Mitchells & Butlers' plan to expand key brands has taken one more small step forward.
The managed operator has bought an under-performing Chef & Brewer site, the Red Lion, in Handcross, West Sussex, from Punch Taverns.
It is currently being converted into a Project Orange gastro venue — the 50-site project it co-runs with entrepreneurs Paul Salisbury and Paul Hales — and opens in early December.
The move is interesting because M&B has eyed the Chef & Brewer estate for a number of years, believing it could achieve better performance from the estate by converting it to its own brands.
The Handcross Chef & Brewer is five miles south of Crawley and is a site from the bottom-end of the brand — so a tough test for M&B. "It's a one-off acquisition," a source said.
