18/11/2025 09:37:00
Stonegate is believed to be accelerating plans for a £1b sale of more than 1,000 pubs. Over the weekend, the Sunday Times reported Britain's biggest pub company is looking to offload roughly a quarter of its 4,300-strong pub portfolio in an effort to reduce debt. It suggested that senior executives at Stonegate Group have already held discussions with potential advisers to explore options for the owner of the Slug & Lettuce and Be At One chains, which has collected debts of over £3b following its merger with rival chain Ei at the start of the pandemic. According to the Sunday Times, the 1,034 pubs believed to be up for sale are referred to internally as Stonegate's 'platinum' collection, valued as high as £1b, writes The Caterer.
Young's has posted impressive half-year financial results, demonstrating resilience in a challenging trading environment, reports CLH News. For the 26-week period ending 29 September 2025, the managed house operator reported total revenues of £263.6m, representing a 5.4% increase on the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 5.9% to £62.5m, whilst adjusted pre-tax profit surged 9.9% to £31.1m. The company achieved like-for-like sales growth of 5.7% across the reporting period, with chief executive Simon Dodd highlighting the achievement as validation of the group's strategic approach.
Fuller's has revealed a strong set of financial results for the 26 weeks to 27 September 2025, advises Pub & Bar. In the first half of the year, the business delivered growth in both revenue and profit, with adjusted profit before tax growing by 28% to £22.5m (H1 2025: £17.6m) and revenue growing by 7% to £207.5m (H1 2025: £194.1m). Managed Pubs and Hotels like-for-like sales increased by 4.6% on the prior period. Total revenue in the Managed Pubs and Hotels division increased by 8%. This growth has been assisted by the acquisition of the Lovely Pubs business and The White Swan, Twickenham. In fact, all categories of revenue showed like-for-like growth against the prior period, with drink sales up by 6.5%, food sales up by 2% and accommodation sales up by 3.3%.
Global hospitality brand Nobu has announced plans to open a luxury hotel in Manchester as part of a £360m mixed-use tower that will become the tallest building outside London. The 76-storey development, called Nobu Manchester, is being delivered by developer Salboy in partnership with Domis and Nobu Hospitality. It will include a 160-room Nobu Hotel featuring a spa, pool and wellness facilities, and a Nobu Restaurant and bar offering the brand's signature Japanese cuisine. The project also includes 452 branded residences and a mix of retail, leisure and co-working spaces within the building's podium levels, advises Hotel Owner.
The Coconut Tree has been sold out of administration to MPS Hospitality Limited, a connected company led by two of the group's founders. All seven of The Coconut Tree's restaurants, which includes sites in Bristol, Bath, Oxford, Reading and Cheltenham, are included in the deal, protecting in excess of 150 jobs. The Coconut Tree formally entered administration on 6 November with Forvis Mazars appointed to oversee the process, explains MCA Insight.
The UK restaurant sector is forecast to grow at a modest 1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next three years, reaching a value of £19.6bn in 2028. This year, the market is expected to grow in value by 0.8%, reaching £19bn. However, while growth has been achieved compared to the previous year, the figure remains 1.8% below the value of the market in 2019. Restaurant Online reports that the latest figures have been revealed in Lumina Intelligence's new UK Restaurant Market Report, which shows that the current growth in the market is being driven by modest price inflation rather than volume recovery, as fragile consumer confidence, rising staff costs and business-rate cuts temper gains.
The MOBO Group and Greene King have announced the opening of a new pub partnership together - the 'House of MOBO', a vibrant community hub in South London that celebrates Black culture and reimagines what a modern pub can be, reports Morning Advertiser.
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