The Stonegate group, which owns brands like Slug and Lettuce and Be At One, is now in talks with potential lenders to find new loans to replace debt due for repayment next June.
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00:00 Do you still go to your local boozer? Stonegate Pub Group, the largest in the UK, has warned
00:06 they're struggling to refinance their £2.2 billion debt pile and it's raised concerns
00:11 over the future of around 4,400 of their branches. The group, which owns brands like Slug & Lettuce
00:17 and Be It One, is now in talks with potential lenders to find new loans to replace debt
00:21 due for repayment next June. Their chief executive is still looking on the bright side though.
00:26 Joining the company from Brewdog last year, David McDowell said "Our performance gives
00:30 me real confidence in the future and excitement in seeing our strategy come to fruition."
00:35 The hospitality industry as a whole has faced months of both rising costs and faltering
00:40 customer demand. The twin pressures leading to swathes of pubs and bars calling last orders
00:45 for the final time. Nearly 400 pubs closed their doors for good in England and Wales
00:49 in the first half of last year, almost as many as the whole of 2022. The costs of running
00:54 a business are up with fewer customers coming through the door also a contributing factor.
00:59 Are you one of those making fewer pub trips and have you switched to supermarket beer