It’s a Mixed Bag for the On-trade, Finds Study
Posted on Fri 11th Dec 2015 at 12:28
The CBI has released the findings of their latest Service Sector Survey, which covers leisure and lifestyle businesses such as bars, restaurants, hotels and travel-related companies.
The results paint an interesting picture: although many of these services have continued to see growth, profits have also been hit. Around 40% of the 173 companies surveyed reported a rise in volume, but 9% reported that volumes were down. Similarly, although profitability had improved in the last quarter for 36% of firms surveyed, it had also declined for another 20% of businesses. This may be a contributory factor to the decline in optimism regarding the business climate. In the last survey, in August, 37% of firms were optimistic, whereas this time only 29% had the same feeling. Costs across the industry have risen at the fastest rate in eight years, particularly in the areas of staffing: 45% of businesses said employee numbers had risen in the last quarter, and 16% expected to be hiring new staff in the next three months. Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Director of Economics, expanded on the findings: “Employment growth is expected to slow a little in the quarter ahead, and given concerns over a lack of skilled workers – remaining close to a seven year high in business and professional services – companies are increasingly looking to invest in new technologies that could raise their productivity.” It seems as if the more innovative companies are, the more likely they are to succeed in the challenging market that the survey highlights. With this in mind, wine producers should look to facilitate the service sector’s growth and innovation wherever they can, and we’ll certainly be putting our thinking caps on at Signature Wines in light of this!