Hogsheads could go as Laurel pays debts

The Hogshead pub chain could be scrapped, it emerged last week. A spokeswoman for its owner, Laurel Pub Company, said: "We are looking at where we need to take the brand, if indeed the brand remains."

The 121 Hogsheads were originally part of Whitbread's pubs division, which Laurel's parent company Morgan Grenfell Private Equity bought last year.

Another chain that Laurel inherited from Whitbread is also undergoing change. Four Dome bars are being taken over by Vodka Bar Management (VBM) in a new joint venture. The former Domes, following £100,000 refits, are being renamed under brands already created and operated by VBM. Three sites open as Babushka bars: in Hampstead, London, today (27 June), and in Nottingham and London's Chelsea next week. The former Dome at Smithfield's, London, opens as a Moroccan-themed Bed Bar, also next week.

VBM's managing director, Gary Hibbard, said he had a weekly sales target of £40,000 for the Hampstead Babushka, which can house up to 420 people. Laurel is keeping the remaining two Domes, in London's West End, which it said were trading well.

The company wants to expand its 629-strong managed estate after selling 1,870 tenanted and leased pubs to Enterprise Inns for £875m earlier this year. The majority of the cash from the sale went to paying off debt.

Laurel's spokeswoman said the company still had a high debt-to-equity ratio, and the interest it paid to Morgan Grenfell was increasing. She said Laurel was looking at a number of options, including flotation, to refinance the debt. The company employs 12,500 people and its pubs have an average weekly turnover of £12,000.

by Ben Walker