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In the first half like-for-like trading in the cafes rose 2 per cent despite the effects of the World Cup

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In the first half, like-for-like trading in the cafes rose 2 per cent despite the effects of the World Cup. Targeting post-match revellers helped the nightclubs report a 7 per cent like-for-like increase. Profits in the six months to 31 August were up 82 per cent. The second half has started well, and Luminar is still confident it can buck any downturn. Its cafes are aimed at under-25s living in smallish towns across the country where the night life is scarce or non-existent By staying open until 1am, they attract the post-pub crowd. And by keeping prices cheap, they undercut local nightclubs - the average spend in the cafes is pounds 11 per head, while in the nightclubs it is just pounds 7.50.With interest cover of 14 times, Luminar can afford to gear up its balance sheet. Acquisitions are a possibility to bring in new nightclub sites.The shares - up 25p to 525p yesterday - now trade on a multiple of 11 times forecast 1999 earnings.

Despite the economic worries, Luminar looks better prepared than most to carry on partying Good value.. Television reporter Sue Lloyd Roberts, 46, is a special correspondent for the BBC World Affairs Unit She has also workedfor ITN and Channel 4 news. Her BBC1report on Chinese persecution in Tibet ison `Correspondent' on Saturday, 17 OctoberThe lady is a Belgravia Square: It's a bit like those dreadful men who went to Eton, Oxford and the Guards: I went to a private primary school just off Sloane Square, then Cheltenham Ladies' College and Oxford. In my defence, I would say that I'm politically a believer in the comprehensive school system - but if I hadn't been born in Belgravia, I wouldn't have had the chance to be a late developer. The 11-plus was considered a chore not to be treated seriously, and the school was far too embarrassed to tell me that I'd failed. I was alerted to the fact from the pack of leaflets about secondary moderns pushed through the door by the education authority.Bit of a grouse: I was pretty naughty at Francis Holland Church of England School for Girls, but I made an awfully good Angel Gabriel - and did it for three years running, which was unprecedented.

It was quite ironical that I went to Cheltenham Ladies', which is highly academic; my father was very traditional, and his only aspiration for me was that I should marry a grouse moor! I was a typical candidate for Benenden but the headmistress of Francis Holland had taught at Cheltenham, and suggested to my parents that I try for a place there.Losing their marbles: Cheltenham Ladies' College was a wonderful education - but, on the other hand, it was emotionally inhibited. I'm so against the idea of boarding school: those long winter evenings with the wind lashing against the windows of your House, cold draughty corridors and no one to cuddle The number of tears shed in the dormitories. One spent so long obeying quite senseless rules; there was, for example, the Marble Corridor which you were not allowed to go down. I now specialise in sneaking across frontiers, into countries where journalists are not allowed. This could be one's rather belated rebellion.Trekkies: It was a 25-minute walk from your House to the classrooms, but we thought nothing of it.

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