Last orders for boss of pub firm M&B

ALL Bar One pubs group Mitchells & Butlers called time on its fifth chief executive in six years and warned its profits will fall.

Shares in the firm which also owns O’Neill’s, toby Carvery and Harvester fell 24.2p to 327.2p.

M&B said boss Alistair Darby is being replaced by Phil Urban, who joined recently as chief operating officer, and has a background in restaurant chains.

Chairman Bob Ivell said: ‘ the non-executive directors have considered the issue of the leadership of M&B very carefully.

‘As a consequence, Alistair Darby will step down as chief executive on September 26, and will retire from the board and leave the company on that date.’

Darby lasted three years, longer than many of his predecessors.

the firm, which counts billionaire Spurs owner Joe Lewis as a major shareholder, had been riven with disputes in the past.

While Lewis is understood to be supportive of the management changes, sources say he had not instigated the change.

the pub industry has been under growing pressure with increased costs, changes in drinking habits and a shift from drinks to food.

M&B’s board is understood to have felt Darby was too slow in driving change. Urban is tasked with focusing on the fast-growing food business.

Mark Brumby, a veteran leisure analyst, said: ‘One person is not to “blame” for M&B’s sluggish performance. M&B has now had five chairmen, five CEOs and three CFOs in the last sixish years.’

For the first 50 weeks of the year total sales, which include new openings, were up 7pc but sales at pubs open for more than a year were up by just 1pc.

But Brumby added: ‘ We would suggest that the slowdown has been more than “slight” and growth has actually been replaced by decline.’