Stonegate restructures sales operations

The changes, which were announced in January, will see the pubco centralise its events booking system “to make it more professional”, a Stonegate spokesperson told The Morning Advertiser​.

This means that a number of staff that have 'sales' in their job title or sales responsibilities as part of their role are in a consultation process believed to close on Monday 26 February. The exact number of employees involved was unclear, although Stonegate’s spokesperson said it was fewer than 100 people.

Redundancies despite 'cracking Christmas' 

An employee currently under consultation who asked not to be identified claimed that almost the whole sales team is at threat of redundancy. “It’s the entire sales team, roles are being removed from regional [sales roles] downwards. Roles like sales manager, sales co-ordinator, area sales manager, regional sales manager. If you had 'sales' in your title, you were [at risk],” the employee claimed.

“We knew a call centre was coming but it was always going to work alongside the sales team. We had a cracking Christmas [in terms of sales], every division exceeded their sales targets. Then we were told we were being made redundant soon after.”

Re-deployment where possible

However, Stonegate said some of the people under consultation work in pubs and are expected to continue to do so, while some of the sales co-ordinators will go to the new sales call centre in Derby.

The spokesperson said: “In line with our continued growth, we are changing the way in which we manage sales bookings. This change will improve the experience for customers and larger group reservations. It has also created new jobs at our call centre in Derby.

“This change will affect some roles within our pubs and bars, though the creation of a new regional sales team will create further new roles, and we will seek to re-deploy people wherever possible. As a responsible employer, we are consulting with affected employees to provide support during this transition period.”