Pub group calls last orders on 20 sites

Mitchells & Butlers is set to close up to 20 sites – putting more jobs at risk.

The news comes just weeks after the firm said it was beginning a redundancy consultation to axe thousands of roles.

Now, according to the Telegraph, the firm, which owns All Bar One, Harvester, Toby Carvery and Browns, is working with real estate advisory firm CBRE to identify under-performing sites and ultimately offload their leasehold if buyers can’t be found.

The company currently employs around 44,000 staff, but declined to comment on how many jobs would be affected.

A spokesperson said: “As announced in September, M&B 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.”