Latest news with #Burford
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Britain's pubs are being ‘taxed out of existence'. Can Clarkson's Farm help?
Jeremy Clarkson seems determined to find an answer to that age-old question: how do you make a small fortune? After he first tried by starting with a large fortune and buying a farm, he then turned his attention to running a pub, that other once-great British totem that has fallen on hard times. Perhaps an airline or football club is next. In the latest series of Clarkson's Farm, which chronicles the petrol-head's life as he brings his Top Gear sensibility to the Oxfordshire countryside, we see him attempt to transform a knackered old boozer off the A40 into a thriving pub that serves the produce of local farms. On the hunt for his ideal site, as chronicled on Prime Video, Clarkson sees a staggering number of pubs that are either up for sale or have been left empty by owners unable to make ends meet. Things do not get off to a great start: one has so many health-and-safety signs which assault his senses as he crosses the threshold that he immediately feels unwelcome. 'What's stark about his search for his pub is just how many pubs are vacant or available,' says Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) who lives near the presenter in the Cotswolds. 'As Clarkson says, 'What would a village be without its village pub? It would just be a collection of houses.'' After deciding to buy The Windmill in the market town of Burford – which he has since opened and renamed The Farmer's Dog – last July, Clarkson solicits advice from his celebrity friends about what challenges await him as he tries to turn his 'farm-to-fork' idea from a dream into reality. We see Piers Morgan – whom he once thumped on Concorde – warn him that punters will almost certainly try to steal things, from cutlery and salt shakers to the art off the walls. James Blunt says he will have to worry about drink-drivers and struggles hiring staff. Clarkson's erstwhile Top Gear chum, James May, droned on about how expensive everything was, especially accountancy fees, insurance premiums and employee wages. But it was film director Guy Ritchie who put it in the starkest terms, when he warned that sometimes 'it looks like you're making £50k a week but it transpires you're losing £10k a week'. No wonder, then, that the number of British pubs is collapsing. There were more than 60,000 pubs in Britain at the turn of the millennium, but today that number has fallen by a quarter to 45,000, according to the BBPA. Publicans have had to put up with steeper taxes, the pandemic lockdowns, surging energy prices and, most recently, Rachel Reeves's hike in National Insurance contributions on employers, which has pushed up staff costs. The BBPA estimates that £1 in every £3 taken at the bar goes straight to the taxman: of the surviving pubs and bars, one third are operating at a loss as a result of being so heavily taxed, the UK Hospitality trade group reckons. So it is perhaps no surprise that Clarkson found so many pubs available to buy when he started looking. 'There are always, sadly, businesses that fail: you will always get closures in any given year. Normally you would expect them to be brought back to life. The cost pressures that the Chancellor has imposed makes that impossible,' says Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality's chief executive. 'What Clarkson's demonstrating is this is the most highly taxed, highly regulated sector of the economy, and we're taxing too many businesses out of existence altogether.' Pubs can be a money sink, meaning that any aspiring pint-pullers do need some serious cash to get things going in the first place. Clarkson, for instance, was told by his surveyor before buying the pub that he would need to spend £150,000 to repair the roof and £100,000 to upgrade the lavatories. In typical fashion, he ignores all of this advice – saying that such surveys were an exercise in 'a--e-covering' – and sets about trying to do up his pub at six weeks' notice with a budget of no more than £25,000. And yet, as has become routine in his series, it turns out to be much more complicated than that. For instance, having assumed that his kitchen was good to go, he was told that he might have to spend as much as £100,000 upgrading the kit – including a £7,000 oven – which could be cut to about £40,000 if he bought refurbished goods. Rachel Hawkins, a consultant Clarkson employs to help him get his pub up and running, tells him that managing a hostelry is more complicated than it looks. 'You see a smiley waitress pulling a pint. That is about 1 per cent of it.' The fact that Clarkson struggles so much underlines how precarious the wider industry is. 'What the programme highlights very well is that if you've got a lot of money and you've got that name, then you can probably try to make a go of it; you can take one of these sites and turn it around, but it's going to need a lot of investment behind it,' says Nicholls. 