to press. Simon...

Three new club openings help shape up Fitness First estate.
April 1, 2005... Fitness First announced it has opened clubs in three new UK locations this year: Milton Keynes; Bedford and Paternoster Square in London. These latest additions to the growing portfolio, demonstrate a slight shift in the traditional...

Healthy figures from UK clubs.(new clubs opening)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Forecast figures from The Leisure Database Company's annual industry audit indicate that there has been a rapid increase in the number of new clubs opened in 2004. This represents a reversal of the recent trend in health club openings that has...

UK fitness market set to grow by 5% over next four years.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The value of the UK health and fitness market is set to grow by some 5% in real terms, between 2005 and 2009, according to the latest research published by Marketing & Business Development, the business to business market research group. ...

LA Fitness to sell Victoria premises.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... On the instructions of LA Fitness, Edward Symmons Hospitality & Leisure is offering for sale the lease on the former LA Fitness health studio in London SW1. The premises, close to Victoria Station, has a catchment area serving large...

LivingWell sets membership record.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... LivingWell, the health and fitness arm of the Hilton Group, said it was enjoying a positive start to 2005 following a strong final six months in 2004, after seeing a record January with a 64% improvement in new member sales. Member...

Village life is good for De Vere.(company earnings)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Village Hotels & Leisure, the leisure arm of hotel operator De Vere, saw total turnover in the first 20 weeks ending 13 February 2005 ahead by 8.7%. Like-for-like health and fitness membership numbers continue to be strongly ahead in both...

Ukbetting boosts its hand.(websites launch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ukbetting, the online gaming and content business, announced that Oddschecker.com, its comparison website, had launched two new sites to cater for the rapidly expanding online casino and poker markets. These will monitor the latest...

William Hill to return 500m [pounds sterling] to investors and opens new shops after shelving casino plans.
April 1, 2005... UK bookmaker William Hill is to return a sum of about 500m [pounds sterling] to investors, after deciding that changes to the Gambling Bill mean it does not need to keep the money to invest in casinos. Tom Singer, finance director, said...

Rank puts betting shop plans on ice as Gambling Bill stutters.
April 1, 2005... Rank has been forced to reconsider plans to open 130 new Bluesquare betting shops on the sites of existing casinos and bingo halls. The company had planned to create a rival to high street betting shops Ladbrokes and William Hill by rolling...

Ladbrokes impresses at Hilton with record profits for 2004.(Betting & gaming news)
April 1, 2005... Despite being somewhat overshadowed by a strong performance within Hilton Group's resurgent hotel division, Ladbrokes, the group's gaming arm, posted a strong set of results for the year to 31 December 2004, with a record operating profit of...

Paddy's got the Power as it surges to record full-year results.(company earnings)
April 1, 2005... Ireland's leading bookmaker, Paddy Power, unveiled record turnover, operating profit and earnings per share for the 12 months ended 31 December 2004, a year it described as "a game of two halves". The results mark the 16th consecutive year...

Gaming Corporation deals itself into the online poker market.(website launch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Gaming Corporation, owner of www.casino.co.uk, the UK's leading gaming site, announced the launch of www.findpoker.com, its new website focusing on the rapidly growing online poker market, which is currently estimated to be worth in excess of...

New blood for RCA boardroom.(Racecourse Association)(appointment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... James Sanderson has been elected onto the board of the Racecourse Association, the trade organisation representing 58 of Britain's racecourses. He will fill the vacancy left by Tim Betteridge following his departure to join the Totepool as...

Sportingbet profits double as Paradise Poker deal has the group flushed with success.(company earnings)
April 1, 2005... Sportingbet, the leading online gaming group, reported profit before tax of 15.7m [pounds sterling] for the six months to 31 January 2005, nearly double that for the same period in 2004. Turnover was up 29.5% to 825.2m [pounds sterling],...

Ultimate Leisure in the mood for a party.(company earnings)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ultimate Leisure reported a 16% increase in pre-tax profit for the first hall of its financial year, to 4.9m [pounds sterling], shrugging off concerns of difficult trading in the competitive nightclub sector. The company had reported...

Hutson takes chair at Soho House.(appointment)(Robin Hutson)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Hotel du Vin co-founder Robin Hutson is to become chairman of Soho House as the company plans to expand in the UK and the US. Hutson, who has been a non-executive director at Soho House for eight years, will now spend two days a week with...

UK's wealthiest dominate cinema viewing despite "affordable" tickets.
April 1, 2005... The top socio-economic group dominate cinema attendance numbers, a new survey by the Office of National Statistics for the Arts Council of England shows, despite the fact that, according to Screen Digest, pricing in UK cinemas is among the most...

Urbium profits up on London expansion as feel good factor returns.(Cinema & entertainment news)
April 1, 2005... Urbium, the late-night bar operator, reported an 18% rise in full-year pre-tax profit before exceptionals to 11m [pounds sterling], against 9.3m [pounds sterling] in 2003. Like-for-like sales were up by 1.8% for the year, matching the rise...

