Mitchells & Butlers

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Mitchells & Butlers plc
Company type Public limited company
IndustryRestaurants, Pubs
Founded1898
Headquarters Birmingham, England, UK
Area served
 United Kingdom
Germany
Key people
Bob Ivell, (chairman)
Phil Urban, (CEO)
Productsc. 1784 restaurants and pubs
RevenueIncrease2.svg £2,503 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg £226 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg £(4) million (2023) [1]
Number of employees
49,150 (2023) [1]
Subsidiaries All Bar One
Browns Restaurants
Harvester
Innkeeper's Lodge
Miller & Carter
Toby Carvery
Website mbplc.com

Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") 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.

Contents

Its branded restaurants and bars include All Bar One, Miller & Carter, Nicholson's, Toby Carvery, Harvester, Browns Restaurants, Vintage Inns, Ember Inns, Son of Steak, Stonehouse Pizza & Grill, Crown Carveries, O'Neill's, Premium Country Pubs, and Sizzling Pubs. The company also owns the ALEX brand based in Germany. [2]

History

Historic brewing company

The Cape Hill brewery, in Birmingham, on a circa 1925 postcard Mitchells & Butlers 1925.jpg
The Cape Hill brewery, in Birmingham, on a circa 1925 postcard

Mitchells & Butlers Brewery was formed by the merger of two breweries in 1898. [3] The company merged with Bass in 1961. [3] With the brand currently under ownership of Coors Brewers, the brewery closed in 2002 with production switched to Burton upon Trent. [4] Their most famous beer was Brew XI (using Roman numerals, and so pronounced Brew Eleven), advertised with the slogan "for the men of the Midlands". It is now brewed under licence for Coors by Brains of Cardiff. [5]

Bass

Bass plc, based in Burton-on-Trent, transformed into separate brewing and retail divisions following the Beer Orders of 1989 [3] and then proceeded to build a large hotel portfolio alongside its bingo, betting and electronic leisure interests. In the late 1990s the latter interests were sold. On 21 July 1995, Bass bought 78 Harvester restaurants for £165 million from the Forte Group. [6]

Six Continents

In 2000, Bass also divested its brewing arm and rebranded itself Six Continents [7] before another split in April 2003 into two separate companies, with the hotel assets forming InterContinental Hotels Group and the Mitchells & Butlers name brought back for the pubs and restaurants company. [8] In March 2003, Six Continents fought off a proposed £5.5 billion takeover by Hugh Osmond (Punch Taverns). [9]

M and B

Mitchells & Butlers was formed on 15 April 2003. In April 2006, it was approached by a consortium led by Robert Tchenguiz in a £2.7 billion takeover, which was dropped in May 2006. [10] In February 2008, Punch Taverns offered to merge with Mitchells & Butlers, [11] but decided not to in April 2008. [12] Mitchells & Butlers then took an interest in Punch's subsidiary, Spirit Group. [13]

Financial loss

A Harvester pub with adjacent Travelodge in Colton, Leeds The Colton Mill, Colton Mill, Leeds.jpg
A Harvester pub with adjacent Travelodge in Colton, Leeds

In January 2008, Mitchells & Butlers announced significant losses (£274 million) [14] arising out of closure of hedge positions taken in anticipation of a property joint venture that were eventually cancelled due to the credit crunch caused by the subprime mortgage financial crisis. [15] [16]

Acquisitions

Innkeeper's Lodge in Chadderton, Greater Manchester in 2010 Innkeeper's Lodge - geograph.org.uk - 1803352.jpg
Innkeeper's Lodge in Chadderton, Greater Manchester in 2010

