Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery owner axes 1,300 jobs

THE owner of Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery has axed 1,300 jobs following the coronavirus crisis.

Pub operator Mitchells and Butlers said it could no longer support these roles due to lockdown restrictions on boozers across the country.

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Mitchells and Butler has cut 1,300 jobs, it confirmed today

Revealing its annual results today, Mitchells and Butlers swung into the red as it slumped to a £123million annual loss for the year.

The pub chain employs 44,000 people in around 1,700 restaurants.

The announcement comes as Harvester, All Bar One and Toby Carvery branches remain temporarily closed across England due to the on-going four-week lockdown.

Branches aren’t expected to open again until at least December 2, although they remain open in Wales and Scotland.

Restaurant, food chain, and pub job losses

A NUMBER of high-profile restaurant, pub, and food chains have announced job cuts following the coronavirus crisis.

Zizzi owner Azzurri Group announced in July 2020 that it would permanently shut 75 branches, putting 1,200 jobs at risk
Frankie & Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group has proposed closing 125 branches, with 3,000 jobs on the line
Byron Burger is shutting 31 restaurants, around half of its UK sites, with 600 jobs at risk
Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge have announced the closure of 91 restaurants, with 1,900 jobs to go
Carluccio’s is cutting 1,000 jobs with 40 restaurants to shut
Costa Coffee is axing 1,650 jobs – it hasn’t announced any store closures at this stage
GBK is closing 26 restaurants and making 362 workers redundant
Greene King has shut 26 sites permanently, while a further 53 will temporarily close with their future remaining in the balance. Around 800 staff across the 79 sites are at risk of losing their jobs.
Marston’s pub chain says 2,150 staff are at risk of being made redundant or facing significantly fewer hours
Pizza Express has confirmed it’ll be closing 73 restaurants, putting 1,100 jobs at risk
Pret a Manger is cutting 2,800 jobs with 30 stores to close
Revolution Bars is planning to close six sites putting 130 jobs at risk
Upper Crust plans to make 5,000 out of its 9,000-strong workforce redundant
Wetherspoons is planning to cut 450 jobs from six pubs, as well as 130 head office roles.
Whitbread (which owns Brewers Fayre, Premier Inn and Beefeater) is planning to cut 6,000 jobs as hotel demand slumps.
Young’s is making 500 out of 4,200 staff redundant.

Before this, pubs were asked to enforce a 10pm curfew in England from September 24. This is being increased to 11pm when pubs reopen next month.

Hospitality businesses were also forced to shut for over three months earlier this year, from March 20 until July 4, thanks to the first coronavirus lockdown.

Mitchells and Butlers said 99% of its workforce was furloughed during lockdown earlier this year.

The redundancy announcement adds to a growing number of job cuts made by pub chains in recent months.

Wetherspoon is cutting up to 450 jobs from six pubs in airports, while Revolutions Bars said it will shut six sites.

Greene King is also axing 800 jobs and closing 79 pubs, and Marston’s said 2,150 staff were at risk of being made redundant or facing fewer hours.

We’ve asked Mitchells and Butlers how many redundancies hit each of its brands and we’ll update this article when we get a response.

The Sun is also checking if any pubs have been permanently closed.

The company warned over a “challenging and highly uncertain” future if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t contained.

Phil Urban, chief executive of Mitchells and Butlers, said: “Throughout a very uncertain and challenging year our businesses and teams have adapted quickly.

“We saw direct evidence of this from a strong trading period in July and August before further restrictions came into force.

“With our great estate, balanced portfolio of brands and proven management team, we remain optimistic that we will be able to regain the momentum previously built and continue to achieve sustained market outperformance, when the current operating restrictions are eased.”