Could a Hitchin town centre pub be sold off - or even closed?

Pub giant Stonegate is set to sell 1,000 of its venues. The national pub chain - which includes the Rose and Crown pub on Market Place, reportedly has debts of £2.6 billion.

According to reports, the Stonegate Group is aiming to raise around £800 million through sales of its pubs - which could include Hitchin's Rose and Crown as well as a number of other pubs that company owns in Letchworth, Stevenage and Luton.

The firm operates around 4,800 managed, leased and tenanted pubs - but Stonegate is seeking to sell 1,000 pubs to pay down its debt.

The chain is owned by private equity firm TDR capital and completed a £1.3 billion takeover of rival Ei before the pandemic to become the largest pub company in the UK.

It has not been revealed which pubs will be sold off yet.

Nub News has contacted Stonegate for comment.

List of Stonegate owned pubs in our area