Mitchells & Butlers looks to the suburbs for Browns expansion

The group opened its second suburban Browns last week and is looking to build a pipeline of future locations, according to chief executive Phil Urban.

The business converted an existing Vintage Inns into a Browns in Beaconsfield, which opened in August year, with a location in Ruislip following earlier this month, and both have been performing well, with the revamped Browns doing around double the sales it was doing as a Vintage Inn, Urban told BigHospitality’s​ sister title MCA​​​.

“Browns is a great brand, but we’ve been guilty of doing very little with it over a number of years, and have watched The Ivy Café and Cote Brasserie come up the rails, so it’s been something that’s been on my radar for a long while,” he says.

“The problem for Browns historically has been that it is a city centre business, in prime sites, which are few and far between.”

Next growth brand

While the business has had success with its premium food pub Miller & Carter over the five years and more, Urban says it is reaching its limit in terms of opportunities for expansion, and that M&B is keen to find opportunities in another of its brands.

“Browns is the obvious choice because it’s another premium restaurant offer which I think the consumer is looking for and if we can make it work in suburbia, then it could become the next growth story.”

The group has also been taking one of its other brands into new locations, with the opening of its first dark kitchen for Toby Carvery around three months ago. Operating out of an O’Neill’s in Clapham, Urban said the move was less about trying to extend delivery for Toby Carvery, a channel it already performs well in, but about taking the brand to places where suitable sites are unavailable.