Marston's negotiates £70m banking facility

Marston's has negotiated a £70m banking facility for 180 days in order to provide it with the financial flexibility to get through the short-term effects of the coronavirus crisis.

The pub and brewery operator said that the measure, combined with the furlough scheme, deferred tax payments, rent and rates relief, and off-trade beer sales, will be enough to allow it to meet its obligations beyond the end of the financial year, even if pubs are closed until then.

Marston's added that all board members had taken significant cuts in pay and fees.

It said that its financial and trading performance would depend on how the situation develops, adding: "Pending further guidance from the UK government and in view of the continued uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the pub sector and how that may be achieved, we have to prepare for the possibility that the current state of lockdown within the hospitality sector may continue for some months."