'Even then, it's still difficult to make a profit and do the altruistic thing of supporting local farmers.' Clarkson's Farm has been lauded for putting the struggles regular farmers face firmly on the agenda. Tim Martin, the founder of Wetherspoons, who is probably Britain's most successful publican, tells me that he hopes what Clarkson has done for farmers could be replicated with the nation's pub landlords – especially when it comes to getting the Government's attention. 'The fact that Clarkson has been frank about the great complexity and costs involved in running a pub is a huge benefit for the industry,' he says. 'Ministers tend to regard pubs as a milch cow that can endure further taxes or regulations ad infinitum. However, thanks to Clarkson's report from the front line, the plight of pubs is becoming clear.' Kris Gumbrell, the founder of Brewhouse & Kitchen, a chain of 21 bars with 500 staff, says that he has been 'addicted' to watching Clarkson's show and reading his stories about running the pub. And he admits that he has raised a 'wry smile' when he hears about issues Clarkson has had – such as sky-high energy bills – that he has also experienced. 'I'm watching it, and a lot of the challenges he's [had] resonate with people in the sector. The good thing is, he's drawing attention to problems that a lot of publicans have, a lot of people in the pub industry are encountering every day and have been for some time,' Gumbrell says. 'It's a great industry and I'm pleased that Jeremy Clarkson has jumped into it, but I've seen his woes and we've all been there.' Having the reality of running a pub depicted in such a popular series – with a figure as famous as Clarkson behind the bar – will also educate punters about how hard the graft can be. 'From a guest point of view, opening up the workings of a pub and to understand what really goes on behind the scenes – the pressures and the challenges we have every day – are good for the guests to understand,' Gumbrell says. 'Everybody knows how to run a pub until they get one. Everybody's got an opinion about how a pub should be run, but it's very different when you're actually at the coal face with your hand in your pocket or writing those cheques. He's very good at exposing the realities.' Though there are so many challenges that publicans face – with pubs closing down every week – those remaining in the industry are a resilient bunch and have a habit of trying to accentuate the positives. 'Despite everything, Clarkson still opened his pub. He still wants to have that, he still wants to serve the community,' says the BBPA's McClarkin. 'There is something in it that makes it worthwhile. People still do want to go to the pub. There is still demand there.' She adds: 'We need to lean in and get behind them. I really hope the programme – just as it did for farming – begins to open everybody's eyes about how you run a pub, how difficult it is and what support we need.'
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
'A village without a pub is just some houses': Jeremy Clarkson says villages are 'losing their soul' as he condemns lack of public services in UK countryside
Jeremy Clarkson has said countryside villages are 'losing their soul' as he criticised the loss of local schools, police officers and shops in some of the most rural areas of the UK. Speaking on the new fourth series of Clarkson's Farm, Clarkson - who was previously fired by the BBC after punching a producer - bemoaned loneliness in small villages as he discussed the frequent closure of local pubs. The latest series sees Clarkson travel around various closed pubs as he seeks to purchase one alongside his farm, with the aim of revitalising it for the local community and selling stock from his Diddly Squat farm shop. While having a drink in his own local pub, the former Top Gear presenter tells viewers: 'Loneliness is a big issue in rural areas and part of the problem is villages losing their soul. 'You don't have a village doctor anymore. He's in a health centre 30 miles away and you can't get an appointment. 'There's no village bobby on the beat. There's no village vicar, there's no village shop, there's no village school. 'If we end up at a point where there's no village pub then what is a village? It's just some houses. Pubs are the hub and it should always be that way.' Clarkson is said to have paid less than £1 million to purchase the pub he eventually opened as The Farmer's Dog last year. According to recent figures, six pubs closed every week in 2024, leading to around 4,500 job losses. The pub in Asthall, near Burford in Oxfordshire, was previously known as The Windmill. The new series of Clarkson's Farm features new farmhand Harriet Cowan, 24, taking over from popular sidekick Kaleb Cooper who is taking a break from the show. The new farmhand has been described as 'brilliant' by her co-stars and seems to have kept things running smoothly while Cooper, who has been a