The 4,370-strong pub company, which is the biggest in the UK, said it would be reducing its central support team to reflect continued growth across its leased and tenanted estate and a decrease in size of its managed division.
Some 150 job cuts are expected to be made, with the number of sites in Stonegate’s managed estate estimated to have dropped from around 800 to 500 over the past two years.
Difficult time
A spokesperson for Stonegate told The Morning Advertiser (The MA): “Over the past two years, the size of our managed estate has decreased, while our Pub Partners and Craft Union divisions have grown, necessitating a smaller central support function.
“This, combined with rising costs, particularly after the recent budget, means we must reorganise our support functions to reflect the shape of our business today.”
The spokesperson added: “We recognise that this is a difficult time and we are committed to supporting our colleagues with care and fairness as we consult with the business on the proposed changes.”
Stonegate’s leased and tenanted estate consists of some 2,735 pubs, while its managed arm has 674 pubs and Craft Union, its operator managed division, has 612 pubs.
Challenging environment
In its published annual results for the 53 weeks ended 29 September 2024, released in April, Stonegate said the macroeconomic environment continued to challenge the industry.
The results showed total revenue for the period was £1.75bn compared to £1.72bn in the 52 weeks ended 24 September 2023.
Of the £1.75bn, the managed segment contributed £974m (52 weeks 2023: £1bn) while the leased and tenanted pubs, being Pub Partners and Commercial Property, together contributed £440m (52 weeks 2023: £427m) and the operator-led segment contributed £333m (52 weeks 2023: £281m).
The group, which operates a number of brands including Slug & Lettuce, also disposed of 70 trading sites, five non-licensed and two non-trading properties, in the period.
