Mitchells & Butlers, the managed pub and restaurant group behind Harvester, Toby Carvery, All Bar One and Miller & Carter, has returned to like-for-like sales growth. Its pre-close trading update, published on 24 September 2026, puts year-to-date like-for-like sales up 2.1% and fourth-quarter trading up 1.4%.
The update covers the 51 weeks to 19 September 2026. Total sales rose 1.2% over the period, a slower pace than like-for-like growth, and the group said it expects a full-year outturn in line with consensus expectations.
Mitchells & Butlers runs its brands as company-managed sites rather than letting them to tenants or franchising them, which makes its figures a reference point for the managed end of the pub and casual dining market. Managed, tenanted and franchised are three different ways to run a pub estate, as how to open a pub in the UK sets out.
A fourth quarter back in positive territory
Drink sales grew faster than food over the year to date, at 2.7% against 1.8%. The August bank holiday weekend was one of the stronger points of the final quarter, with like-for-like sales up 5.3% over those days. Phil Urban, chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers, said: “We are pleased to see like-for-like sales return to growth in the fourth quarter, with trading performance ahead of the market, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our diverse portfolio of brands.”
Eleven new sites and 222 conversions
Investment in the estate continued through the year. The group completed 222 conversions and refurbishments and acquired 11 new sites, nine of them UK freeholds and two leaseholds in Germany.
It also bought four further freehold interests. Owning the freehold takes rent out of a site’s cost base, which is one of the levers a managed operator controls directly when costs are rising.
Good to know
Mitchells & Butlers is not a franchisor. Its pubs and restaurants are company-managed, so none of the 11 new sites is open to a franchisee or a tenant, the difference between a company-owned estate and a franchised one being set out in what a franchise is. As a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, it publishes its trading figures through RNS announcements.
Cost headwinds expected to ease in 2027
Cost remains the main pressure on the business. The group put its cost headwinds for the 2026 financial year at £120 million and expects around £95 million in 2027, equivalent to roughly 4% of its cost base. It said its Ignite efficiency programme and its capital investment should absorb the remaining pressure and support further operating profit growth.
Separately, in July 2026 the Government announced a 20% business rates cut for pubs, clubs and live music venues from April 2027, a measure that applies in England only, one of the devolved differences covered in UK franchise law: how England, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.
What the sector will watch next
The full-year results, which will carry audited profit figures for the 52-week year, are the group’s next scheduled publication. The update lands in a busy week for pub trading news: Greene King’s chief executive has called for reform of VAT, business rates and duty, and Mitchells & Butlers is among the signatories of a letter from Scottish hospitality businesses asking the Scottish Government to back a 10% rate of VAT for the sector.
Whether the fourth-quarter recovery holds into the Christmas trading period is the next test for managed operators. Brands that do recruit independent operators can be compared across the restaurant franchises recruiting in the UK.
