Leisure Report articles from February 2003

Leisure Report archives from February 2003

Gala 'to float in three years' after MBO.
February 1, 2003... Gala Group, the bingo, casino and online gaming company, is expected to float within three years after securing funding for a 1.24bn [pounds sterling] management buyout from Candover and Cinven, the venture capital firms. The private...

Fitness First-backed Gymbox concept gears up for launch.
February 1, 2003... Details have emerged of a proposed new "high energy" fitness chain, which has backing from Fitness First, the budget gym operator. The first Gymbox will launch in June opposite London's Holborn tube station at The Eye office complex. The...

Growth opportunities are there, if you think about it.(Inside track)(Editorial)
February 1, 2003... Saturation, maturity and lack of growth opportunity. There are lots of people out there--particularly in the investment and property and development communities--who believe all these things apply to the leisure industry. They are missing the...

LA Fitness update brings little comfort.(News)
February 1, 2003... LA Fitness, the affordable fitness chain, issued a trading update that did little to dampen concerns about the health club sector's resilience in the current uncertain economic environment. The company said although it has seen a 38%...

PizzaExpress blames pubs as profits crash 18%.(News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... PizzaExpress blamed competition from pubs for an 18.3% drop in profit before tax in the six months to 31 December 2002 compared to 2001. The company, which hinted at an imminent outcome to its past two months of talks with potential...

SixC hotels accused of wasting 60p in every 1 [pound sterling] of investment.(News)
February 1, 2003... As potential bidders wait for the break-up of Six Continents into separate hotels and pubs companies, a City analyst has accused the group of wasting 60% of the money it has spent in the past five years. Analysts say the hotels arm, which...

Number ten to roll-out upmarket tenpin concept.(News)(Number Ten Group )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Number Ten Group opens its fifth tenpin centre at the end of this month, and has revealed details of the proposed roll-out of its new "upmarket bowling" brand. The 2.5m [pounds sterling], 26-lane centre in Braintree, Essex is the second of...

Fitness First reports profits rise and confirms talks.(Health & fitness news)
February 1, 2003... Fitness First, the budget health club operator, reported a 17% increase in pre-tax profit for 2002 to 24.1m [pounds sterling], from 20.6m [pounds sterling] in the previous year. Turnover for the year rose by 68% to 224.2m [pounds sterling]...

Holmes Place confirms management buyout talks.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Holmes Place has confirmed that it is in exclusive talks involving Allan Fisher, the company's chief executive and its finance director, Lee Ginsberg, over a private-equity backed management buyout. Bridgepoint Capital is thought to be the...

JJB Sports rumoured to be about to go private.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... JJB Sports, which runs health and fitness clubs alongside its larger sportswear stores, is rumoured to be about to go private, amid falling share prices caused by weak trading over the past months. David Whelan, the founder of JJB Sports,...

Topnotch picks consolidation over sale and agrees future banking facilities.(Health & fitness news)
February 1, 2003... Topnotch Health Clubs, the troubled fitness club operator, has been given a 12-month reprieve by its bankers after breaching its financial covenants in October last year. The Alternative Investment Market-listed group, which has total...

FIA puts clubs on government agenda.(Health & fitness news)(Fitness Industry Association )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Fitness Industry Association will put the health club sector's role in improving the economy and health of the nation at the heart of government debate in April, with presentation to a high-level meeting of ministers, special advisors and...

Corporate fitness provider secures contracts for three further in-house gyms.(Health & fitness news)(Totally Fitness)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Totally Fitness, the fitness equipment supplier, has stepped up activity in its corporate health club facilities business. Its new division, The Company Gym, has new contracts for centres at three firms. The company will create gyms for a...

Peak Fitness plans expansion after Ivy Court acquisition.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Peak Fitness Group is in discussions regarding further acquisitions, after buying four clubs from Ivy Court Leisure for an undisclosed figure. Peak, which now has 14 clubs, intends to grow its portfolio further and is in talks regarding a...

Southampton Leisure and Aston Villa blame rising wages for deeper losses.(Sport news)(Southampton Leisure Holdings )
February 1, 2003... The owners of premiership football clubs Southampton and Aston Villa, both blamed spiralling player costs for increased losses in the six months to 30 November, 2002. Southampton Leisure Holdings said escalating wages for players and...

Ipswich Town joins football's casualties.(Sport news)(Ipswich Town Football Club )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Ipswich Town Football Club has joined the growing list of clubs forced into administration by the current financial crisis in the game. Nick Dargan and Nick Edwards of Deloitte & Touche have been appointed administrators to help the League...

Cardiff considers future for 700m [pounds sterling] Sports Village scheme.(Sport news)(Cardiff City and County Council )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The cabinet of Cardiff City and County Council was due to discuss the future for the proposed 700m [pounds sterling] Sports Village scheme as Leisure Report went to press. Bidders to take on the leisure elements of the 80-acre project had...

