‘Last call’ — Stonegate pubs founder to step down
Payne, a 50-year stalwart of the on-trade sector, started out his career working through the ranks at the likes of Guinness and Bass taverns in the 1970.
Stonegate Group’s founder has announced his intention to vacate the company’s chair in the new year after thirteen years.
Ian Payne, 70, has informed the board of the UK pub giant he will step down at the end of January.
Payne, a 50-year stalwart of the on-trade sector, started out his career working through the ranks at the likes of Guinness and Bass taverns in the 1970s, before leading the buyout of the majority of the Whitbread pub business.
He subsequently founded Stonegate through the £373m acquisition of 333 pubs and bars from the hospitality firm Mitchell & Butlers, a purchase funded by private equity firm TDR Capital which has owned Stonegate since.
Through the acquisition of EI Group in March 2020, Stonegate became the largest pub group in the UK.
Payne’s imminent departure comes at a difficult time for the firm as it struggles with rising interest rates on a multi-billion pound debt pile.
Last month, it was reported that up to 1,000 of its locations were being eyed for purchase by US distressed-debt investors such as Cerberus and Morgan Stanley Real Estate
The group also attracted controversy during the coronavirus pandemic when it furloughed 16,500 workers under the government’s hospitality support package, despite being commercially registered in the Cayman Islands.
It was also the first pub chain to propose the introduction of dynamic pricing to reflect peak and off-peak times.
Payne, an MBE recipient in the 2018 Honours list, said: “Leading Stonegate has been the greatest privilege in my long career.
“Pubs and bars have always been an integral part of what makes our country unique and the fundamental need to meet, eat, drink, and socialise will always be a part of us.”
“Ian has been an inspiration to us all during his long and distinguished career,” added Stonegate chief executive, David McDowall.
“I would like to personally thank him not only for the support and guidance he has given me since becoming CEO, but also for the role he has played in the careers of so many people over the last fifty years.”
