Stonegate appoints advisers to streamline business

Stonegate has reportedly appointed advisers to simplify its business structure amid challenging trading conditions.

According to The Times, Britain’s biggest pub company has appointed restructuring firm FRP Advisory to implement a series of strategic measures.

In a letter to landlords seen by the paper, Stonegate said the company’s structure had become “overly complex with 92 entities” as a result of historical acquisitions and that the “reorganisation has direct implications within our estate”.

It was also reported that part of the transformation plan would involve converting hundreds of its company-run and managed pubs into tenanted and leased houses that could be rented and operated by publicans.

Talk of appointing advisers comes several months after it was reported the Slug & Lettuce owner was believed to be accelerating plans for a £1b sale of more than 1,000 of its pubs.

Stonegate also put 23 of its pubs up for sale in September last year, including London pubs the Dog and Duck in Walthamstow and the Crown and Anchor in Bromley.

In early 2023, the pub giant was reportedly looking to sell roughly 1,000 sites as part of a longer-term strategy for the group.

TDR Capital-backed Stonegate was founded in 2010 with 333 pubs and now has more than 4,500 sites under brands such as Slug & Lettuce and Be At One following its acquisition of rival chain Ei Group in March 2020.

A spokesperson for Stonegate told The Caterer: "Stonegate has a significant number of corporate entities as a legacy of the Group’s M&A strategy. We are uniting several of these entities to reduce the associated administrative burden."

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