Shareholder revolt at All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers as one in three vote against chairman
Almost one in three shareholders in All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers voted against the reappointment of its chairman at the group’s annual general meeting.
The Birmingham-headquartered pub chain, which also owns Toby Carvery, staged its AGM this morning (Tuesday, January 23), where 29.56 per cent of votes were cast against Bob Ivell.
Mr Ivell was first appointed to the board in May 2011 and has held senior roles at the likes of Beefeater Restaurants, The Restaurant Group, Carpetright and Regent Inns.
Also at the AGM, 22.28 per cent of votes were cast against the reappointment of non-executive director Josh Levy.
Mr Levy has been in the role since November 2015 and is the nominated representative of Piedmont Inc which, as part of the Odyzean Group, is a significant shareholder in the group.
The businessman is also chief executive of Ultimate Finance Group, chairman of Avenue Insurance and a director of Tavistock Group.
Both Mr Ivell and My Levy were reappointed to their roles after gaining 70.4 per cent and 77.72 per cent of the vote respectively.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, Mitchells & Butlers said: “The board of directors notes the level of votes against resolution 8 concerning the chairman and resolution 10 concerning an individual who represents the company’s controlling shareholder (as defined in the listing rules).
“The UK Corporate Governance Code contains best practice recommendations in relation to corporate governance yet acknowledges that, in individual cases, these will not all necessarily be appropriate for particular companies.
“Accordingly, the code specifically recognises the concept of ‘comply or explain’ in relation to divergences from the code and the company has explained the circumstances of these appointments in detail in its 2023 annual report.”
The AGM was held after the group said it expects profits to be at the top end of forecasts as it cautiously cheered an end to tough cost pressures.
It said that like-for-like sales were up 7.7 per cent in the two months to January, over the Christmas period.
It added that sales were up over 10 per cent on a like-for-like basis over the Christmas week across its 1,000 sites, and the pub owner also posted “record sales” for Christmas day based on 229,000 meals served.