Glasgow to see two new G-spots open.(Cinema & entertainment news)(G1 Group purchased Luminar Leisure's nightclub sites)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... G1 Group, the bar and club operator headed by Stefan King, has purchased two of Luminar's unbranded nightclub sites in Glasgow for an undisclosed sum. The two sites, Cleopatra's on Great Western Road and Indigo in Shawlands, are already in...

Bowlplex pins hopes on Fife leisure scheme.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Bowlplex)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Bowlplex, the UK tenpin operator, has announced its latest plans to open a site in Fife, Scotland. The Dorset-based company will join a number of entertainment companies who will all be part of the Fife Leisure Park, ranked as being in the...

DVD rentals from easyCinema.(Cinema & entertainment news)(ScreenSelect.co.uk, alliances)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ScreenSelect.co.uk, an online DVD rental group, has teamed up with easyCinema, which currently operates a 10-screen multiplex in Milton Keynes, to offer an online DVD rental service through the easyCinema website. Despite a troubled start,...

Icon's Caplan to lead Film Council Premiere Fund.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Sally Caplan)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sally Caplan has been appointed as the new head of the UK Film Council's Premiere Fund. She will take up her position as head of the 8m [pounds sterling] a year production fund as soon as possible. Financed through the UK Film Council's...

Luminar clubs under review.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Luminar, the nightclub operator, reported like-for-like sales for the eight weeks to 28 February were down 4%, with a full-year trend also down 4%, and said it had launched a review of its businesses. The company said that its Oceana, Lava &...

High-scoring Goals aims to net five more soccer centres during its 2005 season.(Betting & gaming news)(Goals Soccer Centres)
April 1, 2005... Unveiling its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2004, Goals Soccer Centres, the operator of 12 "next generation" 5-a-side soccer centres across the UK, said it had plans to open 14 more sites over the next three years, five of...

Glazer set for new Man United bid.(Betting & gaming news)(Malcolm Glazer to invest)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... American tycoon Malcolm Glazer was expected to submit a formal 800m [pounds sterling] bid proposal for Manchester United as Leisure Report went to press. Sources suggest it will be similar to the 300p-a-share indicative offer which the...

Taskcatch still in the game despite setbacks incurred by development costs.(Betting & gaming news)(financial reports)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Taskcatch, the AIM-listed operator of 5-a-side football facilities and complementary children's adventure play areas, announced that income continued to grow strongly across the group throughout the year as the number of customers continued to...

Leisure report LR index football stockwatch March.(Betting & gaming news)
April 1, 2005... There was little movement in the share prices of listed football clubs during March, but what differential there was call came on the downside, with the exception of Newcastle United. The Geordie's share price rose 6.1% to 43.5p, after the...

FTSE-listed Center Parcs earmarks 10m [pounds sterling] to upgrade facilities.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Center Parcs, the UK holiday park operator, announced that its landlord Sun Capital had approved plans for expansion projects at its Sherwood and Elveden Forest sites, as the group seeks to broaden its appeal to include more of the luxury end...

Parkdean secures 153m [pounds sterling] new debt facility.(Tourism & attractions news)(Parkdean Holidays)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Parkdean Holidays, the AIM-listed UK caravan park operator, said current trading was "satisfactory", as it announced the agreement of a new debt facility of 152.5m [pounds sterling] with its bankers. Following the group's annual general...

British Waterways and S&NPE launch business.(Tourism & attractions news)(Scottish & Newscastle Pub Enterprises formed Waterside Pubs Partnership)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... British Waterways and Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises have launched the Waterside Pubs Partnership, which will develop over 100 waterside pubs at sites along the UK's canals and rivers. The business is being funded from a mix of...

Euro Disney raises 253.3m [euro] with completed rights issue.(Tourism & attractions news)(Euro Disneyland S.C.A.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Euro Disney has completed its financial restructuring by raising 253.3m [euro] (174.5m [pounds sterling]) in a share issue. The theme park operator said that demand for the shares exceeded those on offer by 9%. The capital increase was the...

New deputy chair for VisitBritain.(Tourism & attractions news)(Penelope, Viscountess Cobham appointed)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... VisitBritain announced the appointment of Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, as deputy chairman. Lady Cobham joined the board of VisitBritain in April 2003 and is currently chairman of the both the British Casino Association and chairman of...

London's new 80m [pounds sterling] aquarium to make a splash in 2008.(Property & development news)
April 1, 2005... Outline planning permission has been granted for an 80m [pounds sterling] aquarium to be developed in London's East End as the centrepiece of a 1.5bn [pounds sterling] housing development. The aquarium, which will called Biota!, will be...

Axis is legal as Nottingham casino scheme gains licence.(Property & development news)(Nottingham)
April 1, 2005... Henry Boot Developments' Axis scheme in Nottingham has been granted a casino licence and a liqueur licence for the 8m [pounds sterling] casino, which will form the main leisure offering in the scheme. The development will contain a 50,000...

