Leisure Report articles from June 2003

Leisure Report archives from June 2003

Earls Court could be the new Las Vegas.(Earls Court Arena )
June 1, 2003... The Earls Court Arena in London could be transformed into a Las Vegas-style gaming mecca, with slot machines, theatres and hotels. A total of five different groups are reported to have made approaches to the owners of the exhibition centre...

Holmes Place MBO gets 69% backing.(Health Club Group)
June 1, 2003... Health Club Group, the vehicle for the management buy-out at Holmes Place backed by the venture capitalists Bridgepoint and Permira, said it had received acceptances for its offer from shareholders representing 68.9% of the company's stock. ...

Gambling deregulation will come, but it's going to be tough.(Inside track)
June 1, 2003... The set-back to the Gambling Bill may come as no surprise to the industry, but it still won't be welcomed. The Department for Culture Media and Sport says while the Bill won't make the Queen's Speech this year, a draft will be available for...

Industry steps up stamp duty campaign.(News)(Business in Sport and Leisure )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Industry groups are stepping up their fight against the proposed changes to stamp duty on leased properties, after their implementation by the government, without consultation, on 30 May. The stamp duty changes, part of the Finance Act,...

Tote sale to go ahead.(News)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The government is about to release a draft bill that will lead to the sale of the Tote for possibly up to 700m [pounds sterling]. One of the key issues to be resolved will be whether the Tote is sold for a market rate. Conservative...

Hard Rock and Sol Melia to run hotel chain.
June 1, 2003... Rank's subsidiary and the Spanish hotel group Sol Melia are teaming up to develop the Hard Rock Hotel concept throughout Europe and the Americas. The two will be offering hotel owners long-term management or franchise agreements for what...

Bid deadline for Vivendi's theme parks division.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Vivendi Universal, the struggling French media group, confirmed it had received approaches from six companies interested in bidding for its Vivendi Universal Entertainment division, ahead of the 23 June deadline. The VUE division, which...

Whitbread announces plans for national spa chain.(Health & fitness news)
June 1, 2003... Whitbread plans to develop a national chain of health spas. The proposed new brand will offer a range of treatments and relaxation therapies, initially within the M25. Whitbread will look to open about six sites as a test and then roll out...

Health club membership up by a million in a year.(Health & fitness news)
June 1, 2003... Membership of health clubs in the UK has risen by a million in the past year to reach an estimated 3.8 million, twice as many as ten years ago, according to the latest research from Mintel. Nearly one in five adults now uses either a...

Springhealth anticipates difficult future.(Health & fitness news; SpringHealth Leisure PLC)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Springhealth Leisure has announced marginal gains in turnover for the six months to 28 February 2003. Turnover has grown to 6.1m [pounds sterling] compared with 6.0m [pounds sterling] for the same period in 2002, but membership levels have...

Whelan still backing JJB MBO.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... JJB Sports' chairman, David Whelan, denied reports that he would have to give up on a management buy-out because he has failed to secure debt funding. The comments came after HSBC published a note listing three reasons why it thought...

Shortlist unveiled for the ninth fitness industry excellence awards ...(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The finalists for the Fitness Leadership and Management Excellence Awards 2003 have been announced, with Hilton-owned LivingWell leading the nominations. LivingWell Premier in Barnsley competes with LivingWell Premier Ashford and...

... As survey non-exercisers value convenience over quality.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Most non-exercisers believe that public sector fitness facilities are of lesser quality than private ones, but say they are more likely to use their local leisure centre than join a privately-owned club. This is one of the findings of the...

Topnotch sells further club.(Health & fitness news; Topnotch Health Clubs PLC)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Topnotch has sold its health club in Old Broad St, City of London for 1.725m [pounds sterling]. The total cash payable to Topnotch after liabilities will be 1.3m [pounds sterling], which will be used to reduce debt. Following the...

Clubhaus brand 'proving robust' across core sites.(Health & fitness news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Clubhaus reported pre-tax profit of 531,000 [pounds sterling] for the six months to 31 March, up from a loss of 4m [pounds sterling] last year. Turnover was up to 11.7m [pounds sterling] from 10.8m [pounds sterling], based on the...

