Person of the Week

Ken McMeikan, Chief Executive, Greggs

In their Interim Management Statement released this week, the high street baker announced plans to open another 600 shops in transport hubs and industrial parks across Britain, starting with 50-60 shops next year followed by at least 70 per year from 2011.

Quote of the Week

"If the Communications Workers Union cares to pay me a fee, I will draw them an organogram with an arrow flowing from their jobs to a scrap heap. (I thought I'd mention a fee, because, you never know, with their grasp on economic reality, they might just pay one.)"

Daniel Finkelstein, The Times

Facts of the week

Are green shoots appearing?

Philip Marsden, Managing Director, Vantis Corporate Finance outlines current investment climate for hospitality and leisure

• At a briefing held this week, Philip noted that the economy, following a steep recession in the first quarter of this year, had shrunk by 5% (in UK £ terms) but appeared to have at least stabilised. The UK economy grew by 0.2% in the third quarter.
• Whilst the valuation of the pound had made the UK more attractive to visitors from Europe, it has increased in value against the US dollar.
• The crux of Philip's commentary focused on the cautious lending climate, the ongoing difficulties associated with attaining commercial mortgages and the unspoken role of government (namely HMRC) in their support of businesses (eg through deferring PAYE tax bills and the payment of VAT) – which anecdotally appears to be scaling back in the last month.
• Click here for the full report

Board changes at Gala Coral?

Gambling group negotiates new board structure as part of debt restructuring

• According to a report in the Financial Times, shareholders have agreed to cede overall control of the business as part of a debt restructuring proposal.
• Gala's private equity owners, Candover, Cinven and Permira, have agreed with two major mezzanine debt holders (ICG and Park Square) that they will have equal representation on the board.
• The new board will consist of three representatives from PE backers, three from mezzanine debt holders, two management representatives, the chairman and an independent director.
• Neil Goulden, Gala Coral's Chairman, has brokered the deal at the UK's second biggest private company.
• Without the restructuring the business would breach its banking covenants in the new year.
• Is this an indication of future deals for businesses with PE backing?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/de5c1a34-be55-11de-9195-00144feab49a.html

Can you teach entrepreneurship and leadership?

Scotland is proposing to create a new hospitality leadership business school to build a pipeline of talent for the industry which can compete on an international level. This was one question raised at the most recent Scottish Leadership Forum held at Cameron House, Loch Lomond this week. Click here for a summary

Article of the week

EP Condense is EP's weekly e-newsletter. But did you know that EP is also a bimonthly magazine available via subscription? Our Article of the Week provides a sample of what we have featured in past issue.

This week we feature a story from the EP archives. It is a political feature entitled "A man apart". In this article EP met with Viscount Thurso, hotel operator, business leader and politician. What have been the hallmarks of his career, and what is his philosophy?