Marston's: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Marstons PLC is owned by its shareholders: as a listed company it has no single person with significant control on the register. In the year to September 2025 it reported turnover of £898m.
Marston's pre-tax profit in these accounts is well out of line with the year before. That usually points to a one-off, such as a gain or dividend from inside the group or an acquisition, rather than trading. The figures are shown as filed; the full accounts at Companies House explain what is behind them.
- In the year to September 2025, Marston's had turnover of £898m, down 0.1% on the year before.
- It made a pre-tax profit of £88m.
- It employed an average of 9,017 people, with staff costs of £203m.
- Marstons PLC is listed on the stock market, so it is owned by its shareholders.
- These figures are from Marstons PLC's group accounts for the year to September 2025, filed at Companies House on 29 January 2026.
- Registered name
- MARSTONS PLC
- Company number
- 00031461
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 14 May 1890
- Registered office area
- Wolverhampton
- Industry code on the register
- 56101: Food and beverage service activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to September 2025, filed 29 January 2026
What does Marston's do?
Marston's runs pubs across England and Wales, selling food and drink in community locals, family dining pubs and pubs with rooms. It manages some pubs directly and runs others through franchise, lease and tenancy agreements, earning money from sales and rents. The company traces its roots to Burton upon Trent in 1834, is based in Wolverhampton and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In brief: pub group · managed and franchised pubs · food and drink · listed
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: marstons.co.uk.
Who owns Marston's?
Marstons PLC, company number 00031461, has no person with significant control on the register. That is normal for a company whose shares trade on a regulated market: ownership sits with the shareholders who hold the shares at any given time.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Marston's?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Marstons PLC.
All 8 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Bridget Lea | 1 September 2019 |
| Octavia Kate Morley | 1 January 2020 |
| Bethan Wheatley | 1 February 2022 |
| Nicholas John Varney | 1 July 2022 |
| Justin Mark Platt | 10 January 2024 |
| Rachel Claire Elizabeth Osborne | 23 January 2024 |
| Kenneth Lever | 8 July 2024 |
| Stephen Robert Hopson | 8 September 2025 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Marston's file?
Marstons PLC reported turnover of £898m in the year to September 2025. That was down 0.1% on £899m the year before.
It reported 9,017 employees. The year before it reported 10,362.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £88m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £14m the year before.
Staff costs came to £203m. That is an average of £22,000 a head. It ended the year with £35m at the bank and net assets of £791m.
| Measure | Sep 2025 | Sep 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £898m | £899m |
| Pre-tax profit | £88m (filed) | £14m (filed) |
| Employees | 9,017 | 10,362 |
| Staff costs | £203m | £210m |
| Average staff cost per head | £22,000 | £20,000 |
| Bank and cash | £35m | £44m |
| Net assets | £791m | £655m |
| Interest paid | £90m | |
| Interest received | £2m | |
| Directors' pay | £2m |
Read the accounts to September 2025 (ZIP, Companies House) · every accounts filing
What do these figures mean? Turnover vs profit · Profit per £100 · Cash vs profit · Net assets · Group accounts
Are there any charges against Marston's?
Marstons PLC has registered 10 charges at Companies House, of which 5 are still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
All 5 outstanding charges
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| Barclays Bank PLC, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP (As Trustee for Each of the Secured Parties) | 3 May 2023 |
| Barclays Bank PLC, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP (As Trustee for Each of the Secured Parties) | 2 May 2023 |
| Marston's Trustees Limited (As Trustee of the Marston's PLC Pension and Life Assurance Scheme) | 27 March 2017 |
| The Scheme Trustees | 25 August 2005 |
| Hsbc Trustee (C.I.) Limited | 24 August 2005 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
How Marston's compares
Of the 8 pub groups, Marston's is 5th on turnover and 7th on growth. Mitchells & Butlers keeps the most of every £100 of sales: £8.78.
| Rank | Pub groups | Turnover | Profit per £100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mitchells & Butlers | £2,711m | £8.78 |
| 5th | Marston's | £898m | – |
| + 6 more pub groups ranked |
Ranked by turnover. Profit per £100 is pre-tax profit for every £100 of turnover, shown only where the profit is filed.
Marston's files as Marstons PLC, with turnover of £898m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Marston's
What does Marston's do?
Marston's runs pubs across England and Wales, selling food and drink in community locals, family dining pubs and pubs with rooms. It manages some pubs directly and runs others through franchise, lease and tenancy agreements, earning money from sales and rents. The company traces its roots to Burton upon Trent in 1834, is based in Wolverhampton and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
How does Marston's compare with its rivals?
By turnover, Marston's is 5th of the 8 companies in our battle of the pub groups, behind Mitchells & Butlers. The battle ranks them on turnover, pre-tax profit, margin, growth and net assets. The battle of the pub groups →
Who owns Marston's?
Marstons PLC is owned by its shareholders. As a listed company it is exempt from the register of people with significant control, so no single owner appears at Companies House.
How much does Marston's make?
Marstons PLC reported turnover of £898m in the year to September 2025. It filed a pre-tax profit of £88m.
How many people work at Marston's?
Marstons PLC reported 9,017 employees in the year to September 2025.
Who runs Marston's?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Marstons PLC. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Marstons PLC's filings at Companies House, company number 00031461, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Marston's: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 9 November 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/marstons/. Figures from Companies House filings for MARSTONS PLC (00031461).
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