Mitchells & Butlers
15 suppliers. 4,500 different product lines. Now at their fingertips with Fourth.
The Mitchells & Butlers story
A business does not survive for more than 120 years if it’s not innovating and evolving. What began in 1898 when two Midlands families came together to form Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), has transformed into a leading pub, restaurant, and hotel company in the UK and Germany. Technology has been central to creating this admired hospitality operator. A culture of innovation has allowed M&B to scale to more than 1700 locations, across a range of brands and formats. The businesses deliver net sales of almost £23,000 a week and more than £180,000 operating profit a year—some of the highest levels in the industry.
Meeting the speed of retail
Being in the retail and hospitality business means adapting to constant change. However, M&B location managers were using a limiting, time-consuming legacy system to track and organise purchases. The process lacked a dynamic catalogue—resulting in incorrect ordering and wasted money spent on the wrong items for each brand.
- The existing solution was a third-party, supplier-owned platform that was not designed for its current use.
- Lack of a centralised ordering solution made reporting, oversight, and control difficult for the M&B corporate office and operations management.
- At the local level, managers were unable to confidently purchase the right products on time and within budget.
M&B conquer the day with Fourth
M&B saw a clear opportunity to improve the purchasing and procurement process across the portfolio. They sought a scalable solution that would give managers the freedom to make the right purchasing decisions while offering visibility to the procurement team.
- Fourth’s Inventory Management allowed M&B to take control of purchasing costs and processes with a complete software solution and mobile app for purchasing and receiving.
- The tool enables M&B to create and manage multiple catalogues across sectors at more than 1700 locations.
- By allowing procurement teams to control vendor catalogues with real-time visibility, every location manager can maintain compliance with purchasing standards while meeting business goals.
“Our regional managers and individual site managers have repeatedly referenced how great the mobile functionality performs in this tool and how it allows them to spend more time enhancing the guest experience.” — Darrell Wilson, Former Director of Procurement, Mitchells & Butlers
Scaling to satisfaction
Efficiently implemented and adopted over just a few months, M&B experienced immediate value with Fourth’s scalable ordering solution. With 15 indirect consumable suppliers and 4,500 different product lines now at the fingertips of pub and restaurant managers, the M&B procurement team proactively monitors purchasing and analyses data from more than £25m spent annually through the platform. Fourth – Purchasing Edition saves time and money for this industry leader.
- Ordering accuracy increased with an approval-based, intuitive mobile platform.
- The solution fuels full visibility of more than 150,000 orders per year. Budget visibility and management is easier for both on-site managers and the corporate finance team—leading to more informed business decisions.
- Catalogue management is performed centrally with a minimal number of resources.
- Managers now have more time to focus on delivering great guest experiences.
Looking forward
An innovative mindset continues to push M&B forward. With Fourth, they have found a partner and a platform that has them well-positioned for whatever the future may bring.
“Fourth subscribes to our value of innovation and continues to drive forward their solutions to help address our ever-challenging demands, a perfect partnership.”
— Darrell Wilson, Former Director of Procurement, Mitchells & Butlers