Bristol to get 10,500 seat Arena.(Property & development news)(Bristol City Council in partnership with South West Regional Development Agency for development plan)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Bristol is to get a 100m [pounds sterling] arena as part of a 46 hectares (115 acres) redevelopment in the Temple Quarter area of the city. The project, which is being driven by South West Regional Development Agency in partnership with...

12m [pounds sterling] leisure project for Surrey.(Property & development news)(Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd. to construct for DC Leisure Management)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Willmott Dixon will start work on a 12m [pounds sterling] leisure complex in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey on 21 March, with completion of the project expected in summer 2006. The complex will include two swimming pools, a climbing wall, indoor...

Whitbread trials small TGI's that may suit the leisure market.(Food & drink news)(Target Group Index)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Whitbread is testing a more casual-dining oriented version of its TGI Friday's concept in two town centre locations, with a view to expanding the concept nationwide. The smaller-format sites, which opened in Bath and Harrogate in December,...

Restaurant Group cooks up a 28.4% rise in profits.(Food & drink news)
April 1, 2005... The Restaurant Group, which operates 272 sites across the UK, unveiled adjusted pre-tax profits up 28.4% to 24.7m [pounds sterling] for the year to 31 December 2004. Like for-like sales across the 12 months were up 5%. Sales grew 12.3% to...

Starbucks and Costa stall as Caffe Nero outperforms in growing branded market.(Food & drink news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Caffe Nero is showing strong growth in the coffee bar market, outpacing the growth of rivals Starbucks and Costa Coffee. The figures from a half-year report by research house Allegra Strategies indicate that Caffe Nero's market share...

McDonald's sees EU sales slump.(Food & drink news)
April 1, 2005... McDonald's has reported a 3.4% fall in European sales for February, which it attributed to the recent extreme weather conditions and economic weaknesses in Germany. Despite a rise in like-for-like sales in US stores of 4.6%, shares in the...

TRI research shows hospitality industry 'backs smoking ban' and sees little downside.(Industry news)(Tri Hospitality Consulting)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The hospitality industry backs the government's approach to smoking, according to a survey conducted by Tri Hospitality Consulting. When executives were asked if the industry should support the new public health White Paper, 90.4% either...

Leisure firms 'most at risk' from cyber attack.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... FTSE 250 leisure companies are sitting ducks for cyber terrorists, a report by Prevx, the software development group, has claimed. The security group's survey found the leisure industry scored lowest for taking security precautions even...

Licensed premises owners warned doorman licences by SIA [Security Industry Authority].(Industry news)
April 1, 2005... Owners of all licensed premises have been warned that if they employ unregistered door supervisors they risk spending up to five years in jail. The Security Industry Authority have said they will be doing spot-checks to ensure staff have the...

Whitbread appointment puts corporate responsibility onto leisure agenda.(Industry news)(Whitbread Restaurants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Announcing the appointment of David Gallacher as corporate social responsibility director, UK leisure group Whitbread has sent out a clear message that the issue is high on its agenda. The company said Gallacher will be responsible for...

Corporate responsibility--opportunity or necessity? Leisure has failed to fight its corner and could learn from other sectors.(Business sense)
April 1, 2005... The long-term economic success of any business can depend on factors beyond economic performance. For leading companies, corporate responsibility is not only a matter of public relations or philanthropic sentiment but also a strategic...

Keep your claim on target: Oliver Shestopal and Liam O'Connell explain how to avoid problems in claiming on an insurance policy.(Business sense)
April 1, 2005... With risk awareness at the forefront of good business management, it's no surprise that leisure businesses are covered by a raft of insurance policies. They range from a property policy coveting the building and contents from damage by...

Has the gong finally sounded for rank? Dominic Walsh takes a look at the options for the once-mighty conglomerate.
April 1, 2005... Is the protracted break-up of Rank Group, once the country's biggest leisure operator, about to enter the final stretch? That appears to be the widespread view following the announcement by chief executive Mike Smith about how he plans to...

Heaven is a place on earth: Duncan Rowe talks to Tim Smit, co-founder of The Eden Project, about his business philosophy.(profile)(Biography)
April 1, 2005... "It doesn't have to be nut cutlet eating hippy crap," Tim Smit quipped to a packed conference floor in from of representatives from across the UK tourism industry and the DCMS. He's not a man to mince his words, but then as co-founder of the...

Leisure Report LR Index leisure stockwatch March 2005.(Sharewatch & diary dates)
April 1, 2005... Despite some big falls and some big rises, overall the sector stayed fairly neutral this month, shedding only 1.1% of its value. Springhealth Leisure was the biggest mover of the month, rising nearly 40% in value due to a management buyout...

Diary dates.(health clubs exhibitions and conventions)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... April Event: Systems for Spa Success Date: 14 Location: Peebles Health Hydro, Peeblesshire, Scotland Description: Spa Business Association networking event focusing on booking and management systems Contact: Tricia Rolfe...