M&B bids to raise £350m to survive
BIRMINGHAM pub group Mitchells & Butlers has announced plans to raise £350million from investors in moves to shore up its finances as pubs and bars remain closed across the UK.
The owner and operator of brands such as All Bar One and Toby Carvery said it would issue about 167 million new shares.
The group, which is headquartered in the Jewellery Quarter, told the stock exchange that a consortium of three of its largest investors had said they would be able to make the whole £350 million available.
Piedmont, Elpida Group and Smoothfield have joined forces to create a new holding company, Odyzean, which will hold a 55 per cent stake in the company.
The firms said the new company would help address “the significant capital needs of Mitchells & Butlers”.
Odyzean said it was fully supportive of the current management team but that it planned to review the current composition of the board of directors.
A statement from Odyzean said: “We are determined to support Mitchells & Butlers through the current difficult environment.
“As a result of the pandemic, Mitchells & Butlers has been forced to close all its venues, with significant negative implications for its cash flows and balance sheet.
“Without this major equity injection, the prospects for the business, its 1,600 venues, and over 40,000 UK employees would be bleak.
“Our significant financial commitment will help to secure the future of the business and provide a platform for the strong management team to restore the Company’s operations to good health when circumstances allow.”
Mitchells & Butlers also told investors that it had secured an agreement with banks for a new £150million credit facility as part of the financial shake-up.
Last month, the pub owner said it had only £125million in cash reserves and was burning through between £35million and £40million a month as sites remain shut.
Chairman Bob Ivell said: “We are pleased to have received the support of our major shareholders and key creditors. Mitchells & Butlers was a high-performing business going into the pandemic and this capital raising and refinancing will provide the business with the certainty of funding it needs to emerge in a stronger position.”
Corporal Sally Woodcock, 34, a clarinettist with the RAF, is working at a vaccine hub in Powys.
Volunteers have been keeping the vaccine hubs running, and when the pandemic pressed pause on Corporal Woodcock’s musical engagements, she was sent to offer support in Wales.
“There are so many people out there who need to have the vaccine as soon as possible,” says Corporal Woodcock. “All the staff working in the hub are just fantastic, and they graft so hard. I’ve been in various different roles there, and everyone is really friendly. Their dedication, patience and humour while all this is going on, with everybody that comes through, is just fantastic. So it’s lovely to be able to switch around and see how they all work – it’s been really good so far.”
And as someone who has now seen hundreds of people getting their vaccine, Corporal Woodcock can reassure them it’s quick and easy. “It’s absolutely painless,” she says. “You get a little bit of a numb arm afterwards, but you get that with a
A BATTLE is brewing over plans to install a towering 5G phone mast – branded “an absolute eyesore” by critics – outside a small shopping parade in Solihull.
Proposals to erect the 19 metre monopole at the junction have been handed to the council, sparking concern about the impact on the surrounding area.
Opponents claim that the structure, around twice the height of the adjacent Chinese takeaway, would be “a blot” on the road junction and that around six equipment cabinets would cause parking problems.
They are now calling for the mast plans, on the corner of Knightsbridge Road, Olton, to be abandoned and an alternative site identified. Tender Years Day Nursery, among the nearby units, has taken to social media to urge people to submit their comments to the council and raise the issue with Solihull MP Julian Knight.
“We will lose the majority of the central reservation area currently used for local residential and staff parking,” said a spokesman.
“If staff have nowhere to park they will be forced to park outside the nursery frontage, meaning parents will be forced to park unsafely on Castle Lane and it would concern me greatly in regards to getting children safely in and out of cars.”
The application has been submitted as part of the roll-out of new 5G technology and is one of several sites around the borough to have been the centre of a struggle in recent months. Previous battles to prevent masts at Conker Lane, in Dorridge, and outside Widney Manor Station have proven unsuccessful.
A report accompanying the latest scheme, submitted on behalf of MBNL Limited, said that new masts were needed to provide coverage for the upgraded network.
“It is seen as essential
for the country to develop and exploit the advantages of such new technology to the direct benefit of the public and the economy as a whole,” it said. Although telecoms bosses have admitted in the past that the demands of 5G means masts will need to be taller than previous generations. It is understood some of those concerned by plans as they stand would favour siting the mast closer to the canal, which cuts through the suburb.