Esporta's new boss.(Fitness shorts)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Neff Gillis, the managing director of Greene King's Pub Company division, will be leaving after its AGM on 29 August to become chief executive of the health club chain Esporta Group for Duke Street Capital. Gillis will take over the reins...

Club Med losses grow.(Fitness shorts)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Club Mediterranee reported a first half loss of 29m [euro] (20m [pounds sterling]), up from a loss of 25m [euro] in the same period last year. The group's Club Med Gym division, which has been subject to speculation that it will be sold,...

Fitness First changes.(Fitness shorts)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Walter Goldsmith and John Denning have resigned as non-executive directors of Fitness First. The resignations came after the announcement on 11 June that the offer for the company by Moray has been declared unconditional.

Cassani wins race to head Olympic bid.(Sports news)
June 1, 2003... Barbara Cassani, founder of the budget airline Go, has been appointed to lead London's bid for the 2012 Olympics. Cassani, 42, said: "I have taken this job because I know we can win. London is a world-class city and we can deliver a...

Birmingham City returns to black.(Sports news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Premiership success helped Birmingham City Football Club return to profitability in the first six months of fiscal 2003. The club reported post-tax profits of 6.4m [pounds stelring] in the six months ended 28 February, compared with a loss...

FA faces TV rights crisis.(Sports news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The Football Association is facing a further cash crisis after bids for its new television rights term were reported to be one third less than in the last round of bidding in 2000. This latest blow comes after the FA recently made a number of...

Management changes at Man City.(Sports news)(Manchester City )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Manchester City has announced the appointment of John Wardle as chairman. Other changes at the club include the appointment of Bryan Bodek, who will take the position of deputy chairman and the promotion of Alistair Mackintosh, who has become...

Wimbledon in trouble.(Sports news)(Wimbledon Football Club )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Wimbledon Football Club became the latest casualty of football's financial crisis when it went into administration. The First Division club has been without a ground for 12 years and has to share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. It is...

Arena races ahead.(Sports news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Arena Leisure, the racecourse operator, said attheraces, the television betting and media rights business it owns with BskyB and Channel 4, achieved the same pari-mutuel betting turnover in the past 16 weeks of 2003 as it did in the whole of...

Liverpool looks forward to 2bn [pounds sterling] boost from City of Culture 2008 victory.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Liverpool has been named European City of Culture 2008 by Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary. The city beat Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Newcastle-Gateshead and Oxford to win the title, which it hopes will bring in an extra 1.7 million...

New LTB chief from private sector.(Tourism & attractions news)(David Campbell)(London Tourist Board)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, has hired David Campbell, the former chief executive of Ginger Media, as head of the London Tourist Board. Campbell will be paid a basic salary of 250,000 [pounds sterling], an increase on the 90,000...

No rain stops play.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Theme park operators in the United Kingdom have accused television weathermen of costing them millions of pounds because of excessively negative forecasting. The complaints were triggered by a fall in attendance on the recent bank holiday...

Recovery 'around the corner' says visitBritain.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The number of visitors to Britain in April fell by 15% year-on-year, led by an 18% drop in visitors from North America. When compared with figures from 2000, visitor numbers from North America were down 36%. Tom Wright, the chief...

Merlin reveals third brand.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Merlin Entertainments Group, the UK's second largest tourist attraction operator, has announced details of its new brand concept, Earth Explorer. The partly government-funded project, called Earth Explorer will be built and operated by...

3.8m [pounds sterling] grants for science centres.(Tourism & attractions news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Nine science centres in the United Kingdom have shared 3.8m [pounds sterling] in the first round of funding from ReDiscover, the 33m [pounds sterling] joint venture between the Millennium Commission, the Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson...

AWG and C&R form joint venture to rejuvenate Manchester destination.(Property & development news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Infrastructure management group AWG Development and Capital & Regional, the property asset manager, have joined forces to inject new life into Great Northern, the ailing leisure and retail complex in the centre of Manchester. The 50/50...

Stratford leisure opportunity.(Property & development news)(HLL Humberts Leisure )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The Waterside Theatre site in Stratford upon Avon is for sale, providing an opportunity for leisure operators to get a foothold in the town. Set in the centre of the historic city, the theatre on Sheep Street is now a shell and estate...

Liverpool site to be split.(Property & development news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Kings Waterfront in Liverpool is to be divided up after Everton Football Club announced it will not be relocating to a new stadium planned for the site. English Partnerships, which owns the 36-acre site, is going to split the site up into...

