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Stonegate well-positioned to ‘maintain trajectory of profitable growth’: Stonegate Group, the UK’s largest pub company, has said it is “well positioned to maintain our trajectory of profitable growth”. It comes as the group reported turnover increased to £1,747,000 for the year ending 29 September 2024 compared with £1,719,000 the year before. Of the 2024 figure, the managed segment contributed £974m (2023: £1.01bn), the leased and tenanted pubs, being pub partners and commercial property, together contributed £440m (2023: £427m) and the operator-led segment contributed £333m (2023: £281m). Managed like-for-likes were down 0.3% (2023: up 3%), operator-led like-for-like increased 1.9% (2023: up 10.3%) and leased and tenanted like-for-likes rose 3.3% (2023: up 5.5%). Further analysis showed revenue of £1.3bn came from drink, £168m from food, £127m from rent, £61m from amusements and other machines, and £53m from admission, accommodation and other revenue. Adjusted Ebitda stood at £394m (2023: £375m). Pre-exceptional operating profit for the period was £336m (2023: £293m). Post-exceptional operating profit for the period was £249m (2023: £68m). Loss before tax was £214m (2023: £257m). Net assets stood at £791m (2023: net assets of £601m). Group cash at the period end was £171m (2023: £92m), of which £30m (2023: £40m) is held within the unique securitisation and £46m (2023: nil) is held in the restricted portfolio loan group. The group has access to a further £150m (2023: £88m) from its revolving credit facility and a further £25m (2023: £25m) overdraft facility. Non-current borrowings were £3,760m (2023: £3,570m). At the period end, the group operated 4,370 sites (2022: 4,432 sites). In his report accompanying the accounts, chief financial officer David Ross stated: “Despite the ongoing challenges in the hospitality sector, 2024 has once again demonstrated the resilience of the Great British pub. The growth in both top-line and bottom-line metrics for our pub partners and Craft Union businesses reflects the dedication and hard work of our publicans and operators. The success of the Euros in 2024, highlighted by England’s impressive run to the final, exemplifies our mission to bring people together through our passion for pubs, bars, and venues. Our initiatives focused on asset optimisation, pricing strategies, and retail media continue to drive overall profitable growth. While we anticipate significant cost pressures, especially in labour, we are well-positioned to maintain our trajectory of profitable growth moving into 2025. While the macroeconomic environment continues to have an impact on the group and the cost-of-living crisis has led to lower profit and operating cashflows than would otherwise have resulted had these conditions not existed, overall the group has delivered a highly respectable performance, further demonstrating the resilience of its high-quality pub portfolio.” In the period, the group spent £148m on expansionary, conversion and maintenance capital (2023: £144m). The group disposed of 70 trading sites, five non-licensed and two non-trading properties in the period for net proceeds of £58m (2023: 68 trading sites; ten non-licensed, and eight non-trading properties for net proceeds of £49m), which also includes the sale of fixtures and fittings to publicans. Included in the number of disposals were 15 lease hand backs for £1m proceeds (2023: nine for nil proceeds). In addition, the group completed a sale and lease back agreement on ten properties realising further proceeds of £10m. At the period end, the group had 15,864 employees (2022: 18,023). During the year, the business completed a £638m refinancing of a 1,034-strong pub portfolio, with debt provided by US private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Last July, the business announced the agreement of its debt refinancing requirements. It launched an offering of £1.645bn aggregate principal amount of 10.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2029 and €470m aggregate principal amount of Floating Rate Notes due 2029. The company said: “In addition, the group issued £37m aggregate principal amount of 10.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2029 as compensation for certain backstop arrangements. Upon completion on 14 August 2024, the proceeds, along with funds from certain other financing sources, were used to, among others, redeem in entirety the existing £500m aggregate principal amount of 8.00% Privately Placed Notes due 2025, the £1.235bn aggregate principal amount of 8.25% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 and the €496m aggregate principal amount of Floating Rate Notes due 2025. In addition, on 14 August 2024 the group drew in full a new £156m Second Lien Facility which matures in 2029 and bears interest at SONIA plus 9.375%... On the same day the group also purchased and cancelled the existing £400m Second Lien debt. Furthermore, on 14 August 2024 the group extended its Revolving Credit Facility, on the same terms, to January 2029.”