staple on the show since it began in 2021, was temporarily away on a tour. In the new eight-part series of Clarkson's Farm, Jeremy and his team will battle with mother nature as it makes one of the toughest years ever for British farmers. The show is set to return to the streaming platform on May 23, with two additional episodes released a week later on May 30, followed by the final two on June 6. Clarkson previously announced that a fifth series of Clarkson's Farm had confirmed, before the fourth was even announced, back in November. Harriet initially shocked fans when she first appeared in the trailer for the upcoming season and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty In a clip posted online, a huge number five firework lit up the sky as he told his followers: 'Over the years bright lights in the sky have been used to make many important announcements. 'The birth of baby Jesus for example, but tonight they're being used to make an announcement that's even bigger than that. 'Season 5 of Clarkson's Farm is coming,' the TV presenter finished, before pointing towards the gold number five. He captioned the post: 'It's the 5th November… this just felt right, Clarkson's Farm S5 is officially in production.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Burford Capital (BUR) Resilient to Tariffs?
Greenhaven Road Capital, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund returned around -12% net of fees and expenses, trailing the Russell 2000 by approximately 2% in large part. The Q1 letter focused on President Trump's Liberation Day and the attendant tariff policies rather than company fundamentals. In addition, you can check the fund's top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025. In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Greenhaven Road Capital highlighted stocks such as Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR). Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) offers legal finance products and services. The one-month return of Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) was -4.99%, and its shares lost 5.54% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 21, 2025, Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) stock closed at $13.12 per share with a market capitalization of $2.87 billion. Greenhaven Road Capital stated the following regarding Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) in its Q1 2025 investor letter: "Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) – Burford finances litigation and there are virtually no tariff impacts on the company. During economic downturns, companies are typically more likely to turn to external financing for their litigation. We attended Burford's recent investor day, which happened to be the day following 'Liberation Day' (link to slides), and management agreed that the tariffs should not impact their core business. An accountant meticulously going over documents in her office, exemplifying the company's commitment to accuracy and detail. Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 30 hedge fund portfolios held Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 22 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains. In another article, we covered Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) and shared the list of best undervalued UK stocks to buy. In its Q4 2024 investor letter, Greenhaven Road Capital emphasized the likelihood of settlement in the ongoing lawsuit, which, if settled, could enhance Burford's long-term growth prospects. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Mayor
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
‘Fewer dollars' for UK economy as funder spurns English law
Fewer dollars are flowing into the UK economy due to uncertainty in the funding market, the chief of the world's biggest litigation funder warned today. Chris Bogart, chief executive of Burford Capital, said the economy was taking a hit as companies like Burford are no longer naming London as an arbitral seat or selecting English law as a dispute resolution mechanism in their international contracts. Bogart told journalists the government's failure to address problems posed by the PACCAR Supreme Court ruling was 'regrettable', and 'causing a problem for the London market'. He said: 'Look at all the mayhem that you're seeing from the tariffs from the US. Why are you seeing that? Because markets and businesses don't like such uncertainty. To invest, you have to have a higher level of certainty. What PACCAR , and the government non-response to it, has done is to create uncertainty. That means you're likely to see a lower allocation of capital to [that] market.' He added: 'The market-wide statistics that we've seen here bear that out. It's hard to get statistics on litigation funding, but [those] that are out there suggest there is less of it since PACCAR . And you've seen other demonstrable evidence of effects; for example Therium, a big London funder, the funder that did the sub-postmasters' case, has [made job losses]. So that's a sign that the market is not as healthy as you would like it to be.' Bogart added that before PACCAR , Burford named London as an arbitral seat and specified English law for all its international contracts. 