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All Bar One is a pub chain consisting of 56 bars in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Mitchells and Butlers plc which was part of the Six Continents group (previously Bass) until 2003.
The concept was designed by Bass as a 'female friendly' bar at a time when many pubs and bars were considered intimidating places for single women to go and drink or eat, hence the huge glass frontage, the open plan space and the bright airy interiors. There were huge wooden tables. The design was formulated by Amanda Wilmott in February 1994. [1] This followed the lead of existing female-friendly bar chains such as Pitcher & Piano and Slug and Lettuce. Wilmott, a former director of Slug & Lettuce, designed a similar chain for Yates Brothers Wine Lodges called Ha! Ha! Bar & Canteen, which first opened in February 1998 in Bristol; Mitchells & Butlers bought the brand's 22 pubs for £19m from Bay Restaurant Group in September 2010, converting some of them to All Bar One pubs. Bass Leisure Retail opened another chain, Edward's, in the late 1990s that was similar.
In October 1994, Wilmott found Mary-Jane Brook and Nelly Benstead to run the first outlet. The first bar was opened in December 1994 in Sutton, London, town centre [2] by Bass Taverns, run by Sir Ian Prosser, who also owned Fork and Pitcher and Harvester. Bass bought Harvester in 1994. In its style, many pub chains have followed where All Bar One led.
Five outlets opened in 1995 (including Islington, Wimbledon and Richmond in London). By 1996, Bass had 15 All Bar One pubs, 69 O'Neill's pubs and 102 Harvesters. By 1999 there were 46 in the chain. Jeremy Spencer, a friend of gastropub-inventor Mike Belben, was responsible for creating the brand of pub. [3] In 1999, Jeremy Spencer was replaced by Karen Forrester (who previously ran O'Neills, and who now runs T.G.I. Fridays UK) who stayed until May 2001.
In August 2001 it opened its first overseas establishment in Cologne. Bass Leisure Retail (BLR) became Six Continents in June 2002.
As of 2016, there were "close to 50" outlets in the UK, mostly based in Central London however they have expanded throughout the UK as far as Aberdeen, where they opened a bar in the new Marischal Square development [4] in March 2018. [5]
J D Wetherspoon plc is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It operates the sub-brand of Lloyds No.1 bars, and around 50 Wetherspoon hotels. Wetherspoon is known for converting unconventional premises, such as former cinemas and banks, into pubs. The company is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Marischal College is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long-term lease from the University of Aberdeen, which still uses parts of the building to store its museum collections. Today, it provides corporate office space and public access to council services, adjacent to the Town House, the city's historic seat of local government. Many Aberdonians consider Marischal College to be an icon of the "Granite City" and to symbolise the zenith of Aberdeen's granite-working industry.
Six Continents was a large British-based hotel and hospitality business which was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Mitchells & Butlers plc runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Slug and Lettuce is a chain of bars that operate in the United Kingdom, with a large number located in London and South East England. As of 2017, there are a total of 70 outlets. Hugh Corbett opened the first Slug and Lettuce in Islington in 1985. He attempted to enhance the public house environment, at a time when standards were often low.
Scream was a student-oriented pub chain in the United Kingdom owned by the Stonegate Pub Company. The chain began in October 1995.
Harvester is a British casual dining restaurant chain with over 230 outlets in the United Kingdom.
Brewers Fayre is a licensed pub restaurant chain, with 161 locations across the UK as of August 2018. Owned by Whitbread, Brewers Fayre restaurants are known for serving traditional British pub food and for their Sunday Carvery.
Beefeater is a chain of over 140 pub restaurants in the United Kingdom, owned by Whitbread.
Malmaison operates sixteen hotels in the United Kingdom. The company was established in 1994, and is now owned by Frasers Property.
Yates is an English pub chain. It was founded as Yates's Wine Lodge in Oldham, Lancashire by Peter and Simon Yates in 1884.
The Bay Restaurant Group is a hospitality company in the United Kingdom, specialising in restaurant and pub chains.
O'Neill's is an Irish-themed pub chain with 49 outlets in the United Kingdom. The chain is operated by Mitchells & Butlers, one of the largest pub companies in the UK. Pubs are located across the whole of the UK, except for Northern Ireland, where there are none.
Stonegate Pub Company is the largest pub company in the UK, operating around 4,800 managed, leased and tenanted pubs. It is owned by TDR Capital. The head office is based in Solihull, UK, and the company is registered in the Cayman Islands.
Marischal Square is a mixed use complex on Broad Street, Aberdeen, Scotland. The development is located on the site of St. Nicholas House, Aberdeen City Council's former 14-storey headquarters building, whose demolition was completed on 18 June 2014, after staff had been relocated to the redeveloped Marischal College across the road.
The White Lion is a Grade II listed public house at 14–16 High Street, Putney, London, close to the southern end of Putney Bridge.
The Slug and Lettuce is a Grade II listed public house at 330 Upper Street and Islington Green, Islington, London.
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