Next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality to be released to Premium Club subscribers tomorrow featuring 63 updated entries and 24 new companies: The next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality will feature 63 updated entries and 24 new companies when it is released to Premium Club subscribers tomorrow (Thursday, 17 April), at midday. The database now features 907 companies, and this month’s edition includes more than 243,000 words of content. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Multi-Site Database, the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025) and discounts on specialist sector reports such as the International Brands report. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club subscribers will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Peers determined to block ‘banter ban’ in workers’ rights bill: Peers will try to block a “banter ban” in Labour’s workers’ rights overhaul when the new laws return to parliament this month. Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, has tabled amendments to remove a requirement for pub and university bosses to ensure that their staff are not subjected to harassment by overhearing opinions with which they do not agree. The Times reported in January that pubs could ban customers from speaking about contentious beliefs such as religious views or transgender rights for fear of falling foul of Angela Rayner’s workers’ rights reforms. Ministers have proposed that employers must protect workers from being harassed at work by “third parties” such as customers or clients. If they fail to do so, they could be sued. Young hopes to tweak the laws so that opinions on political, moral, religious or social matters are exempt as long as they are not “indecent or grossly offensive”. The Conservative peer said that the way the law was drafted would mean that an employee could take offence on another employee’s behalf, even if the second employee did not hear the comments. For example, if a male bartender heard a conversation among customers that could be considered harassment towards women, the business owner would be expected to act. Young told The Times: “It’s not clear exactly what reasonable steps publicans and public business owners will be expected to take.” Luke Johnson, the hospitality entrepreneur behind the success of PizzaExpress and the Ivy, who is now executive chairman of Revolution Bars-owner The Revel Collective, said he feared this would not play out in reality. “The unintended consequences of ill-thought through legislation like this could be very damaging, not just to the pub trade who will have to restrict speech and police it and all the rest of it, but to our very way of life,” he said.

Majestic acquires Enotria: Majestic has bolstered its position in the UK on-trade market by acquiring Enotria & Coe, a wine and spirits distributor that supplies restaurants and hospitality groups including Gaucho, Bancone and Rick Stein, for an undisclosed sum. Majestic, which operates 213 stores and has been owned by Fortress Investment since 2019, said the combination will treble its share of the on-trade market. John Colley, Majestic chief executive, said buying Enotria & Coe, “will accelerate our strategy by enhancing our wine portfolio, expanding our team of expert sales colleagues and ramping up our logistics capabilities”.

Toby Carvery is roasted for taking axe to ancient oak: A centuries-old oak tree with “more ecological value than the Sycamore Gap tree” has been cut down by the FTSE 250-listed owners of a nearby Toby Carvery. The cutting in Whitewebbs Wood in Enfield, north London, happened on 3 April. The council has reported the matter to the police and is treating it as criminal damage. The tree, which was last examined in February by Mark Saunders, an expert for the Woodland Trust’s ancient tree inventory, was about 6.1m in circumference and estimated to be at least 300 years old. The ancient oak stood on land owned by the council that was leased to Mitchell & Butlers, the pub company that operates the nearby Whitewebbs House Toby Carvery. The Times understands that an arboreal expert, employed by the company, had decreed that the tree – which stood near the pub’s car park – was dead, and that the only course of action was to cut it down. But Russell Miller, an ecology expert, said that the tree could in fact “have lived for another century or more”. As there was no protection or preservation order on the tree, the company believes it was within its legal right to conduct what Miller described as “the worst example I’ve ever seen of inappropriate tree surgery”. Mitchells & Butlers said: “The tree was cut back after we were advised that it caused a serious health and safety risk ... Upon further inspection, our specialist arboriculture contractors made the assessment that the split and dead wood posed a serious health and safety risk and advised that the tree was unsafe and should be removed. We took every necessary measure to ensure all legal requirements were met. We are grateful to our expert contractors for warning us of this hazard so swiftly, allowing us to act before anyone was harmed.” The Metropolitan Police in London confirmed they had received a report from the council but said there was no evidence of criminality.