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Mitchells & Butlers boss Tim Clarke has today quit after the pub operator was forced to pay out £69 million to settle a debt shortfall.
Clarke resigned from the firm, which owns pub and restaurant chains including All Bar One and Harvester, posted a 48% slump in half year pre-tax profit for the 28 weeks to 11 April. Profit dropped to £44 million from £84 million a year ago.
The group's chief operating officer Adam Fowle, 49, has stepped in as interim chief executive at M&B, which said trading had improved to “robust” levels in the 16 weeks to 16 May, with like-for-like sales up 1.5%.
M&B described Clarke as the “architect of the company's success” and accepted his resignation with “great regret”.
