Young & Co’s Brewery is the latest pub company to report that the Euro 2004 football tournament failed to boost its business.
“We have seen only a very limited benefit to trade arising from the European Championships, and this occurred only on those days when England were actually playing,” said chairman John Young.
JD Wetherspoon – which only has TVs in a minority of its pubs – reported earlier today that the tournament had depressed its like-for-like sales.
Nevertheless, Young said that first-quarter trading had been “encouraging”, with year-on-year growth in beer volumes, sales and profits. He said the group was “on track to deliver continued progress”.
He added that improved economic conditions and operational changes had offset the impact of extra legislative and regulatory costs.
by Angela Frewin
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