07/02/2023 10:09:00
Stonegate Pub Company, currently Britain's largest pub group and the owner of many well-known hospitality brands, is reportedly looking to sell around 1,000 of its pubs - roughly one fifth of its total portfolio. Stonegate Pub Company, which is owned by private equity firm TDR Capital, has a reported £2.6bn debt pile, per Bloomberg. It is estimated that the mooted sale of venues could generate around £800 million. Stonegate's chairman Ian Payne said that the pub group's chief cause for concern is ballooning energy costs, reports The Drinks Business. "We know what we're going to pay in February and March, but we still don't know what we're going to pay beyond that," he explained.
Whelan's Pub Company, the premium and Irish pub operator, is opening The Fox at Palmers Green, its ninth venue to date, advises Pub & Bar. The launch follows a joint £1.35m refurbishment with Star Pubs & Bars, the largest investment the Heineken-owned pubco has ever made outside of central London.
Travelodge has confirmed the completion of a lease regear with its largest landlord, following a strong 2022 where the business generated record results as demand for budget accommodation returned. Total underlying revenues for the year were up by about 25 per cent on 2019 levels, which is the operator's previous best year, while profits and EBITDA are expected to be between £210m and £215m, reports Insider Media Limited. The business said that its performance reflected the "strength and resilience of the UK budget hotel market", which was driven by increased levels of domestic leisure demand and "rapid recovery" in blue collar business demand.
Some 41% of pub operators have reduced their workforce headcount over the past month, new data has shown. Furthermore, figures from the Office of National Statistics, commissioned by accountancy firm Price Bailey revealed more than half (58%) of the 504 licensees surveyed reported falling turnover, advises Morning Advertiser. Some three quarters (75%) of respondents have increased prices to cover energy costs while 54% and 45% were considering hiking prices to cover more expensive raw material and labour costs respectively. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, 39% of operators expect business performance to worsen compared to 16% who think it may improve.
Boxpark has received approval on planning permission for its first outpost in Liverpool, which will open later this year. First announced back in September last year, Boxpark has agreed a 15-year lease with Cains Brewery Village for the site located within the city's Baltic Triangle, reports Big Hospitality.
Industry trade bodies, Hospitality Ulster, BBPA, UKHospitality and the BII, have jointly written to the Secretary of State for BEIS, the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, calling for further support for vulnerable pubs, brewers and hospitality operators, facing devastating energy costs which are crippling their businesses, reports Hospitality & Catering News.