Pubs owner Mitchells and Butlers hasn’t had a chief executive for months, but that hasn’t hindered sales.
In the 42 weeks of the year so far, revenues at its pub restaurants, which include Harvester and the Toby Carvery, are up 1.9%.
They are up 0.4% in the last 14 weeks, which compares well with the competition, much of which has been battered by the awful weather that has kept drinkers at home.
Executive chairman Bob Ivell said: “Despite the continuing poor weather and challenging economic conditions, we are continuing to deliver a resilient operating performance.”
M&B is introducing free wi-fi across its estate, something that critics of the trade say pubs should have been doing long ago.
The company has seen extraordinary boardroom turmoil in the last few years, with directors finding it difficult to work with Joe Lewis, the Tottenham Hotspur owner who is the biggest single shareholder in M&B.
The company said today that the search for a new boss is “continuing” and “remains a priority”.
Geof Collyer at Deutsche Bank said: “There is still no apparent progress on a new CEO or any new non-executive directors. This remains the major impediment to recruiting new investors in our view.”
