Toby Carvery And All Bar One Owner To Close Sites In The UK
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Featured Image Credit: PA Images
Several Toby Carvery and All Bar One sites are set to close permanently in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pubs and restaurants have particularly struggled during this hugely difficult time, having had to close entirely during two lockdowns.
And now Mitchells & Butlers, the chain that owns Toby Carvery restaurants and All Bar One have confirmed plans to shut 20 pubs and bars across the UK.
The move will put a number of jobs at jeopardy as sales have slumped, even with schemes such as Eat Out to Help Out.
It is understood the company is working with advisers at CBRE to offload the string of sites, which will be closed if Mitchells & Butlers cannot sell them to new owners.
An M&B spokeswoman told PA: "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."
The brand, which also owns O'Neill's pubs, Vintage Inns and Harvester, started redundancy consultations with staff last month.
The group, which was established in 1898 and operates around 1,700 restaurants and pubs across the UK, did not confirm the number of redundancies.
However, consultations had been opened with "a number of our front-line team" and that the group would seek to redeploy affected staff.
Rival brands, such as Greene King, Young's, Fuller's and City Pub Group, have also all made redundancies.
The news comes after Matt Hancock admitted that England's lockdown may be extended beyond December 2nd.
The health secretary said it was "too soon" to tell whether the new social restrictions will have had the desired effect in lowering the country's rate of infection.
Topics: Life News, lockdown, News, Coronavirus, Food & Drink