Leeds United transfers travel business.(Sport news)(World Travel Management )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Premiership club Leeds United has sold its travel business, Leeds United Travel, to World Travel Management in a deal which will free up about 1.7m [pounds sterling] of working capital and bank bonds. Under the deal, WTM will handle the...

TopGolf takes on former Esporta property manager.(Sport news)(Baydrive)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Baydrive, which owns the rights to develop high-tech driving range centres under the TopGoff brand in the UK and Ireland, has appointed John Scribbins as property manager. Scribbins joins from the same position at Esporta Health and Fitness...

Confusion over conflicting reports of UK visitor numbers for 2002...(Tourism & attractions news)(British Incoming Tour Operators Association)(Office of National Statistics )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Office of National Statistics is at odds with the British Incoming Tour Operators Association over the number of visitors to the UK, confusing those looking for recovery in the industry. The latest figures from the Office of National...

... as global tourism figures grow, but jobs are lost.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Latest figures from the World Tourist Organisation show there were 3.1% more tourist visits in 2002 than in 2001. The report says despite the world economic down turn people are continuing to travel and almost 715 million international tourist...

First Museums & Heritage Show Award winners.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The winners of the first ever Museums & Heritage Show Awards for Excellence were announced at a ceremony at the Cafe Royal in London this month. Awards were given in 12 categories. Winners and Commended entries were as follows: ...

BTA and ETC merger attacked.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The planned merge, of the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council has been attacked in a report from a cross-party tourism committee. In The Structure and Strategy for Supporting Tourism report the Culture, Media and...

Hotel market to be tested further after a tough 2002.(Tourism & attractions news)
February 1, 2003... The hotel industry can expect to be tested in the coming year, after suffering a fragile 2002, according to the latest figures from TRI Hospitality. According to TRI's HotStats survey, occupancy across the UK's chain-operated hotels fell...

Accor backs forecast, despite drop.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Accor, which operates a number of lodging brands including Novotel, Ibis, Etap and Formule 1, said it expected its full year figures to be in line with expectations, despite difficult trading conditions. The company reported a 2.1% fall in...

Adventure holiday scheme takes step forward.(Tourism & attractions news)(F&P Developments )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Plans to build a 55m [pounds sterling] holiday park complex in a former mining community in Wales took a step closer to reality when Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council granted outline planning permission to the scheme. The proposals...

GLG plans 1.5m [pounds sterling] investment for Blackpool Zoo.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Grant Leisure Group, the attractions management company, is to invest 1.5m [pound sterling] on improvements to Blackpool Zoo after securing a 10 year contract to run the site. The company is planning a new card and educational facilities...

Plans unveiled for 250m [pounds sterling] Scottish national film studio and leisure complex.(Property & development news)(The Gleneagles Film Studios)
February 1, 2003... A Glasgow businessman has unveiled plans for a major film studios development that includes a film museum, country club, hotel and leisure facilities. An outline planning application was submitted earlier this month to Perth and Kinross...

BIDs to test partnership regeneration.(Property & development news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The government has named the 22 locations which are to pilot the Business Improvement District scheme. The programme aims to revitalise areas through local authority and business partnership projects agreed with ratepayers. In the United...

Half of operators have no property strategy.(Property & development news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A staggering 55% of leisure and hospitality operators have no written strategy relating to property, according to a survey published on behalf of the Leisure Property Forum. Financing Leisure Property was conducted by RSM Robson Rhodes, the...

Shopping centres could learn from leisure.(Property & development news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Shopping centres could be improved by adopting some of the leisure industry's planning, design and operational approaches. This was the theme of a presentation by Karl Kalcher, the managing director of marketing and innovation consultancy...

Benjys opens first leisure site cafe within Holmes Place health club.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Benjys, the sandwich bar chain, has opened a pilot operation within Holmes Place's health club at The Minories in the City of London. The 800 square foot outlet is being run by Benjys on a trial basis and if successful may be rolled out to...

Esquires plans to double UK coffee shop estate.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Esquires Coffee Houses, the Canadian-owned franchised coffee shop operator, has secured sites that will see it more than double its UK estate this year. Franchisees for the company, which currently has 14 units in the UK and Ireland, have...

First ever loss for McDonald's.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... McDonald's has suffered its first ever quarterly loss on the back of a large restructuring charge and restaurant closures. The company reported a net loss of $343.8m (212m [pounds sterling]) in the final quarter to 31 December 2002 compared...

Hilton MD to head Little Chef and Travelodge.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Permira has poached Grant Hearn, managing director of Hilton's UK and Ireland operations, to head its new roadside business. Permits has just paid 712m [pounds sterling] for Travelodge and Little Chef from Compass Group. Hearn will...

Roadchef wins contract for toll road services.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Roadchef, the motorway services operator owned by the Japanese finance company Nikko Principal Investments, has won the contract to operate a new service area on the M6 toll road. Roadchef beat Compass's Moto chain and Welcome Break for the...

