Consumers are leaving pubs in their droves and heading to the off-licence as the credit crunch bites, according to latest research by market research company Nielsen.
In the last year, on-trade sales have dipped 11% compared to a 3% increase in the off-trade. The research also shows that consumers are cutting back on socialising, with 30 per cent saying they are spending less on going out than in previous years.
John Smith’s is launching a limited-edition cask conditioned ale in support of its 250th brewing anniversary celebrations and to mark the 90th birthday of the Royal Air Force.
The ale called Finest Hour will be unveiled at RAF Coningsby,Lincolnshire on 2 September 2008 and the Scottish & Newcastle brand has pledged to donate 10 pence from every sale to the RAF Association’s Wings Appeal.
A survey commissioned by body wash brand Skinbliss has shown that women spend 3,276 hours of their lives getting ready for a night out, compared to just 1,092 hours for men.
Source:Daily Express 18-08-2008
Steam kick off their football season with a thrilling defeat.
With start of the season nerves (or Tuesday night dodgy kebabs) a few players, Tim Beer, Ed Downey, Mark Murphy and Jason Kidd all went missing before action. However, this set back didn’t stop Steam Lokomotiv turning up a just a few minutes before kick off due to a delay on the tube, which funnily enough, may have been due to the fact we were playing against the Transport for London team.
Steam Lokomotiv certainly looked the business in their new, fresh smelling kit at kick off. However, a few minutes later, a goal down and wearing somewhat sweaty (probably stinking kit) we wondered if even the “conference league” wasn’t a bit too high a standard.
Only one in three British drinkers have actually tried real ale, research issued today by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) shows.
CAMRA also found that 29 per cent of Brits think that real ale should represent Britain in the same way wine represents France and stout represents
SMS and MMS messaging have each grown by 30% over the past year, spurred by mobile functionality and consumer appetite
Research by the Mobile Data Association has revealed text messaging grew by 30% in the past year, with on average more than 2.1m texts sent from person to person each day. It suggests the growth curve is set to continue as new devices promote messaging applications at the centre of their functionality.
While the overall alcohol category grew by 4.2% to £8.4b in the year to 15 June 2008, cider saw sales up by 27% and wine grew by 7.3%.
The increase in wine was due to higher spend per head among purchasers, while cider’s growth was driven by an increase in shopper numbers, TNS said.
According to figures from the Mobile Data Association, Britons are sending 1.4 billion text messages every week. The figure is 30% higher than a year ago, with 10 million pictures sent every week.
Source:Evening Standard 29-07-2008
According to a poll, more than a quarter of people think the mobile is the gadget that has altered our behaviour the most. And for the young, it’s even more important. Of those aged 16-24, 42% named it as their favourite life-changing gadget. The mobile came in ahead of the laptop – and the MP3 player – in the list compiled by consumer website which.co.uk.
Digital cameras and satellite navigation systems also proved popular.
Natalie Satchall, Account Director at Steam, is positively ‘fizzing’ over the fact that the largest and most expenisve scotch egg has been made at Brown’s hotel in Mayfair.
Costing a staggering £145 it uses a 4lb ostrich egg, 10lb of Gloucester Old Spot sausage and 2lb each of haggis and breadcrumbs.