New plans for London Arena.(Property & development news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Ballymore Properties has submitted revised outline plans for the redevelopment of the London Arena site in the Docklands. The proposed scheme for the 7.4 acre site has been redesigned to include 23,945 square metres of office space and...

Widnes in line for facilities boost.(Property & development news)(Halton Borough Council )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Leisure and hospitality facilities provision in Widnes could get a major boost from the redevelopment of an industrial area in the North West town. Halton Borough Council is currently carrying out site investigations for the Waterside Park...

600m [pounds sterling] revamp for Scottish colliery site moves forward.(Property & development news)(Ecosse Regeneration)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Plans for the 600m [pounds sterling] regeneration of a former Scottish coal mine, involving extensive leisure uses, have taken a step forward after details emerged of a proposed golf course development on the site. Ecosse Regeneration, a...

Burger store designers cast doubts on McHealthy approach to fast food.(Eating & drinking news)
June 1, 2003... Designers working with McDonald's on its store redesigns in the UK have expressed doubts over the chain's "McHealthy" strategy as a way to answer critics of its food and rebuild sales. McDonald's is unveiling three interiors concepts in the...

Theme bars lose out to traditional pubs.(Eating & drinking news)
June 1, 2003... Theme bars are losing their attraction, a survey by the market research company Mintel has found, with the traditional British pub making a comeback in their place. Mintel found that at least a hundred theme bars, including many fake...

PizzaExpress bid declared unconditional after 75% acceptance.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... GondolaExpress has declared its bid for PizzaExpress unconditional after winning acceptances from shareholders representing 75.3% of the company's shares. The declaration bucks the usual trend of bidders declaring bids unconditional only...

City Centre sees 4% like-for-like growth in Q1.(Eating & drinking news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... City Centre Restaurants has seen like-for-like sales at its principal trading brands up by 4% for the first quarter, with the trend continuing in recent weeks, the company's chairman, Alan Jackson, told its AGM. The leisure parks business...

Luminar pushes refurbishment spend up to 30m [pounds sterling].(Cinema & entertainment news)
June 1, 2003... Luminar, the country's biggest nightclub and late-night venue operator, said it is pushing its refurbishment spending up 25% to 30m [pounds sterling] for 2003 as its profit before tax for 2002 showed the expected drop. The company, which...

easyCinema reports strong opening performance.(Cinema & entertainment news)(easyCinema )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The UK's first easyCinema reported occupancy of 56% in its opening weekend and sold more than 6,000 tickets during its first week. However, just 1,200 of the tickets sold for the first week of trading for the ten-screen site in Milton...

Mean Fiddler defeats Westminster Council appeal.(Cinema & entertainment news)(Westminster City Council)(Mean Fiddler )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Westminster City Council has withdrawn its appeal against the renewal of the licence for the Mean Fiddler's Astoria venue in the West End of London. Mean Fiddler also won a decision to uphold its public entertainment licence for a proposed...

Top ten results improved after strong performance by Welcome club estate.(Betting & gaming news)(Top Ten Holdings)(Welcome Social Clubs )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Top Ten Holdings said a better-than-expected performance from the five-strong Welcome Social Clubs chain it acquired last December boosted its full-year profits. The Welcome sites generated turnover of 648,048 [pounds sterling] for their...

Ladbrokes boosts Hilton.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Improved performance in the Ladbrokes gaming division helped offset difficult trading conditions in the hotel division. Gross win increased by 14.3% in the firm's UK betting shop estate during the four months ended 30 April, compared to the...

William Hill up, but broker questions future growth.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... William Hill, the multi-platform betting operator, reported a 20.2% rise in gross win for the 20 weeks to 20 May 2003, compared to the same period the previous year. The firm attributed half of the growth to the roll out of fixed odds...

LCI shares rise 20% on bid rumours.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Shares in London Clubs International have risen almost 20% since the end of May to hit a year's high of 29p, as the market reacted to rumours of a possible bid. The main suspect as a likely bidder is Trevor Hemmings, who owns Blackpool...

Casino will spark 20m [pounds sterling] development.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... CI Traders, the result of the merger last year between the brewer and pub owner Ann Street and Le Riche, the biggest retailer in the Channel Islands, is ready to invest more than 20m [pounds sterling] to create a major leisure complex...

