26 THE SENTINEL Monday October 19, 2009 www

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THE SENTINEL Monday October 19, 2009
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www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk
www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk
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THE SENTINEL Monday October 19, 2009
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THE SENTINEL Monday October 19, 2009
www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk
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BUS NESS
For more business news go to
www.thisisbusiness-staffordshire.co.uk
week in the
market
STAFF and customers at a
Stoke-on-Trent shop have been
celebrating Halloween early to
boost business and raise money
for charity.
Employees at Matalan, in
Longton, dressed up as ghouls,
ghosts and vampires and
children could have their faces
painted.
The event was staged by MParty, the special occasion
department at the Heathcote
Road store, and it included two
fountains spouting blood-red
chocolate.
Sarah Clarke, pictured, M-Party
manager, said: “I did the
Halloween party as an in-store
promotion, which also gives me
the opportunity to raise some
cash for the NSPCC at the same
time.
“We get dressed up every
Saturday throughout October
and then every day during
Halloween week. It was a great
day and the kids loved it.”
Picture: Shaun Smith
With Richard Platt,
senior divisional
director of Brewin
Dolphin Securities
£1m tonic aims to put
pub trade back on top
Landlords working with
chain to boost business
DAVID JOHNSON
BUSINESS EDITOR
Residential & Commercial Services
Valuations • Surveys • Lettings • Sales • Estate Agency
t:413580 / 847083
www.keateshulme.co.uk
In association with Stanley Keates, Cheadle 01538 753177
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• Prominent main road position
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FOR SALE OR TO LET
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• High-specification sub-divided offices
(465.57 sq m)
• Area: 1310 sq ft (121.70 sq m)
• G.C.H, D.G, Air - Con
£25,000 p.a
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Offices at:
Hanley 01782 847083 Stoke 01782 413580 Cheadle 01538 753177
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PUNCH Taverns is investing £1
million in North Staffordshire
pubs.
The chain has been hit hard by
the smoking ban, the recession
and falling property values.
And there have been criticisms
pub giants hold licensees to
ransom, charging too much for
stock and rent.
But Punch says it will plough
around £1 million into
improvements at 25 as yet
unidentified North
Staffordshire venues.
Adam Smith, regional
operations manager for Punch,
said: “It works out as an
average of between £40,000 and
£50,000 per site, so there are
some positives to look forward
to.
“The fact we’re talking about
that sort of investment means
that the future could look quite
rosy.
“Stoke-on-Trent does seem to
be a particularly challenging
area.
“It could do with a lot of
Government investment, and
that has been the case for a
good while now.
“The plus side is there are a lot
of very pro-active licensees
who are determined to bring in
trade.”
Mr Smith is responsible for
around 270 sites in
Staffordshire, Cheshire,
Shropshire and North Wales.
He said the firm had
introduced new policies to help
publicans, including rent
discounts and promises to
match insurance quotes.
He said: “The good thing is
that our new managing
director has seen a need for the
business model to evolve.
“We call it the Pathway to
Partnership and it involves
things like the insurance
matching and a lot of tailored
business support, like advice
or sales-building activities, not
just rent discounts.”
Last week Punch, which has
more than 7,600 pubs across
the UK, revealed annual losses
of £405.7 million after slashing
£663 million from the value of
its estate.
Underlying profits fell 39 per
cent to £161 million.
Research by the British Beer
and Pub Association shows
more than 50 pubs are going
out business each week.
But Mr Smith believes
imaginative and determined
licensees who offer excellent
customer service will survive.
Punch licensee Keith Elliott,
who runs the Black Lion, in
Trent Vale, with wife Jackie,
agreed.
He said: “It’s about giving your
customers what they want.
“We have started pool teams
and darts teams. We started
with just one darts team and
now we’ve got three.
“If you look after your regulars
that helps evening trade and
then our other big selling point
is proper, locally-sourced,
home-cooked food.
“Location is also quite a lot to
do with it and we’re fortunate
because we are right on the
A34.
“Punch are coming in and they
are trying to help us in the
direction we want to grow.”
How is your business beating the
recession? Email us at
businessdesk@thesentinel.co.uk
For more business news,
visit www.thisisbusiness
-staffordshire.co.uk
Potter heroine
casts magic
spell on
Burberry
Emma Watson,
the 19-year-old
actress who
plays Harry
Potter heroine
Hermione
Granger, looks to have cast some
much-needed magic on luxury
clothing brand Burberry. A costcutting drive, buoyant sales from
overseas shoppers benefiting from
a weak pound and winning the
plaudits at the London Fashion
show have given the brand a
welcome boost.
It wasn’t so long ago Burberry was
in a catch-22 situation. The classic
label with its iconic check became
hugely popular among aspiring
youngsters but synonymous with
so-called ‘chavs’ and football
hooligans.
But critics appear to have warmed
to Miss Watson as the face of its
latest autumn and winter
collection.
Several analysts reckon the stock
is looking up again and have
upgraded their forecast based on
rising pre-tax profits. Shares
recently hit a year high of 550p
having been as low as 160p in the
past 12 months.
Get well soon, Clintons
Britons send more greetings cards
than any other nation in the world,
a fact which has helped lift a little
of the gloom surrounding Clinton
Cards.
According to the Greeting Card
Association, the UK spent £1.7
billion on cards last year. The
association said its survey of
1,000 people found that threequarters of those asked would be
angry if they received an electronic
message on a special occasion
rather than a card.
In full-year results for the period to
August 2, published last week,
Clinton said pre-tax profits rose to
£24.1 million from £22 million.
It was helped by a resurgent
trading performance in the second
half of the period from its core
estate of 680 Clinton Cards
stores.
The firm placed its troubled
Birthdays division into
administration in May, closing 136
of its 332 stores, although it then
bought back 196 of the most
profitable stores in June.
Not that the troubled year has had
a detrimental impact on the share
price. Shares have climbed from
just 4p to 33p this year and with
the unprofitable stores now off its
hands the outlook for Clintons
could not be healthier.
Can Diageo lift shareholders
spirits?
Sobriety has been the order of the
day across Europe during the
recession. According to Bernstein
Research, European sales
volumes of both spirits and beer
have fallen this year, with spirits
down about 5 per cent and beer
down close to 4 per cent from last
year.
Last week Diageo, the owner of
Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff vodka
and Guinness, said sales had
fallen six per cent in the three
months to September.
It has recently admitted that
trading remains tough in Europe.
Indeed, the world’s biggest spirits
group still plans to close its
Johnnie Walker bottling plant in
Kilmarnock and the Port Dundas
grain distillery in Glasgow. Around
900 workers will be affected.