M&B chair: All Bar One and Browns ripe for expansion
Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) chairman John Lovering has suggested that the company may have set itself too restrictive a strategy when it unveiled plans to focus on just six growth brands.
Lovering pointed to All Bar One and Browns as brands that were also suitable for expansion. "To have hooked up on six brands at that early stage was probably a mistake," he told the Sunday Telegraph.
"I actually have no problem with All Bar One or Browns growing as big as they want. And equally if the world suddenly says we don't like Harvester any more, we have to be flexible."
Lovering also made it clear that the company would bide its time lookig for the right opportunities to grow. "Whatever we do, it will be at the time of our choosing rather than because one or two analysts suggest it," he said.
The M&B chairman also made it clear that the company needed to focus on making its existing brand more profitable. "We have two issues to resolve — we have to make our smaller brands bigger and we have to make our bigger brands more profitable.
"For some of our mainstream brands, profitability has got to be improved. Take Crown Carvery — can we sustain the business on that kind of value offer?"
"That doesn't mean higher prices, it means consumers being happy to spend on more products or bringing the capital cost down.
"It's always unwise to reinvest proceeds prematurely. We are reviewing a range of options. "We have another 160 pubs which are ideal for converting to our core brands. There is nothing that we can do that will deliver a higher return than that.
"How can I think of buying a business if I've only got (a relatively small number) of Browns or All Bar Ones. Shareholders would say you must be bloody bonkers."
