Mitchells & Butlers confirms closures

Mitchells & Butlers has confirmed some of its sites will close permanently and the group’s redundancy process is understood to be nearing completion.

The Telegraph reported that the business – which has a brand portfolio including Harvester, Toby Carvery, O'Neills, Miller & Carter and All Bar One – is expected to close 20 sites.

A spokesperson said: “As announced in September, Mitchells & Butlers reopened 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.”

Mitchells & Butlers confirmed it had entered redundancy consultations with staff last month. The group, which was established in 1898 and operates around 1,700 restaurants and pubs across the UK, did not confirm the number of redundancies, but said consultations had been opened with "a number of our front-line team" and that the group would seek to redeploy affected staff.

Photo: Shutterstock