Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), which has an estate of 72 in Scotland, has reported sales of £219m for the 28 weeks ended 28 April 2021, around a fifth of £1.029m of sales in the comparable half year. There was a loss before tax of £200m (Half Year 2020 – loss of £121m). Only 14 weeks of restricted trade were possible in the first half of 2021.
Chief executive Phil Urban (pictured) said, “M&B was a high performing business coming into the pandemic. With the support of our main stakeholders, we are now well placed to emerge in a strong competitive position and look forward to the removal of remaining trading restrictions in June such that the business is able to return again to full and sustainable profitability.
“With our great estate, well diversified portfolio of brands and proven management team, we look forward to welcoming back our guests for great experiences in covid-19 secure environments and focusing the business once again on continually enhancing our customer proposition while driving efficiencies through the Ignite programme.”
He added, “The government’s announcement on 22 February provided a roadmap for the easing of restrictions and we have successfully traded an average of 535 sites from outdoor areas since 12 April. Performance has been varied and heavily influenced by the weather, with outdoor sales in open sites being on average 37% down on full pre covid-19 levels (outdoor and indoor).”