Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen and Inverness bars ‘safe’ after reports of mass closures

The UK's biggest pub company says 'none of their venues are under threat'.

Triple Kirks, Aberdeen.
Triple Kirks in Aberdeen is owned by Stonegate. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson.

The UK’s biggest pub company Stonegate has denied reports that a number of its prominent pubs in the north and north-east could close.

It comes after trade union GMB warned that all of Stonegate’s 44 venues across Scotland face closure after the company issued a profit warning.

The company runs some of Aberdeen’s most well-known bars including the Bobbin, the Foundry, Murdos, Slains Castle and Triple Kirks.

It also owns the Black Dog, which is located in Bridge of Don.

In Inverness, city centre bars the Caledonian and Lauders are owned by Stonegate.

The chain employs more than 19,000 workers across the UK and runs more than 4,500 pubs including brands like the Slug and Lettuce, Walkabout and Yates.

 

Slains Castle, Aberdeen.
Stonegate confirmed that its pubs, including Slains Castle in Aberdeen, will not be closing. Image: Jim Irvine/DC Thomson.

GMB issued an update today saying it was concerned about the future of Stonegate pubs – owned by the Cayman Islands-registered private equity firm TDR  – and its workers due to the company having to refinance £2.2 billion worth of debt.

The trade union’s national officer Nadine Houghton said: “TDR bosses are private equity gamblers, playing fast and loose with people’s jobs and lives.

“When their risky ventures go wrong, they swan off to their next project, leaving workers and communities to pick up the pieces.

“Now, dozens of much loved pubs across Scotland are in serious danger of pulling their last pint.

“It’s a disgrace.”

‘Sensationalised the whole thing’

In response, a Stonegate spokeswoman told The P&J that closures are “not true” and described GMB’s claims as a “sweeping generalisation”.

She added: “The turn of phrase that they’ve used has said that every Stonegate pub in the world is under threat and none of them are to our knowledge.

“There’s the occasional one or two that goes on the disposals list, but nothing.

“I think they’ve sensationalised the whole thing.”

Conversation