The Sunday Times
Tony Blair is to take a role in the preparations for the Queen's Golden Jubilee amid fears the celebration could flop. There is growing concern at No.10 that the Jubilee could meet a wave of indifference, in stark contrast to the Silver Jubilee in 1977. This week, Tessa Jowell will call on local councils to cut the "red tape" surrounding jubilee events, such as the need for licences to cover public gatherings.
Kunick, the fruit-machines and fitness-clubs group, hopes to take itself private in a deal that could be worth £120m. The management, led by Colin Daniels, chief executive, has held talks with at least three private equity firms to try to secure backing for a buy-out. The company is valued at £33m but the cost would driven up because any buyer would have to take on its large debts, and take out a large chunk of preference shares, as well as pay a bid premium.
The government is considering banning the consumption of alcohol on domestic and international flights in an attempt to reduce the number of air rage incidents.
Jamie Oliver, who is to set up a restaurant to train unemployed young people, is said to provide evidence of a boom in "elite givers" who are pumping up the amounts given to good causes.
The Sunday Telegraph
Hilton Group is drawing up plans for a £300m sale and leaseback of UK hotels to release funds for overseas expansion. It is in talks with a number of banks and it is expected to complete the deal within three months. At the same time the company is close to selling its last US casino for $10m.
Regent Inns, owner of the Walkabout pub chain and Jongleurs comedy clubs is in talks to sell a unbranded pubs package worth about £10m to Peter Mackie, a former operations director of the company. Mr Mackie is in talks to acquire 15 pubs along with fellow entrepreneur Tom Grill. The deal would represent a fifth of Regent's unbranded estate.
Hugh Osmond, the founder of Punch Taverns, has set up a new financial vehicle called Sun Capital to look for fresh acquisitions. Together with Alan McIntosh, his partner in the Punch deal, he will focus on deals of £500m and look to complete between one and four a year.
The Telegraph's investment page says readers might be interested in the fact that two directors of JD Wetherspoon have been selling shares. Last week John Huston, managing director, and his wife sold 6,000 shares while Suzanne Baker, the commercial director, sold 5,600. Whilst the disposals were relatively small - about £25,000 each - they come at a time when the City is questioning JDW's growth potential going forward (see thePublican.com, January 10).
The Mail on Sunday
Despite the lure of big pay packages and outsized bonuses, Britain's biggest pub companies are struggling to fill executive positions. Nomura-owned pub groups Unique and Voyager have been without chief executives since October, Wolverhampton & Dudley is still looking for a finance director after Jim Taylor quit three months ago. Pubmaster is now looking for a managing director and Scottish & newcastle is looking for a successor to chairman Brian Stewart. Teather & Greenwood analyst Nigel Popham concludes: "There is a dearth of natural talent in the pub industry."
The number of company profits warnings hit record levels in the fourth quarter of 2001. A report from Ernst & Young says 149 firms issued trading warnings bringing the total for the year to 520, more than twice as many as 2000, and the most since the survey began three years ago.
The Sunday Express
Former minister Chris Smith has attacked JD Wetherspoon for submitting a planning application to turn Finsbury Town Hall in Clerkenwell, London, into a pub.
The Observer
Roger Carr, head of locks group Chubb, is to take over from Sir Ian Prosser as chairman of Six Continents next year. Sir Ian came under pressure last week when the strategy of acquisitions was attacked by shareholder Hermes (thePublican.com, January 22).
Details of Interbrew's 'bid' for South African Breweries reached stock markets at least 10 days before it was leaked to UK newspapers, raising further questions about whether SAB was the victim of a market scam. The Financial Services Authority is conducting an investigation (thePublican.com, January 21).
The Business
Former Tory leader William Hague has joined Guy Hands' new private capital fund, Terra Firma Capital Partners, which will take over ownership of Nomura Principal Finance Group's pubs businesses. It is thought he will receive a salary of £65,000.
Diageo is again considering a £2bn flotation of Burger King because talks to sell it to a management buy-out team are going slowly.
Independent on Sunday
MPW Criterion denies that trading losses prompted Marco Pierre White to hand back control of the Oak Room and Titanic, blaming instead "management issues". The Criterion, of which White will own 100 per cent, will be run as part of his core restaurant business.