Exclusive – Stonegate buys out Frontier Pubs joint venture: Stonegate Group, the UK’s largest pub company, has bought out the remaining equity stake in Frontier Pubs, its joint venture with Karen Jones, Jo Cumming and Peter Myers, bringing the partnership to an end, Propel has learned. The 15 London pubs in the group will now form part of Stonegate’s leased and tenanted division. Frontier Pubs was set up in 2016 with Enterprise Inns, which was acquired by Stonegate in 2020. Myers said: “It has been a joy to set up and grow Frontier into the success that it is through the quality of our operations team, our managers and the teams we have in our pubs and the hospitality they demonstrate daily. Our partnership with Stonegate, with Daniel Wilkinson, Michelle Cooper and Eve Turner, has been a rewarding collaboration, creating 15 pubs of which we are truly proud. The focus now is to find homes for each of the pubs, with publicans who are committed to continued growth through the care of the customer, care for the teams and the quality of food, drink, sport and hospitality that are the hallmarks of a Frontier pub.” David McDowall, chief executive of Stonegate, said: “It has been a privilege to partner with Frontier, creating outstanding pubs that have delivered strong growth under Frontier’s management. We are confident that the pubs will continue to thrive in the communities they serve, and we look forward to welcoming them into our Pub Partners business.” Jones said: “We are all proud of what we have created in Frontier. This has been fuelled by an entrepreneurial spirit that provides the foundation for the future flourishing of each pub under the management of equally entrepreneurial operators.” Propel understands Frontier has continued to show strong like-for-like performance in its current financial year. For the 53 weeks ending 29 September 2024, revenue increased 31% to £11,596,000 (2023: £8,857,000) with pre-tax profit of £353,000 (2023: loss of £111,000) and like-for-like growth of 8.8%.

Ossett Brewery and sister company Salt freshen up executive team: Yorkshire brewer and retailer Ossett Brewery and its sister company Salt have freshened up their executive team. Edd Simpson, founder of Barrique Fine Wines, joined the brewery as managing director in 2023 and has now completed a transformation of the leadership team with the addition of Matt Howgate as production director and Rich Nelson as sales director. Howgate joins from Vocation Brewery and Ossett said he brings significant experience in pushing operations forward and driving innovation – a strategy he will deliver in partnership with previous Vocation collaborator and Ossett’s new head of brewing, Gary Farlow. Nelson, who originally joined Ossett from Molson Coors and has been “a pivotal player in the success of Salt to date”, moves into the sales director role to drive distribution. Founder Jamie Lawson, who has been with the business since 2002, remains heavily involved. Simpson said: “Our challenge as a cask producer is to embrace evolution and innovation while retaining our strengths and legacy. Cask is the most authentic beer in the market, steeped in heritage and with the strongest call to be considered premium craft. By using this foundation with a progressive mindset, I believe cask beer has the potential to thrive, rather than survive in the beer market of the future; and as a team we’re excited to be at the forefront of the resurgence of cask.”