Financial Times
Reform of licensing is set to be included in the Queen's Speech this month, but it is likely to face opposition from the Conservatives and local authorities worried about increases in public disorder offences. Former health secretary Frank Dobson is leading a campaign to give councils powers to turn down licence applications on the grounds that an area is becoming overrun with late-night pubs and bars.
The Sunday Times
Every pub and restaurant in Britain will have to list the calorie content, fat content and additives in each item on their menu under legislation being prepared by the Food Standards Agency.
Bulmer is the Sunday Times' share of the week. The trouble cidermaker has called in turnaround specialist John Darlington and is to focus on Strongbow and San Miguel. In Strongbow, it has a brand that may prove attractive to rivals.
Drinks giant Diageo is expected to keep an equity stake in its Burger King business because the purchaser, finance group Texas Pacific, is struggling to raise funds from its backers in the light of falling revenues at the restaurants.
The Sunday Times finds some key industry figures in its list of the top 500 earners in the UK. Nearing the top of the list was Wanda (£63m), Frank (£63m)and William Brake (£59m) following the sale of the family catering business Brake Brothers to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. Others include:
- Brakes non-executive director Ken Manley (145th on £5m), Brake Bros deputy chairman Christopher Brake (178th on £4.1m).
- JD Wetherspoon non-executive director Tony Lowrie (219th on £3.4m) and chairman Tim Martin (323rd on £2.4m).
- Diageo chief executive Paul Walsh (324th on £2.4m).
- Cadbury Schweppes chief operating officer John Brock (366th on £2m) followed by chief executive John Sunderland (407th on £2m).
- Ask Central director Salvatore Diliberto (455th on £1.7m) and Allied Domecq chief executive Philip Bowman (488th on £1.6m).
One-fifth of vegetarians have returned to eating meat or fish in the past two years, according to a survey carried out by Gallup for Realeat. Women lead the change, comprising 500,000 of the 600,000 Britons who have abandoned vegetarianism since 1999. The survey was carried out to assess the longer-term effects of the BSE and food scares of the 1990s.
Investment company Orb Estates is close to acquiring majority control of Thistle Hotels, which is likely to trigger a takeover or a management buy-out.
Property investor Paul Raymond, who is landlord to many of central London's restaurants and bars, saw profits in his empire rise from £21million to £27m on flat sales of £42.9m this year.
The Business
Hotels, restaurants, and health clubs have provided little cheer for investors of late, and Whitbread, which has built businesses in all three of these sectors, could have been expected to produce a less than impressive set of figures last week. Yet the group delivered beyond even the most optimistic expectations, prompting a string of buy notes.
It was a rum do as Diageo sounded the alarms last week. The drinks giant issued the second profits warning in two months. It also announced it was scrapping Captain Morgan Gold, a ready-to-drink spin-off, and unveiled a £1bn deficit in its pension fund.
The world's leading central banks in Washington, Frankfurt and London are all under mounting pressure to push through a co-ordinated cut in interest rates this week.
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail latches on to thePublican.com's story that the production of Boddingtons may yet be kept in Manchester. Workers are seeking the legal protection that secures a product to its place of origin, like Newcastle Brown Ale and Champagne. Owner Interbrew is planning to move production to either Preston or South Wales. Read more on thePublican.com...
It also picks up Publican's story that managed pub operator JD Wetherspoon plans to sell alcohol from 10am across its 600-strong estate. The company has applied to local magistrates in Cardiff. Read more on thePublican.com...
The Sunday Telegraph
Last week Whitbread delivered some good news to investors for once and the shares, at 546p, represent a good bet in a difficult market, says the Telegraph's sharewatch column.
Independent on Sunday
McDonald's headquarters has defended its burger meals as being of high nutritional value after its French arm placed an advertisement suggesting that it was unhealthy for children to have more than one fast-food meal a week.
The Observer
The government is urging consumers to adopt a more eclectic and experimental approach to choosing which fish to eat because of dangerously low stocks of more popular seafood, such as cod. Officials have drawn up a list of less familiar fish that they want to promote, including witch, conger eel and megrim.
Whittard of Chelsea, the tea and coffee retailer, plans to open an outlet in Moscow and is talking to people in Shanghai with a view to taking its tea shops to China.