Mitchells & Butlers begins redundancy talks with staff

Mitchells and Butlers has begun consulting with a number of its staff regarding redundancy payments as the company struggles with the fallout from Covid-19. 

According to the BBC, the chain which owns brands such as Harvester and All Bar One has not yet disclosed how many jobs are at risk, however a spokesperson told the outlet that the move was “a difficult and regrettable decision, and M&B would seek to redeploy affected staff wherever possible”. 

The company currently has 1,700 pubs and restaurants and 44,000 employees across the UK, in July the brand reported a £121m loss in sales as a result of the pandemic . 

It comes as the government yesterday announced a new “three-tiered” lock down system which will see an array of North-West hospitality businesses to close the spread of Covid-19. 

The M&B’s spokesperson continued: “With trading restrictions and uncertainty likely to continue for the foreseeable future, we strongly urge the government to step up the level of support it is offering to an industry which has been repeatedly singled out and taken the full brunt of restrictions.

“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.”