A half-decent Christmas and New Year then?

A ring round of managed pub operators to get a sense of Christmas and New Year business proved a rather fruitless exercise last week.

While a handful of companies offered a general indication of trading - the consensus being that things had been quiet at the beginning of December but had warmed up nicely in time for Christmas itself and New Year - most companies preferred to wait until the middle of January before officially revealing the highs and lows of the festive period.

The boss of one group said business had been "much better than expected", thanks in part to Christmas falling mid-week, allowing for two and a half days of pretty much full trading, though what drove customers through his establishments' doors in such numbers was a bit of a mystery, he added. A bit of a 'last hurrah' perhaps, before the credit card bills thumped onto the doormat?

As for the reticence of others to come clean so early in January, given the expectancy among investors of both publicly-owned and privately-held entities, the desire to get all their ducks in a row is, I guess, understandable.

Still, numbers I did get were mixed. Managed operator Barracuda reported like-for-like sales down around 3.5 per cent while Orchid Group claimed like-for-like sales in the four weeks to January 3 were up 1.5 per cent. Reflective of the trend across the piece? At this stage, who can tell?

All will be revealed in a matter of weeks. Then, once we have digested who did what and where, the business of trading through what is a trying time in any environment, namely January and February, will be in hand.

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One other thing: does anyone remember REITS?! It all seems such a long, long time ago, doesn't it?