By 2006, Mitchells & Butlers operated 130 Harvester restaurants. In 2001, it added Arena, Ember Inns, Flares, Goose, Sizzling Pub Co, Browns, Alex (in Germany), and Inn Keeper's Lodge to its list of brands. [17] In July 2006, Mitchells & Butlers purchased 239 pub restaurants (Beefeater and Brewers Fayre without a Premier Inn) from Whitbread for £497 million to strengthen its food business ahead of the introduction of a smoking ban in enclosed public spaces in England in 2007. [18] It had first announced its interest in April 2006. [19] In July 2008, Mitchells & Butlers bought 44 more former Brewers Fayre and Beefeater outlets from Whitbread in exchange for 21 Holiday Inn hotels. The acquired sites were rebranded into Mitchells and Butlers flagship brands Harvester and Toby Carvery. [20] In September 2010, Mitchells & Butlers bought the 22 restaurants of the (upmarket) Ha Ha! chain from the Bay Restaurant Group for £19.5 million. Twelve were turned into All Bar One and six into Browns Restaurants. The Ha Ha! brand disappeared. [21]

In June 2014, the company announced plans to acquire the bulk of one of its major competitors, Orchid Group, for £266 million. The acquisition included 173 pubs. [22]

Sale of pubs

In October 2006, Mitchells & Butlers sold off 102 of its smaller community pubs to Chorley-based Trust Inns for £101 million. [23] On 15 July 2010, it was announced that Travelodge had acquired the leases of 52 Innkeeper's Lodge Hotels around Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Leeds areas from Mitchells & Butlers. [24] It also sold 12 Hollywood Bowl outlets in August 2010 for £39 million to AMF Bowling and 13 to Tenpin. [25] In November 2010, Mitchells & Butlers sold 333 pubs to the Stonegate Pub Company (of London and owned by TDR Capital) or £373 million. [26]

Poor results and dismissal of CEO

In September 2015, Mitchells & Butlers issued a profits warning and dismissed CEO Alistair Darby. He was replaced by Phil Urban, who joined as COO in January from Grosvenor Casinos and previously ran Whitbread's pub restaurants division. [27]

Operations

Mitchells & Butlers owns several brands of pubs, including: [28]

Nicholson's pubs tend to be historic pubs aimed at the tourist market, located in London and other historic cities. Amongst Mitchells & Butlers' portfolio is Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, a St Albans public house listed by the Guinness Book of Records as being the United Kingdom's oldest. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pub</span> Establishment that serves alcoholic drinks

A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:

  1. is open to the public without membership or residency
  2. serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
  3. has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
  4. allows drinks to be bought at a bar

Holiday Inn is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division of Bass Brewery from 1988-2000, Six Continents from 2000-03, and IHG Hotels & Resorts since 2003. It operates hotels under the names Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Holiday Inn Resorts. As of 2018, Holiday Inn has hotels at over 1,100 locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bass Brewery</span> British Brewery founded 1777

Bass Brewery was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Its pale ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greene King</span> British brewery and pub chain

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InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carvery</span> Restaurant or pub serving freshly sliced meat

A carvery is a pub or a restaurant where cooked meat is freshly sliced to order for customers, sometimes offering unlimited servings in a buffet style for a fixed price. The term is most commonly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Bar One</span> British pub chain

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 until 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Six Continents</span> Former large British-based hotel and hospitality business

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punch Pubs</span> Pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom

Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index until its sale in 2016 for £403 million to a private equity fund, Patron Capital, acting in concert with Heineken International who acquired 1,900 of Punch's pubs as part of the deal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaux Breweries</span> Brewer and hotel owner based in Sunderland, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvester (restaurant)</span> British casual dining restaurant chain

Harvester is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewers Fayre</span>

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.

