Prolonged warm weather and World Cup football were just the ticket for 'wet-led' pubs in the UK - those establishments that primarily focus on drinks as opposed to meals. You get an idea of the contrasting fortunes of the two business strands by looking at Mitchells & Butlers' (MAB) reported sales in the 11 weeks to 28 July, which were up 0.9 per cent overall, as a 3.9 per cent boost to drinks sales mitigated a 1.8 per cent decline in food volumes.
So, with total sales are largely flat year to date, chief executive Phil Urban said trading across the group has been “polarised”. Though management is confident it can still meet full-year expectations, it also indicated that margins will be lower than last year as M&B continues to face added costs.
