The Boom Continues for New UK Distilleries
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BUSINESS WITH PERSONALITY TAKE A PUNT HEAD TO THE NEW AVON LADY WE TALK TO THE BOSS CAMBRIDGE FOR A MUCH OF THE DOORSTEP NEEDED GETAWAY P25 BEAUTY GIANT P16 MONDAY 16 MARCH 2020 ISSUE 3,577 CITYAM.COM FREE CUT TO THE CHASE Fed slashes BUSINESSON rates to near zero in stimulus bid THE BRINK AIRLINES, HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY AND TRAIN OPERATORS IN CALLS FOR STATE SUPPORT JESS CLARK this week. Over the weekend he spoke that ridership has fallen by a fifth on AND EDWARD THICKNESSE with US President Donald Trump and certain lines. @jclarkjourno @edthicknesse Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, noting eco- It is understood that train compa- nomic disruption in both calls. nies too are in negotiations with the THE EXISTENTIAL threat to business Last week markets across the world government about how they can posed by the Covid-19 pandemic tumbled amid fears of lengthy disrup- survive the coming weeks. became crystal clear this weekend as tion to supply chains, an ongoing oil On the capital’s streets it is a similar a host of industries warned of a price war and virus fears. story for pubs, bars and restaurants, potentially fatal cash crunch in the The airline sector is set to be top of as punters stay at home. coming weeks. the list for support. Yesterday, Stock- Some could have just four to six The aviation industry led calls for holm-based SAS said it was temporar- weeks left before they run out of cash, targeted government support, with ily laying off 10,000 staff — 90 per cent Jonathan Downey, the founder and train operators struggling with lower of its workforce — and suspending chief executive of street food market passenger numbers and the hospital- most of its operations as demand owners London Union, told City A.M. ity industry not far behind. becomes “essentially non-existent”. Visitors to London’s restaurants and EDWARD THICKNESSE economy has weathered recent Carrier trade body Airlines UK said Today Virgin Atlantic will deliver a bars fell 39 per cent last Saturday @edthicknesse events”. Policy makers will then do “who knows what will be left” if the letter to Johnson calling for a £7.5bn compared to 2019, according to analy- what they can to “support a swift government were to fail to step in to package to support the UK’s airlines. sis by Wireless Social. THE US Federal Reserve late last return to normal once they have support giants including Virgin Virgin’s demands, first reported by Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced night cut interest rates to near zero passed,” chair Jerome Powell added. Atlantic and British Airways. Sky News, include a credit facility for a package of measures in last week’s and revealed a huge stimulus The Fed said it had also undertaken That call was echoed by one London the duration of the pandemic. Budget designed to help small opera- programme, in a fresh attempt to coordinated action with central banks hospitality bigwig, who said small Unite the union has also called on tors, including discounts on business shore up the economy amid the such as the Bank of England and the bars and restaurants would begin the government to support jobs in the rates, but Downey said “it is just devastation caused by the European Central Bank to enhance making redundancies as soon as industry by making contributions to meaningless now because things are coronavirus epidemic. global dollar liquidity through existing this week. cover workers’ pay and to consider moving so quickly.” The move, which slashed rates to dollar swap arrangements. With the global economy essentially taking a stake in airlines and airports Many of the emergency measures zero to 0.25 per cent, came just days This was in addition to a $700bn paralysed by a combination of travel to help ensure their survival. will not apply to bars and restaurants after an initial emergency cut of 50 (£564.4bn) quantitative easing plan restrictions and uncertainty, PM Boris While airlines hit turbulence, there in the centre of London as their so- basis points, which had lowered the in a bid to protect the economy, Johnson will seek to find an interna- is also trouble on the railways, with called rateable value is above the Fed’s rate to one to 1.25 per cent. which has been battered by the tional consensus on packages to sup- passenger numbers significantly threshold for support. In a statement, the Fed said it outbreak over the last fortnight. port businesses through a host of down across the UK. would maintain the basement rate phone calls with other world leaders One industry source told the BBC £ CONTINUES ON P3 until “it is confident that the £ CONTINUES ON P6 There is some good news: The boom continues