Lockdown hits All Bar One owner

The group said revenues fell to £1.04bn from £1.2bn a year earlier, with the first half including nearly four weeks of enforced lockdown closure.

It booked £159m in charges, which it said were mostly as a direct result of the Covid-19 crisis.

Mitchells confirmed it is working towards an "early July date" to reopen sites in England, with pubs and restaurants allowed to reopen from July 4, and said Wales and Scotland will follow over the next two weeks

Mitchells' chief executive Phil Urban said: "The business was performing very well before the enforced closure in response to Covid-19, building on the strengths of our estate of mainly freehold properties, our diversified and well-loved brands and our team's industry-leading operational skills.

"These assets, coupled with our early experience of reopening in Germany, give us a clear plan for reopening."