The US dollar may be missing from the UK's leisure market, but domestic spending on eating and drinking-out appears surprisingly buoyant. It is too early to gain any real hard trading figures, but chain operators are generally reporting business over the past month as "OK" or even "good" in some cases.
The sharp down-turn in spending in pubs, restaurants and the late-night market feared in the wake of September 11 has not materialised on the basis of these initial, and admittedly informal, soundings.
The notable exceptions are London's West End and the airport catering sector, where American and general tourist and overseas business custom is a key element. The British public, however, appears to be showing few signs of giving up on having a good time. Even the City of London's eating and drinking establishments seem to be holding up despite the general doom-and-gloom in financial and economic circles.
But business doesn't rely simply on customers; those City types in the investment community still have an important role.
Generally share prices across the sector have yet to recover their early September levels, though there are some notable exceptions. Significantly, Wetherspoons, Scottish & Newcastle, Greene King and Luminar, the big hitters of the pub and bar sector, are all now trading above their September 10 prices.
Best news of all is that deal activity, which had seemed seriously subdued in recent weeks, is now showing signs of coming back on track. Many feared the Penta-backed buy-out of La Tasca announced on the morning of September 11 might the last significant deal for some time.
Pubmaster is one still looking for acquisitions. Laurel Pub Co's chief executive Ian Payne confirmed Pubmaster's reported interest in his business this week, and being unusually open for this industry said it had offered £800m for Laurel's leased estate.
Payne added that he had also rebuffed an approach from Robert Breare's Noble House, which has privately confirmed in the last few days that it still has ambitions to double the size of its pub holdings.
This week end speculation that Luminar may be sizing up First Leisure's Leisure's nightclub has surfaced, while investor interest in Belgo shares has sparked talk about it being bought out soon while its shares still languish at the cheap end of the market. Simmers. Former Brannigans boss Stephen Evans remains upbeat about the prospects of buying up a significant restaurant chain û with Bella and Café Rouge from Whitbread's high street portfolio in the frame.
Wetherspoon is showing its faith in the high street by picking up a couple of Fuller's Broadwalk sites, Mill House is planning to double its estate and Regent is pondering rolling out the newly acquired Pals concept across the country.
Meanwhile, Alan Jackson, the former Whitbread executive and Inn Business boss who is gaining a reputation as one of the industry's big dealmakers, has taken time out from sorting out City Centre Restaurants to take on the chairman's role at Balaclava, a new pub grpoup leasing 26 Punch pubs in the Midlands.
It really is beginning to feel like it is business as usual again.
The sharp down-turn in spending in pubs, restaurants and the late-night market feared in the wake of September 11 has not materialised on the basis of these initial, and admittedly informal, soundings.
The notable exceptions are London's West End and the airport catering sector, where American and general tourist and overseas business custom is a key element. The British public, however, appears to be showing few signs of giving up on having a good time. Even the City of London's eating and drinking establishments seem to be holding up despite the general doom-and-gloom in financial and economic circles.
But business doesn't rely simply on customers; those City types in the investment community still have an important role.
Generally share prices across the sector have yet to recover their early September levels, though there are some notable exceptions. Significantly, Wetherspoons, Scottish & Newcastle, Greene King and Luminar, the big hitters of the pub and bar sector, are all now trading above their September 10 prices.
Best news of all is that deal activity, which had seemed seriously subdued in recent weeks, is now showing signs of coming back on track. Many feared the Penta-backed buy-out of La Tasca announced on the morning of September 11 might the last significant deal for some time.
Pubmaster is one still looking for acquisitions. Laurel Pub Co's chief executive Ian Payne confirmed Pubmaster's reported interest in his business this week, and being unusually open for this industry said it had offered £800m for Laurel's leased estate.
Payne added that he had also rebuffed an approach from Robert Breare's Noble House, which has privately confirmed in the last few days that it still has ambitions to double the size of its pub holdings.
This week end speculation that Luminar may be sizing up First Leisure's Leisure's nightclub has surfaced, while investor interest in Belgo shares has sparked talk about it being bought out soon while its shares still languish at the cheap end of the market. Simmers. Former Brannigans boss Stephen Evans remains upbeat about the prospects of buying up a significant restaurant chain û with Bella and Café Rouge from Whitbread's high street portfolio in the frame.
Wetherspoon is showing its faith in the high street by picking up a couple of Fuller's Broadwalk sites, Mill House is planning to double its estate and Regent is pondering rolling out the newly acquired Pals concept across the country.
Meanwhile, Alan Jackson, the former Whitbread executive and Inn Business boss who is gaining a reputation as one of the industry's big dealmakers, has taken time out from sorting out City Centre Restaurants to take on the chairman's role at Balaclava, a new pub grpoup leasing 26 Punch pubs in the Midlands.
It really is beginning to feel like it is business as usual again.
