PUB and hotel chain Young’s is booming because Brits still want traditional boozers, its boss has told The Sun.
Simon Dodds trumpeted a 25 per cent profit rise to £71.4million in the last 12 months for the near-200-year-old business.
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The chief executive said: “We have unique pubs which are the heart of the community and all our food is fresh and seasonal.”
Founded in 1831, Young’s boasts more than 800 hotel rooms as well as 277 pubs and bars.
Mr Dodds said sticking to traditional ways of serving customers is helping the group to be a rare British hospitality success.
He added: “We’re good at running pubs and good at running bedrooms.”
Not that the business is living in the past.
He went on: “Our heritage is important but we’re not standing still, we invest a lot in our pubs and invest a lot in our people.”
He pointed to 80 per cent of its general managers having worked their way up within the firm.
It also splashed out £41million in the year to March to keep pubs looking good.
Revenue rose 24.9 per cent, from £388.8million to £485.8million.
That was helped by an extra 50 pubs and more than 200 hotel rooms from the City Pub Group, which Young’s bought for £162million in November 2023.
Its dividend was also up 6 per cent, with the year’s total 23.06p.
The boss said: “Everything within our control is going to plan.”
IT’S DOC SMARTIN’
PROFITS at British footwear and clothing firm Dr Martens fell to £8.8million in the year to the end of March.
It continues the Northampton-based brand’s woes since its stock market listing in 2021.
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Profits dropped around 90 per cent from £93million in 2024, after sales fell 10 per cent in the year.
The business blamed “a challenging market” and warned unfavourable foreign exchange rates would hit sales and profits in the current financial year.
It said hard-up Brits are looking for bargains, but it will not discount stock.
IT’S A WISE MOVE
FINTECH firm Wise is the latest business to ditch the London Stock Market and switch to New York.
The £12billion money transfer firm said the move would “bring substantial strategic and capital market benefits”.
It follows a growing number of businesses choosing to list in the US.
Paddy Power owner Flutter, mining group BHP, building materials group CRH and construction rental firm Ashtead have all made the change in recent years.
Wise’s share price climbed 6 per cent on the news.
CHECKS IN POST…
WATCHDOGS have launched a global crackdown on posts by illegal financial influencers.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has joined regulators in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy and the UAE to tackle rogue promotions.
Some social media personalities claim to have lavish lifestyles in videos to flog products or services illegally.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Committee wants social media giant Meta to explain why it took up to six weeks to respond to FCA requests to take down dodgy posts.
GROUND DOWN FOR WIZZ AIR
BUDGET airline Wizz Air said having a fifth of its planes grounded over the last year has hit its profits.
It was forced to mothball an average of 44 planes – almost a fifth of its entire fleet — over the year because of issues with the engines, which were made by Pratt & Whitney.
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The US aircraft-maker was forced to pay compensation last year over the grounding of Airbus A320neo planes.
Profits for the year at Wizz Air fell two-thirds from £368.7million to £141million.
But despite the “significant challenges” it faced, the Hungarian airline said it was flying more passengers than ever.
It carried a record 63.4million during the year, which helped revenues for the group edge up 3.8 per cent.
The airline, led by chief exec József Váradi, did not provide a forecast for the year ahead owing to “uncertainties”.
That hit its share price, which dived more than a quarter yesterday.
JOBS in construction have been cut at the fastest rate since 2020, but experts say “the worst may have passed”.
The S&P Global construction purchasing managers’ index showed activity slowed in May for the fifth consecutive month.
NEW CAR SALES UP
THE new car market returned to growth last month as registrations increased by 1.6 per cent, figures show.
There were some 150,070 new listings — up from 147,678 the year before — and marks the best May performance the market has seen since 2021.
Registrations of pure battery- electric new cars rose by a quarter to take a market share of 21.8 per cent.
It is partly down to manufacturers offering discounts to boost sales.
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