Laurel Pub Company closes 60 pubs

Laurel Pub Company has today closed 60 of the 65 trading pubs it has on the market.

A spokesman for the group, owned by property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, said there had "to date been insufficient interest" in the pubs, which are located across the UK, to justify their continued trading.

Of the 95 sites recently put up for sale, six had already been shuttered. Of the remaining 89, 24 were closed a month ago, leaving 65 trading outlets, including Yate's, Hogshead and Litten Tree brands.

Now 60 of these remaining sites have been closed.

"This is a regrettable decision but the pubs were costing Laurel more to run they were making and are financially unviable," the spokesman said.

Laurel was doing "its utmost to relocate staff where possible", he added, although it was impossible to predict numbers of those affected at this stage, although the bars being closed employed around 1,800 people.

The 95 sites are currently attracting a rent of more than £8.6m a year, and in deciding to close a significant number of trading sites it appears Laurel believes it can cut its losses.

The closure news comes as Laurel is struggling to re-finance the business.

Laurel's spokesman said that negotiations on the refinancing structure were "continuing".

It is understood that ring-fencing the pubs affected by closure - perhaps in a separate entity or via a controlled administration - may be up for consideration.