for new UK distilleries JESS CLARK Distilleries jumped 20 per cent to prompting the number of brands”. Deal activity in the sector raised £4.25m through a listing @jclarkjourno 246 over the last year, up from 205 new entrants to the market has been strong, including Glasgow on NEX. the previous year, as the UK gin to jump in recent years. blender Douglas Laing & Co’s UHY Hacker Young partner THE NEXT few weeks may leave industry toasted a nine per cent Some entrepreneurs purchase of Strathearn Distillery in James Simmonds said: “The growth many of us needing a stiff drink increase in export sales to £672m have recognised that big October last year. in British craft distilling has not but the good news is there is more in 2019. Whisky has also proved to drinks firms are eyeing The British Honey Company, stopped yet. homegrown choice than ever, as be popular, as Scotch exports grew smaller “authentic which recently bought the “Growth won’t continue forever, the number of distilleries in the UK 4.4 per cent to £4.9bn last year. assets of the London Distillery but for now, domestic and overseas surges due to the continued Consumers are willing to pay New craft gins including Company including the Dodds consumers’ demand for UK craft popularity of craft gin. premium prices for craft gin, Holborn are driving growth brand, today announced it has spirits hasn’t yet been met.” FTSE 100▲ 5,266.11 +128.63 FTSE 250▼15,562.00 -155.42 DOW▲ 23,185.62 +1,985.00 NASDAQ▲7,874.88 +673.07 £/$▼1.235 -0.023 £/€▼1.116 -0.014 €/$▼1.106 -0.007 02 NEWS MONDAY 16 MARCH 2020 CITYAM.COM PUTIN THE BOOT IN Ukrainians take to the streets to pay tribute to volunteers fighting against Russians in Crimea THE CITY VIEW Our ability to overcome should never be in doubt E ARE being told to prepare for significant changes to our way of life. Within weeks, perhaps sooner, the government will require Wanyone over the age of 70 to stay in their homes. The health secretary Matt Hancock says that when the order comes it will last “for a very long time”, while Public Health England yesterday said the epidemic in the UK could last until next spring, and may cause 7.9m people to be hospitalised. The implications are profound, and the social response required to meet such conditions will have to be of a scale unprecedented in peacetime. As the government ramps up its coronavirus strategy, we will hear and witness things not spoken about or seen within the memories of most of us: emergency laws, civil contingencies, requisitions. The government will grant itself the authority to seize property for conversion into hospitals, close ports and detain vehicles. Factories are being asked to stop producing engine UKRAINIANS marched through the streets of Kiev over the weekend in the March of the Volunteers, supporting parts and consumer goods and repurpose for the manufacturing of ventilators those who signed up to fight against the Russian annexation of the Crimea in 2014 and to counter land grabs in the and medical equipment. All of this looms even before a state of emergency is east of the country led by Russian paramilitaries. Thousands died in clashes that continue, on and off, to this day. declared, which would grant the government sweeping executive authority. Ministers and their advisers are haunted by the question of how we, the public, will cope with such disruption. Over the weekend, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, said that all businesses, politicians, policymakers and members of the public must prepare for “a huge paradigm shift for economies, institutions and social norms” that will result in Analysts warn virus to “unprecedented sudden economic stops”. He suggested that the coming economic disruption will be comparable to crises normally endured by developing countries and failed states. Families will have been visited by tragedy and businesses with us today may not be with us tomorrow. Support spark global recession for corporate Britain will have to be made available, on a scale far larger than the measures announced in the Budget. Small firms in particular will need immediate relief. El-Erian demanded, with an eye on both the economic and HARRY ROBERTSON lending markets, the Bank of Eng- Barclays predicted global social hardship confronting us, that the moment is met with unambiguous, land slashed rates and the Euro- growth will be just 1.8 per cent honest and transparent communication from all leaders — prime ministers @harrygrobertson pean Central Bank (ECB) ramped this year. The US economy — the and chief executives alike. It is wise advice, made salient by the irresponsible THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary up quantitative easing — did little world’s biggest, which chalked up Fund says a global recession to ease the selloff.