Drinkers and diners poured into Mitchells & Butlers’ inns and restaurants over the holiday period, helping the pubs operator to notch up a bumper increase in festive sales.
In what one analyst described as a “Christmas cracker” of a trading update yesterday, Mitchells & Butlers was able to boast like-for-like sales growth of a healthy 9.8% for the three weeks.
Underlying sales at the Harvester and All Bar One chain over the two weeks around Christmas rose by 12.3% and in the seven weeks to January 5 by 6.9%, split evenly between food and drink, he said.
