Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") runs circa 1,784 managed

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, England. The company is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

and is a constituent of the

FTSE 250 Index The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septem ...

. Its branded restaurants and bars include

All Bar One 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. Décor The concept was designed by Bass as a 'fema ...

, Miller & Carter,

Nicholson's frame, A label from a bottle of Nicholsons' Brown Ale Nicholson's was a small brewery operating from 1840 to 1960 in Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire. History The brewery was founded in 1840 by William Nicholson (1820–1916), son of ...

, Toby Carvery, Harvester,

Browns Restaurants Browns Brasserie & Bar is a British chain of restaurants, mostly located in the south of England. Browns was the first hospitality venture established by Jeremy Mogford, who in 1973 invested £10,000 (of which £2,500 was borrowed from his fa ...

, 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.

History

Historic brewing company

Mitchells & Butlers Brewery Mitchells & Butlers Brewery was formed when Henry Mitchell's old Crown Brewery (founded in Smethwick in 1866) merged with William Butler's Brewery (also founded in Smethwick in 1866) in 1898. Henry Mitchell had moved to the Cape Hill site in 1 ...

was formed by the merger of two breweries in 1898. The company merged with

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

in 1961. With the brand currently under ownership of Coors Brewers, the

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

closed in 2002 with production switched to

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

. Their most famous beer was ''Brew XI'' (using

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ...

, 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 A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ i ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Bass

Bass plc, based in Burton-on-Trent, transformed into separate brewing and retail divisions following the Beer Orders of 1989 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 Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. ...

Six Continents

In 2000, Bass also divested its brewing arm and rebranded itself

Six Continents 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. History The company was formed in June 2000 when the brewing business of ...

before another split in April 2003 into two separate companies, with the hotel assets forming

InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the ...

and the Mitchells & Butlers name brought back for the pubs and restaurants company. In March 2003, Six Continents fought off a proposed £5.5 billion takeover by

Hugh Osmond Hugh Edward Mark Osmond (born March 1962) is an entrepreneur and businessman and was the founder of Punch Taverns, one of the UK's largest chains of public houses. Early life Hugh Edward Mark Osmond was born in March 1962, the son of a doctor, ...

(Punch Taverns).

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. In February 2008, Punch Taverns offered to merge with Mitchells & Butlers, but decided not to in April 2008. Mitchells & Butlers then took an interest in Punch's subsidiary,

Spirit Group Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

Financial loss

In January 2008, Mitchells & Butlers announced significant losses (£274 million) arising out of closure of hedge positions taken in anticipation of a property joint venture that were eventually cancelled due to the

credit crunch A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...

caused by the subprime mortgage financial crisis.

Acquisitions

By 2006, Mitchells & Butlers had 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. In July 2006, Mitchells & Butlers purchased 239 pub restaurants ( Beefeater and

Brewers Fayre 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. History The f ...

without a

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

) from

Whitbread Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

for £497 million to strengthen its food business ahead of the introduction of a smoking ban in enclosed public spaces in England in 2007. It had first announced its interest in April 2006. In July 2008, Mitchells & Butlers bought 44 more former

and Beefeater outlets from Whitbread in exchange for 21

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American 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 that year. The chain was a division ...

hotels. The acquired sites were rebranded into Mitchells and Butlers flagship brands Harvester and Toby Carvery. In September 2010, Mitchells & Butlers bought the 22 restaurants of the (upmarket) ''Ha Ha!'' chain from the

Bay Restaurant Group The Bay Restaurant Group is a hospitality company in the United Kingdom, specialising in restaurant and pub chains. History The company originates from three former companies: Yates's, SFI Group and the Laurel Pub Company. Laurel Pub Company ...

for £19.5 million. Twelve were turned into All Bar One and six into

. The ''Ha Ha!'' brand disappeared. 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.

Sale of pubs

In October 2006, Mitchells & Butlers sold off 102 of its smaller community pubs to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

-based Trust Inns for £101 million. On 15 July 2010, it was announced that Travelodge had acquired the leases of 52 Innkeeper's Lodge Hotels around

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Birmingham,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

areas from Mitchells & Butlers. It also sold 12

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

outlets in August 2010 for £39 million to AMF Bowling and 13 to

Tenpin Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...

. In November 2010, Mitchells & Butlers sold 333 pubs to the

Stonegate Pub Company 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. Hi ...

(of London and owned by TDR Capital) or £373 million.

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.

Operations

Mitchells & Butlers owns several brands of pubs, including: * Alex *

* Castle * Crown Carveries * Ember Inns * Harvester *

Innkeeper's Lodge Innkeeper's Lodge is a UK budget hotel chain owned by Mitchells & Butlers. Locations Innkeeper's Lodge has over 40 locations across the UK from Balloch to Exeter. Some are new purpose built hotels, others are pubs with rooms and a few are wit ...

* Oak Tree * Orchid Pubs * Premium Country Pubs (formerly Premium Country Dining Group) * Miller and Carter * Nicholson's * O'Neill's * Sizzling Pubs * Stonehouse Pizza & Carvery * Toby Carvery * Vintage Inns 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 Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is a public house in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is one of several pubs that lay claim to being the oldest in England, claiming to have been in business since 793 AD. The pub was once recognized as the oldest in ...

, a

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

public house listed by the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing worl ...

'' as being the United Kingdom's oldest.

References

External links

Mitchells & Butlers plc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchells and Butlers Companies based in Smethwick Restaurants established in 2003 Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Tavistock Group 2003 establishments in England