A pub company has insisted that no venues are at risk of closure following warnings from unions over debts.

Stonegate, which runs 160 pubs across Wales including the White Horse in Aberystwyth, The Bulls Head in Bala, and The Mitre in Pwllheli, has called union claims that pubs could close after its annual report issued an alert about its financial position “misleading.”

Stonegate Pub Company, which has a network of more than 4,400 UK pubs and bars, is ultimately owned by TDR Capital, a private equity firm that also owns Asda.

In the last financial year the group’s losses nearly doubled from £130m to £257m despite a £100m in rise in revenue to £1.7bn.

The GMB Union issued warnings over the company’s growing debt earlier this year, despite private equity owner TDR’s assurances to a parliamentary select committee in January, and last week said that “dozens of much loved pubs across Wales are in serious danger of pulling their last pint” after the company failed to agree new loans to replace debt due for repayment in June 2025.

Nadine Houghton from GMB 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.”

A spokesperson for Stonegate said: “We are really pleased with the performance of the business in 2023, which included a sector-leading Christmas trading period.

“We have delivered a rise in revenue and a significant increase in profitability.

“We have been very clear that we continue to work towards achieving our long-term balance sheet goals, with the successful refinancing of a portion of our estate in December marking a significant strategic step towards this.

“We would also like to assure our employees and partners that no venues are at risk as a result of this process.

“TDR Capital has been and continues to be a supportive investor in Stonegate - developing the business over the last fourteen years into the UK’s largest pub company with 4,500 great venues across the country.”