Concerns raised over future of landmark Sunderland pubs as parent company looks to refinance

The owner of some of Sunderland's best-known pubs has insisted the business is resilient as unions raise concerns over its parent company's plans to refinance.

Stonegate Pub Company owns The Borough and Yates in Sunderland city centre, as well as other landmark pubs such as The Board Inn in Durham Road, The Chesters in Chester Road, The Blue Bell in Fulwell Road and the Washington Arms at The Green.

It also owns Oasis in The Galleries shopping centre, The Grey Horse in East Boldon, and The Market Tavern in Chester-le-Street, as well as the Slug and Lettuce chain, which has a branch in Durham City.

The GMB union claims Stonegate's parent company TDR Capital is seeking to refinance £2.5billion of debt, and has raised concerns this may place the pubs at risk.

Justin Bowden, GMB Regional Secretary, said: “The position with the Stonegate Pub Company’s finances is lacking in transparency, with the ultimate holding company based in the Cayman Islands.

“TDR Capital must be accountable to local people and they have a duty to safeguard 4,500 pubs which are vital community assets. GMB’s experience with private equity owners has been, and continues to be, wholly negative.

“We fear for the future of our local supermarkets and pubs in the hands of their private equity owners.”

Stonegate is one of the largest pub companies in the UK, with more than 4,500 pubs and more than 19,000 workers, and parried claims from the union.

A spokesperson for Stonegate said: “We continue to invest in our pubs and our people, in particular supporting local pubs which play such a key role in their communities.

“Our pub business remains very resilient despite the challenges our industry faces, with good like-for-like sales growth across the group.

“Following our recent successful financing announced in December as well as strong recent trading, we are well placed to deliver on our longer term objectives and we are very confident in our ability to re-finance at the appropriate time.”

Gary Lindsay, boss of TDR Capital which also owns supermarket giant Asda, told the Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday, January 9, as he was ‘confident’ £2.6billion of debts in the Stonegate Pub Company could be refinanced this year.