'It didn't matter if it had anything to do with London; if we were going to do a financing agreement in, say, India or Dubai, we would try and have English law and London-seated arbitration. And now – we don't. We've stopped doing that. We've moved it to another jurisdiction, be it Singapore, Paris, New York. Because we have developed a less predictable dynamic here in this market, and that will mean fewer dollars flowing into the English economy, which is unfortunate because this is one of the major global centres for litigation and arbitration. And when you have losses like that, they take a long time to recover.' The Burford chief added: 'Clarity and predictability are an important part of law: it's not supposed to be something that's made up and new every time. If you have that kind of dynamic then it's harder to attract capital, it's harder to get cases to run. It was already hard enough in this market, because this is an expensive market. What is already happening in the UK is that you price the mid-sized case out of the market. And as you keep on making it more expensive, more difficult and more risky, you just keep on raising the bar for what kind of case is capable of getting funded.' Bogart also reflected on what he would like to see from the Civil Justice Council's current review of litigation funding. The CJC review will examine the need for tougher regulation of the sector, among other issues. He said: 'I'm hoping the CJC tells the government it's important to restore a degree of predictability and stability into the market. There's no need for a big regulatory apparatus here. The thing that people forget is that in most kinds of finance, regulation happens on a spot check-style level; and when you transact with your broker, the odds of that transaction being examined by the FCA [Financial Conduct Authority] are very, very small. [But] in litigation, there is a regulator in every single case. That's called the judge. Judges have broad powers to manage what goes on in the cases before them. 'So this is a solution in search of a problem. You haven't had any sort of history of problematic activity in the sector which warrants an intrusive regulatory response, so I hope that's the conclusion of the CJC, and that people will get back to business.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
So, about that 2022 draft class
Spencer Burford, Nick Zakelj, Kalia Davis, Brock Purdy. Combined, they have 65 starts—36 of which belong to Purdy. And they are all that remains of the San Francisco 49ers' 2022 draft class. The most recent casualty? Second-round pick Drake Jackson, waived on Friday. It's safe to say the 2022 class wasn't particularly successful. Remove Purdy from that list, and only Burford has more than 10 starts—none of which came in 2024. Advertisement Things can still change: Burford has received praise and will compete for a starting spot, but he's also in year four of trying to lock it down for good. The class didn't have depth, either, as the attrition rate makes clear. If it did, most of those picks might still be on the team. The depth they do have is starting more games than they probably should to hold down the fort—or can't even get on the field. At face value, the 2022 draft helps explain why depth has been a recurring problem. Not like it was easy; this was the second of two consecutive drafts in which the 49ers would not have a first-round selection. Those were packaged up in a deal to the Miami Dolphins to move up and draft Trey Lance in 2021. Purdy would be the do-over from that botch. Everything else? Burford's blocking in pass protection is a good summary if you watch the Super Bowl. Zakelj has started two games in 2024 and spent his first two years trying to simply suit up. Davis has looked OK in limited spurts, but has been battling injury after injury. And Purdy remains the only player from that group you can say—without hesitation—will start in 2025. Advertisement And the 2023 class could be worse. The 49ers didn't have a second-round pick then. Due to the Christian McCaffrey trade, they didn't start their draft until the third round, where they took Jake Moody. This name will go along with the likes of Cameron Latu and Ronnie Bell. The 2022 class gave the 49ers a franchise quarterback—one taken at the very end of the draft, who offered a mulligan for the franchise quarterback they traded two future firsts (and change) to get just a year earlier. But one quarterback doesn't fix the depth issues everywhere else. That's where the cracks started to show. And that's why a single injury to this team in the last couple of seasons can and has led to a massive tidal wave of problems. Advertisement More from
