- Mitchells & Butlers
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Mitchells & Butlers plc 
Type Public (LSE: MAB) Industry Restaurants, Pubs Founded 15 April 2003 Headquarters Birmingham, United Kingdom Key people Simon Burke, (Chairman)
Jeremmy Blood, (Interim CEO)Products c. 1600 restaurants and pubs Revenue £1,980 million (2010)[1] Operating income £322 million (2010)[1] Net income £(84) million (2010)[1] Employees 40,000 Subsidiaries All Bar One, Browns Restaurants, Harvester Website www.mbplc.com 
An original Mitchells & Butlers Brewery pub, The Queens Arms, in central Birmingham
Mitchells & Butlers plc (LSE: MAB) (also referred to as "M&B") runs around 2,000 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The Company's headquarters is in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Contents
History
Historic brewing company
The Mitchells & Butlers Brewery was formed when Henry Mitchell's old Crown Brewery[2] (founded in Smethwick in 1866) merged with William Butler's Brewery (also founded in Smethwick in 1866) in 1898.[3] Henry Mitchell had moved to the Cape Hill site in 1879[4] and this became the company's main brewing site. The company then 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.[5] The site is now a housing estate, although the Mitchell & Butler war memorial, built in 1920, has been retained and restored.[6]
Their most famous beer was Brew XI (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.
Bass
Bass plc, based in Birmingham, 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.
Six Continents
In 2000, Bass also divested its brewing arm and rebranded itself Six Continents[3] 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.[3] In March 2003, Six Continents fought off a proposed £5.5 billion takeover by Hugh Osmond (Punch Taverns)[7]
M & B
M & B 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.[8]
In February 2008 Punch Taverns offered to merge with M & B[9], but decided not to in April 2008.[10] M & B then took an interest in Punch's subsidiary, Spirit Group.[11]
Financial loss
In January 2008, Mitchells & Butlers announced significant losses (£274 million)[12] 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 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.[13][14]
Acquisitions
By 2006, it had 130 Harvester restaurants. In 2001, it added Arena, Ember Inns, Flares, Goose, Sizzling Pub Co, Browns, Alex and Inn Keeper's Lodge to its list of brands.[15]
In July 2006, it 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.[16] It had first announced its interest in April 2006.[17]
In July 2008 it bought 44 restaurants from Whitbread - its former Brewers Fayre and Beefeater outlets that were not next to a Premier Inn.
In September 2010 it 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.
Sale of pubs
In October 2006 it sold off 102 of its smaller community pubs to Chorley-based Trust Inns[18] for £101 million.[19]
On 15 July 2010, it was announced Travelodge had acquired the leases of 52 Innkeeper’s Lodge Hotels around Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Leeds areas from Mitchells & Butlers.[20]
In November 2010 it sold 333 pubs to the Stonegate Pub Company (of London and owned by TDR Capital) for £373 million. These pubs were the drinks-focused (lower price) outlets such as Flares and Scream Pubs, which mostly had late-night licences. Also sold were High Street Bars & Venues, Town Pubs and Community Pubs.[21] It is now a restaurant-led pub company. The smoking ban has had less of an effect on pubs serving food. It also sold its 25 Hollywood Bowl outlets in August 2010 for £39 million to AMF Bowling.
Operations
A Harvester pub with adjacent Travelodge in Colton, LeedsMitchells & Butlers now owns several brands of pubs, including:
- Harvester
- Sizzling Pub Co.
- Toby Carvery
- Crown Carveries
- Ember Inns
- All Bar One
- Browns Restaurants
- Reflex
- O'Neill's
Other brands and concepts include: Miller & Carter, Vintage Inns, Castle, Edwards, Babylon, Lakota, Project Tokyo, Nicholson's and Bar Alex (Germany) and their newest brand, being Samuel Cooper Freehouses.
References
Mitchells & Butlers brand over the door of the 1932 Blue Gates pub, Smethwick.- ^ a b c Annual Report 2010
- ^ Fifty Years of Brewing, Mitchells and Butlers, 1929
- ^ a b c d e "Our history". Mitchells & Butlers. http://www.mbplc.com/index.asp?pageid=16. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ Fifty Years of Brewing, Mitchells and Butlers, 1929
- ^ "Brewery at Quaffle". Directory of Real Ale Breweries. http://www.quaffale.org.uk/php/brewery/474. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ War Memorial at Mitchell & Butler Brewery
- ^ Six Continents
- ^ 2006 proposed takeover
- ^ Punch offer
- ^ Punch loses interest
- ^ M & B and Spirit
- ^ £274 million
- ^ Simon Bowers (2008-01-28). "M&B could blow a year's profit on £300m hedge loss". Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/28/mitchellsandbutlers.fooddrinks. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ Simon Bowers (2008-01-29). "Tchenguiz raises stake in pub group". Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/29/mitchellsandbutlers.fooddrinks. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ Cunill, Onofre Martorell (2006). The Growth Strategies of Hotel Chains: Best Business Practices by Leading Companies. Haworth Press. p. 29. ISBN 0789026643.
- ^ Beefeater sites bought by Mitchells & Butlers
- ^ Beefeater and Brewers Fayre
- ^ Inns
- ^ Community pubs
- ^ Travelodge acquires 52 hotels from Mitchells & Butlers Big Hospitality, 15 July 2010
- ^ Stonegate Pubs
See also
- Whitbread - also sold off its brewing interests around the same time
External links
- Mitchells & Butlers plc
- Entry for brewery at Beer Mad
- Mitchells & Butlers company profile on CatererSearch
News items
- Profits fall in May 2011
- Buying Ha Ha! in September 2010
- Chief Executive quits in May 2009
- Food sales in September 2008
- Acquiring restaurants from Whitbread in July 2008
- Food sales in April 2008
Video clips
Categories:- Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
- Defunct brewery companies of the United Kingdom
- Companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands
- Companies established in 1898
- Mitchells & Butlers
- Tavistock Group
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