Ster Century begins search for buyer for UK and Ireland cinema portfolio.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Ster Century Europe, the South African-owned cinema operator, has begun actively targeting potential buyers for its nine remaining cinemas. The company, which is owned by Primedia, the South African media group and Kersaf Investments,...

Tenpin market set for future growth.(Cinema & entertainment news)
February 1, 2003... The value of the tenpin bowling market will increase by almost a third within the next five years, according to a report from market research firm Mintel. Its Tenpin Bowling, Leisure Intelligence, January 2003 study, puts the current value...

Multiplex firm to test on-line popcorn.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Spean Bridge Cinemas, the expanding multiplex operator, is planning to give customers the opportunity to order their cinema snacks over the internet. The company, which operates four multiplexes in the UK, one in Portugal and one in...

Stanley Leisure still eyeing casinos.(Betting & gaming news)
February 1, 2003... Stanley Leisure is continuing to look for likely casino groups to buy up, despite the collapse of talks with London Clubs International. Bob Wiper, the company's chief executive, said: "We have built the business by acquisitions and we have...

Government says gambling reform still on track.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The government has denied reports it is planning two separate pieces of legislation to liberalise gambling and gaming and to sell off the Tote, instead of the one piece it originally intended. Speculation that the sale of the Tote to the...

Sportingbet reports 50% increase in customers.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Sportingbet, the online sports betting company, reported a 50% rise in customers over the nine months to 31 December 2002, to 558,587. The company, which published figures for the third quarter to the end of last year and cmnulative results...

Wembley wins bid to add terminals.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Wembley, the track-based gaming company, has been granted permission to add 1,300 video lottery terminal machines at its racing operation at Lincoln Park in Rhode Island, in the United States of America. The approval increases the number...

Rank adds Blue Square to online betting business.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Rank Group has bought Blue Square, the internet and telephone gambling company, for 65m [pounds sterling]. The deal, in unlisted, unsecured convertible loan stock, convertible into Rank ordinary shares at 282p, will lead to annual cost...

Westminster Council approves draconian licensing policy ahead of guidelines.(Industry news)(Westminster City Council)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Westminster City Council's controversial licensing policy came into force late last month, raising further fears over possible delays to the Licensing Bill. The council went ahead with its policy, which implements blanket bans on new...

Smoking charter to be assessed.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Department of Health and the Charter Group has begun research to assess how successful the charter on smoking in public places has been. Nearly 500 pub and restaurant groups have received questionnires from the Charter Group, asking...

Restaurant Association may take eating-out push off the menu.(Industry news)(Restaurant Association)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Restaurant Association's annual promotion to get more people eating out, looks unlikely to go ahead on schedule in 2003, and may be cancelled completely. The association had originally planned to turn its National Restaurant Week into...

Springboard invites awards applications.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Springboard UK, the organisation that promotes careers in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism, is inviting entries for its inaugural Awards for Excellence. Nominations can now be made by submitting a short written statement about an...

Leisure high priority for UK households ...(Industry news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Restaurants and hotels account for the fifth highest weekly outgoings for families, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics. The average household spent 33.50 [pounds sterling] a week on restaurants and hotels...

... But operators are hardest hit by profit warnings.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The leisure, entertainment and hotels sector was the hardest hit by a rise in profit warnings in the last quarter of 2002, according to a report by Ernst and Young The company's latest Analysis of Profit Warnings said 106 profit warnings...

2010: a leisure odyssey? Robert Stanier from strategic marketing consultancy The Henley Centre looks at how changing consumer needs and liberalised licensing and gaming laws will shape leisure venues of the future.(Trends--the future of leisure)
February 1, 2003... The need behind the overt offer The rise of coffee shop chains could signify a consumer economy gone mad. Ten years ago no one would have believed that a shot of coffee and hot milk in a paper cup which we all know really costs less than 10p in...

Rank's square deal: Dominic Walsh of The Times asks if The Rank Group's latest acquisition can keep it safe from predators.(Behind the headlines)
February 1, 2003... The last time I wrote about The Rank Group in this column's predecessor, chief executive Mike Smith got a bit upset at my suggestion that, while he might be pretty good at selling assets, he had so far shown little evidence of an ability to buy...

Focused vision: Tina Milton looks at how saturation and consolidation will impact the multiplex market. (Sector update--Cinema).
February 1, 2003... Everything seems picture perfect in the cinema industry. Admissions in 2002 were at their highest for 30 years, reaching 175.9 million, and operators are busy investing in improving their sites. Yet the last couple of years have seen the first...

Leisure Report LR Index leisure stockwatch February 2003.(Sharewatch)
February 1, 2003... The Leisure Report Leisure Index of leading leisure stocks shows far more fallers, 23, than risers, seven, this month, with many of the fallers well into double-digit percentage drops: Georgica, in particular, has taken a hammering, while with...

Diary dates.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
February 1, 2003... Event: MIPIM Date: 4-7 Location: Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France Description: Corporate real estate expo. Contact: www.mipim.com Event: Hotel and Catering Exhibition Date: 11-12 Location: Bournemouth International Centre Description:...