Premier Inn Limited is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 800 hotels, with over 72,000 rooms. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports, competing with the likes of Travelodge and Ibis hotels. The company was established by Whitbread as Travel Inn in 1987, to compete with Travelodge. Whitbread bought Premier Lodge in July 2004 and merged it with Travel Inn to form the current business under the name Premier Travel Inn, which was then shortened to the current name in October 2007. Premier Inn accounts for 70% of Whitbread's earnings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beefeater (restaurant)</span> UK pub chain

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charrington Brewery</span>

Charrington Brewery was founded in Bethnal Green, London, in the early 18th century by Robert Westfield. In 1766, John Charrington joined the company, which then traded as Westfield, Moss & Charrington from the Anchor Brewery in Stepney. It merged with United Breweries of London in 1964, and with Bass Brewery in 1967 to become the largest UK brewing company, Bass Charrington. The brewing operations of the company were bought by Interbrew in 2000, while the retail side were renamed Six Continents. In 2003, Six Continents split into a pubs business, now known as Mitchells & Butlers, and a hotels and soft drinks business, now known as InterContinental Hotels Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Carvery</span> British carvery chain

Toby Carvery is a British carvery chain brand owned and operated by Mitchells & Butlers, which consists of 158 restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitchells & Butlers Brewery</span> Brewery in Cape Hill, Smethwick, England

Mitchells & Butlers Brewery was formed when Henry Mitchell's old Crown Brewery merged with William Butler's Brewery in 1898. Henry Mitchell had moved to the Cape Hill site in 1879 and this became the company's main brewing site. It had its own railway network, connected to the national railway system from 1907 to 1962, via the Harborne line.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Mitchells & Butlers. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "Mitchells & Butlers - Our brands". Mbplc.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Our history". Mitchells & Butlers. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  4. ↑ "Brewery at Quaffle". Directory of Real Ale Breweries. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
  5. ↑ Mail, Birmingham (12 January 2012). "Top Ten: Brum's best beers". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. ↑ John Shepherd (22 July 1995). "Forte sells Harvester pub chain" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Bass to become Six Continents". The Guardian. 27 June 2001.
  8. ↑ "Six Continents split-up to cost £100m". The Guardian. 17 February 2003.
  9. ↑ "Six Continents wins £5.5bn bid battle". BBC News. 13 March 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Investors drop M&B pub group bid". BBC News. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Punch unveils M&B merger proposal". BBC News. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "Punch rules out pub deal with M&B". BBC News. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "M&B eyes Punch pub chain Spirit". BBC News. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Pub owner's credit crunch losses". BBC News. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  15. ↑ Bowers (28 January 2008). "M&B could blow a year's profit on £300m hedge loss". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  16. ↑ Bowers (29 January 2008). "Tchenguiz raises stake in pub group". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  17. ↑ Cunill, Onofre Martorell (2006). The Growth Strategies of Hotel Chains: Best Business Practices by Leading Companies. New York: Haworth Hospitality. p. 29. ISBN   0789026643.
  18. ↑ "Beefeater sites bought by M&B". BBC News. 21 July 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "M&B confirms Beefeater interest". BBC News. 28 April 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  20. ↑ Jonathan Sibun (31 May 2008). "Whitbread eyes further swaps after Mitchells & Butler's deal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  21. ↑ Hiscott, Graham (18 September 2010). "Mitchells & Butlers buys Ha Ha bar chain for £19.5million". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  22. ↑ Chad Bray (16 June 2014). "Britain's Mitchells & Butlers to Acquire 173 Pubs". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "M&B sells off 102 community pubs". BBC News. 5 October 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  24. ↑ Paskin, Becky (15 July 2010). "Travelodge acquires 52 hotels from Mitchells & Butlers". Bighospitality. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  25. ↑ "Mitchells & Butlers sells its Hollywood Bowl business". BBC. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  26. ↑ "M&B sells 333 pubs to TDR Capital". Morning Advertiser. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  27. ↑ "Mitchells & Butlers calls time on chief executive Alistair Darby | Business". The Guardian. Press Association. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  28. ↑ "Mitchells & Butlers – Our brands". Mbplc.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  29. ↑ "Peta wants 'Britain's oldest pub' to change its name to something less offensive to chickens" . The Independent. 21 May 2015. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022.
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