Pub chain Fuller’s hit by railway strikes

FULLER’S suffered a £1.4m hit from the recent run of Tube and train strikes, as more industrial action looms.

Fuller, Smith & Turner said it was receiving a boost from commuters returning to offices, buoying sales at its City sites and pubs in central London.

Around 150 of Fuller’s pubs are in London out of the 208 it manages and 178 which are tenanted.

However, the pub chain warned that the recovery in central London had been dented by walk-outs by rail and Tube workers over the summer.

It estimated that it missed out on £1.4m in sales in the first half of the year to the end of September.

Fuller’s said like-for-like sales in its pubs in the City and central London were up by 20pc in the last seven weeks on the same period last year, “despite the impact of Tube and train strikes”.

Gaucho owner M Restaurants estimated that last week’s walkout meant it had lost six figures of trading. The pres- sure on hospitality from the strikes comes ahead of further action later this month with workers at 11 rail companies to strike next week, in a move expected to bring the country to a standstill.

Fuller’s said the trading environment was “increasingly challenging”, with higher energy bills, wage and food inflation and rising interest rates.

Despite this, shares in Fuller’s rose 2pc to 502p yesterday, as it said it was gearing up for its first Christmas free of Covid restrictions since 2019. It also expected a World Cup boost, with the competition to kick off on Sunday.