Pub and restaurant giant set to swing axe on jobs

Hospitality giant Mitchells & Butlers could axe thousands of jobs after beginning a redundancy consultations.

The Birmingham firm, which owns 1,700 pubs and restaurants and employs 44,000 people has described the decision as “regrettable”, according the BBC.

A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers said it would look to redeploy affected staff “wherever possible” but that the hospitality industry is “operating in exceptionally challenging and uncertain circumstances.”

The spokesperson added: “While we have worked incredibly hard to make sites Covid-19 secure and keep staff and customers safe, we are facing significant difficulties from the recently introduced 10pm curfew for pubs, bars and restaurants, new enforced closures and tapering government support that doesn’t go far enough.”

Mitchells & Butlers owns the Harvester, Toby Carvery, O’Neills and All Bar One chains.