Enterprise Inns enjoys strong Christmas trading but not New Year
Pub giant Enterprise Inns enjoyed strong trading during Christmas but an average New Year, according to its boss.
Enterprise Inns chief executive Ted Tuppen said in an interview with The Scotsman the trend for Brits to increasingly celebrating New Year at home with friends and family rather than down the pub had hit sales.
"People have a finite amount of money and they probably started to run out by New Year."
Looking ahead to 2007, Tuppen also warned analysts were off the mark, having predicted massive profits for pub shareholders following the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT).
Hospitality companies are closely monitoring the benefits of REITs, which allow property management companies to pay little or no tax on their rental income as long as most is paid to investors through dividends.
• Several media reports claim private equity suitors may be circling around Britain's largest pub owner, Punch Taverns.
How REITs could reshape UK hospitality >>
Enterprise Inns pulls out of Scotland >>
By Alex Blakemore
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