Mitchells & Butlers to close 20 sites

Mitchells and Butlers, the restaurant, pub, and bar operator, has announced it will not reopen 20 of its sites.

According to the Telegraph, the owner of All Bar One and Harvester is working to offload some of its leasehold properties that will face permanent closure if buyers cannot be found.

While the company had reopened 95% of its roughly 1,700 establishments after the first lockdown ended, “the remaining sites have been under review on a case-by-case basis since.”

A spokesman for the firm said: “As announced in September, Mitchells and Butlers re-opened the vast majority of its estate, approximately 95%, after the first lockdown ended.

“The remaining sites have been under review on a case-by-case basis since, taking into account factors such as expected footfall and business layout. We have taken the difficult decision not to reopen some of these sites and are working with leaseholders on next steps.”

The news comes after the firm announced sales had fallen 35% in the half-year ended 19 September, which in turn caused shares to drop down by half.

While Mitchells and Butlers is yet to officially disclose how many of its 44,000 employees face job insecurity, the chain has launched a round of redundancy consultations in recent weeks.

Catering Today has contacted Mitchells and Butlers for further comments.