BUSS4 - winning insights into recession strategy from annual reports

Newspaper articles are ok, but you can’t beat the annual reports of larger companies to get some more detailed, useful insights into the effects of the recession on UK firms and their strategic response.

The good news is that detailed annual reports don’t just get published by those firms whose shares are traded on the Stock Exchange. Increasingly firms owned by the major venture capitalists are also going through a full annual report publication process - a good discipline to get used to ahead of potential flotations in the future perhaps.

I came across two good examples in my research into the effects of the recession on the UK restaurant market.

Tragus Holdings - one of the UK’s largest independent restaurant companies with more than 280 sites, whose brand portfolio includes Café Rouge, Bella Italia and Strada

Gondola Holdings - the leading UK restaurant group operating brands such as PizzaExpress, ASK & Zizzi

The Annual Report contains a lot of detailed financial and other legal information which is of little interest or use to business students. However, some parts are nearly always rich sources of insights for good exam answers.

The best place to start is usually the Chief Executive’s Operating Review. A good one will highlight the key financial results, ideally in context compared with prior periods, and will also set out the effect of the external environment on the business during the period under review. You should also expect the CEO to outline his/her strategy and some comments on the trading outlook.

For consumer-facing businesses, it is also important to look out for comments about “like-for-like” sales (“LFL”). This measure provides an indicator of the underlying sales performance of the business, since it ignores the effect of locations opened or closed during the period.

Another part well worth reading is the one on corporate social responsibility. This should contain some insights into how the firm has responded to the changing social and environmental scene during the recession. You’ll often find some good insights into people and supplier management strategies there too.

I’ll pick out some more insights from the Annual Reports I’ve been reading in the UK restaurant sector over the next couple of days. Which ever industry you are researching, make a point to read at least 2-3 recent annual reports from the major industry players - you are bound to find some useful research insights tht you can use to impress the examiners.