Paddy Power aims for 30 London outlets.(Betting & gaming news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Paddy Power plans to have 30 shops open in London by the end of 2004. Discussions are underway for further greenfield sites and single site acquisitions in London, and Ross Ivers, the company's group finance director, said: "There is high...

McIntosh replaces Howells on licensing.(Industry news)(Lord McIntosh of Haringey )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Kim Howells has been replaced as Licensing Minister by Lord McIntosh of Haringey in the wake of last week's cabinet reshuffle. Lord McIntosh's exact role at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has not been finalised, although it is...

Smoking charter interest increases.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... After the Charter Group's announcement that just 42% of pubs could produce a formal policy statement on smoking last month, the group Atmosphere Improves Results says it has received more than 2,000 requests from pubs for policy statements. ...

Immigration rule change boosts hospitality workforce.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... New immigration rules allowing up to 10,000 foreign workers into low-skilled hospitality work have come into effect. Under the Sector Based Scheme, the permits, which will remain in effect for a year, will enable up to non-European Union...

Chip and Pin trial begins.(Industry news)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Chip and Pin technology, designed to cut credit and debit card fraud, is being trialled in Northampton. The scheme, which sees signatures replaced by a pin number, is expected to roll out nationally by 2005. Queens Moat Houses and...

Leisure sites join Europe's largest WiFi network.(Industry news)(The Cloud)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... More than 1,000 pubs have become part of The Cloud, Europe's largest "WiFi", or wireless internet, network. Their participation enables laptop users to log onto the internet by making a high-speed wireless connection through mini-base...

Westminster parking charges could hit late shift workers.(Industry news)(Westminster Council )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Late-night workers in Central London bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels could be forced to give up their jobs if Westminster Council goes ahead with plans to introduce metered charging of up to 4 [pounds sterling] an hour to park in the West...

Showing off your assets: Andrew McGregor says leisure needs to make itself more appealing to investors.(Opinion--leisure property investment)
June 1, 2003... The leisure sector has traditionally found itself out of favour with investors, particularly with the institutions, with the last deal of note being the disposal of the Corner House, Nottingham to BP Pension Fund towards the end of 2000. Since...

Chasing the "authentic" experience: Robert Stanier from the Henley Centre discusses how operators can tap into consumer desires.(Special report--consumer research)
June 1, 2003... The "authentic" ideal pervades concepts ranging from the Ministry of Sound to TGI Friday's, but is frequently misunderstood. Cumbersome efforts at achieving authenticity drive consumers away. However, where it works, it can bestow on a product...

Richards' long-term Vue: Tim Richards of Vue, the new cinema firm talks to Mel Flaherty about his plans for the company.(Profile)(Vue)
June 1, 2003... Unless you're passionate about ergonomic chair design, don't get Tim Richards onto the subject of cinema seats. The president and chief executive officer of Vue, the new company formed out of SBC International Cinema's venture capital-backed,...

The odds coupling: betting exchanges are expanding from their online origins onto the high street. What will this mean for traditional bookmakers?(Sector update--betting exchanges)
June 1, 2003... They may be a relatively new concept to the gambling scene, but it looks like betting exchanges are here to stay. They have the blessing of the government and have incited the wrath of the traditional bookmakers, but do they really have the...

Network, rest and play: offering your customers wireless internet access may mean that they spend more time, and money, in your venue.(Technolgy--WiFi)
June 1, 2003... Never underestimate the value of being able to work from your sofa. Home offices, are really, well, an office, but in your home, and with no free stationery but an office on a sofa, now that's working from home. Now imagine working from...

Leisure Report LR Index leisure stockwatch June 2003.(Sharewatch and Diary dates)
June 1, 2003... Last month's overall industry share price improvements continued at a similar pace, 6.7% up to 123.47p, compared to a rise of 6.8% in last issue's table. The number of fallers is also continuing in the right direction, with just six...

Diary dates.(Sharewatch and Diary dates)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
June 1, 2003... July Event: View From the Top Date: 2 Location: The Dorchester, London Description: Ian Neill, the chief executive of Wagamama addresses an industry audience. Organised by Arena, the hospitality industry networking body. Contact: Arena 020...