Fixed-price menu for Chef & Brewer

Spirit, the managed division of Punch Taverns, is looking to boost its flagship Chef & Brewer brand with the launch of its first fixed-price menu.

New boss Mike Tye has overseen the launch of a new autumn menu, which offers two courses for £10 and three for £12.

Tye, who has already made personal visits to 130 different Spirit pubs since he arrived a few months ago, has worked with head of food Paul Farr to re-work the Chef & Brewer menu.

Table service has also been introduced across Chef & Brewer. The brand, which operates at around 120 sites, was struggling with an 8% like-for-like sales decline earlier this year.

Asked for his impressions of the Spirit estate, Tye told the MA: "There's not a single

pub I've seen so far where we can't make more money."

Spirit has been trialling various versions of Chef & Brewer over the past two years, with one project halted after former Spirit boss Andrew Knight became unconvinced the trial was working.

Industry observers believe that moving Chef & Brewer forward remains one of Spirit's

biggest challenges — the brand has seen little investment since it was acquired by

Spirit's former private equity owners as part of its Scottish & Newcastle Retail acquisition in November 2003.

Tye also indicated that Spirit is now "very unlikely" to open a third Grill House

Kitchen, the charcoal-oven concept that the company had hoped it could expand