Greene King and Mitchells and Butlers roll out free Wi-Fi

Two of the UK’s largest pub chains have signed deals with Sky and O2 to roll out free Wi-Fi across their estates in the face of growing consumer demand.

Greene King announced a deal with BSkyB-owned Wi-Fi provider The Cloud last week to give complimentary Wi-Fi access across its 2,400-strong estate of pubs, restaurants, and hotels.

Greene King will offer The Cloud’s free public Wi-Fi to its 1,400 leased and tenanted premises as part of the same agreement. Other pubcos offering Wi-Fi from The Cloud include JD Wetherspoon, Spirit Pub Company and Stonegate Pub Company.

Meanwhile, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) is delivering free Wi-Fi into all 1,600 of its pubs and restaurants after securing a three-year deal with O2. The service will be available across the whole estate by October.

M&B is also installing systems to let customers make payments via their mobile phones as part of its major investment in IT infrastructure, worth £7m.