Mitchells & Butlers dominates UK on-trade for brand awareness

Pub chain operator Mitchells and Butlers (M&B)  has dominated a new report that shows on-trade brands still gathering momentum on the high street, despite the ongoing “turbulence” in the restaurant sector.

Mitchells & Butler previously launched a simpler wine range to take the “anxiety” out of wine choice

The pub and restaurant operator, which operates 17 different brands, saw its Miller & Carter brand top the list of restaurants in the CGA Stone & River Brand Momentum Report, coming out ahead of  Nando’s, Cote, Five Guys and Bella Italia for growing momentum, brand awareness and consumer loyalty. The report put this down to brand having a “quality and simplicity of offer”.

M&B also dominated the top five pub restaurant list, with four of its brands making the top five: Stonehouse Pizza & Carvey, which opened two years ago took the top spot, and upmarket pub chain Ember Inns and Vintage Inns, and Sizzling Pubs. Greene King’s Farmhouse Inns was in second spot.

However its well-known Toby Carvery brands fell in the rankings this year, along with Greene King’s Hungry Horse and Flaming Grill.

Phil Urban, chief executive officer at Mitchells & Butlers said the current outperformers in the portfolio – Miller & Carter, Nicholson’s and Ember Inns – had “consistency and longevity, performing year after year”.

High Street pubs

The top five pubs remained fairly static this year, headed by JD Wetherspoon in the top spot, appealing to a broad mass market, along with All M&B’s All Bar One, Revolution, Marston’s Pitcher and Piano, which appeal to a different demographic -“people looking for a good night out and exciting drinks” – and the Bay Restaurant Group’s Slug and Lettuce moving up to make it into the top five.

The report said the key challenge was to prove ‘authenticity’ of big brands in a saturated market.

“The lack of movement in this category demonstrates how little the large chains are changing—or, at least, how little the customer notices of their attempts to change,” the report said.

Significant turbulence

However, the report noted the “significant turbulence” in the eating and drinking out market, with many casual dining brands in particular hit with rising prices in terms of food, property and people as well as intense competition and the ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

“Consumer confidence remains uncertain and fast-changing habits, not to mention the impact of technology and delivery, are altering their brand perceptions. This is impacting both the top and bottom line,” it said.

It also warned that investment from umbrella companies in the pub restaurant sector was sometimes low, and there was danger of brands “losing their relevance”, while delivery services such as Deliveroo and Just Eat were starting to steal share from the lower end of the dining out market.

M&B’s Urban told the report that labour cost remained the main challenge “with or without a hard Brexit”.

“We need to keep growing the wage rates we pay, and I’d love to be able to accelerate that, but it does come down to affordability. We recognise that the demand for
quality people is only going to become greater. Growing your own talent is key,” he said.

The report, which at consumer’s opinions, awareness and loyalty, draws on CGA’s quarterly survey of the attitudes and habits of 5,000 nationally representative British consumers, BrandTrack, as well as data from its Outlet Index database of licensed premises.