British boozers boost economy in November, but almighty Budget hangover looms

THE British boozer helped the economy eke out growth in November but experts are already warning of an almighty hangover from the Chancellor’s Budget.

Official figures yesterday showed that the growth in the services industry — including pubs, restaurants, and hotels – was the one bright spot.

Its output grew by 0.1 percent in November, but showed no growth over a longer three-month timeframe.

Liz McGowan at the Office for National Statistics said the services sector was the biggest contributor to growth in the month.

It follows pub group Young’s yesterday hailing a rise in sales of 26 percent in the 15 weeks to January 13, which includes the ONS November period.

Simon Dodd, boss of Young’s, said that it had some of the “highest daily sales” in its history.

A day earlier, Mitchells & Butlers, owner of Toby Carvery and All Bar One, toasted strong sales.

However, both pub groups issued grave warnings about the impact of the extra costs to the business from the Chancellor’s Budget and “headwinds facing consumers.”

Economists yesterday highlighted that the 0.1 percent growth in the economy was below forecasts and rushed to dampen their views on this year.

It comes as many companies have started the New Year warning they will have to recruit fewer staff and hold off opening new sites as they brace for a steep increase in staffing costs from the Budget.

Experts at Pantheon Economics now expect the economy to have had zero growth during the last quarter.

It came as analysts at French bank BNP Paribas slashed their growth forecasts for the UK to 1.1 percent, down from 1.4 percent.

The diminished prospects will make Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ job even harder after she came into the Treasury pledging growth was her number one priority.

While government bond market turmoil last week has made public debt even more expensive, there are signs that households are already struggling.

The number defaulting on mortgages has risen for the eighth consecutive quarter.

It comes as many households have had to remortgage at monthly rates that are more than double what they paid a year ago.

KPMG global financial services head Karim Haji said, “Against a backdrop of weak UK growth and continued inflationary pressures, we may see defaults continue to rise in the months ahead.”

Matt’s the story, THG?

Matt Moulding, the boss of listed online group THG, has turned himself into Liam Gallagher in the Wonderwall video for his latest attack on the City.

Mr. Moulding shared a bizarre “deepfake” video in which his face replaces the Oasis frontman’s.

The Lancashire-born businessman goes on to liken his firm, which was floated for £5.4 billion and is now worth just £457 million, to a Wonderwall.

He claims the song’s lyrics “they’re gonna throw it back to you” could refer to him taking THG’s tech arm, Ingenuity, private again.

He says: “The City has thrown Ingenuity back to me.”

In a hint that he could take back the entire group, he adds: “Feel free to throw the rest of my Wonderwall back to us anytime too.”

BP: We’ll cut 5% of workers

BP is shedding 4,700 staff — equivalent to 5 percent of the energy giant’s global workforce.

Boss Murray Auchincloss said more cost-cutting efforts were planned as part of his drive to save £1.6 billion and boost the company’s valuation.

He told employees in a memo, “We have got more we need to do through this year, next year, and beyond, but we are making strong progress as we position BP to grow as a simpler, more focused, higher-value company.”

Mr. Auchincloss said BP — which employs 90,000 people, with 14,000 in the UK — had no “automatic right to win.”

He is expected to scale back expensive projects in renewables and shift to fossil fuels which have short-term higher rewards for investors.

It comes days after a BP investor event in New York was delayed so Mr. Auchincloss can recover from an undisclosed planned medical procedure.

’Roo hop to £1.2BN

Shoppers are ordering more regularly and have increased spending on Deliveroo — after the delivery app added more grocers and other retailers to its service.

The business posted a 9 percent rise to £1.2 billion for UK orders. It now makes speedy deliveries from Ann Summers and B&Q stores.

Boss Will Shu said partnerships with other retailers “bring even more of the neighbourhood to consumers’ doors.”

Poundland axe

Poundland has closed 13 stores — and ruled out opening more — as part of “immediate measures” to address the discount chain’s sales plunge.

The retailer saw sales slide by 9.3 percent in the three months to December 31.

Stephan Borchert, boss of parent company Pepco, said “getting Poundland back on track is a key priority.”

He blamed its woes on a “continued underperformance in clothing and general merchandise.” Poundland said it was getting back to basics by selling more items for £1.

Big family gatherings for Christmas led to a surge in sales of sofa beds and folding dining chairs at homeware chain Dunelm.

The retailer posted a 1.6 percent lift in second-quarter sales and said it had outperformed a “challenging market.”

Budget dipsticks

Cheese and chive dips, hummus, and taramasalata are set to become even more expensive, as the UK’s biggest maker of dips warns about the impact of the Budget.

Bakkavor said yesterday it expects £15 million in extra costs as a result of the Chancellor’s changes to employers’ National Insurance.

It said that it would soften the blow “through price recovery” — business jargon for passing on the costs to customers.

Bakkavor said its sales had risen by 4 percent to £2.3 billion in the past year.