Hospitality giant Mitchells & Butlers has rolled out solar panels across hundreds of its UK restaurants, pubs and bars, as part of an ongoing drive to cut energy bills and meet climate targets across its nationwide estate, it was revealed last week.
The hospitality operator – which owns thousands of UK pubs and eateries including the popular chains Toby Carvery, Browns Restaurants, Harvester and All Bar One – has installed 100 solar panels to date across its various outlets, with hundreds more in the pipeline next year, according to its construction consultancy Edge.
It forms part of a major programme of work being carried out for Mitchells & Butlers by Edge, which said the scheme would allow the firm to slash its carbon emissions by 1,250 tonnes per year, or the equivalent of 500 homes’ worth of energy.
Sam Ward, senior project manager at Edge, said the company had made “great progress so far” on the project.
“Having commenced delivering in September 2023, more than 100 sites in the south have now completed across Gloucester, Milton Keynes, Dorset, Hampshire, Southampton, and Bournemouth – working with renewable energy specialist contractors Carbon3 and Geo Green Power,” he said.
Ward added that each site in the Mitchells & Butlers portfolio presented a “unique set of opportunities and challenges” noting that a number of the properties are listed buildings.
“Our expertise in delivering renewable energy projects like this one has enabled the creation of intricate solutions adapted to the needs of individual sites, optimising the local energy savings that contribute to the wider sustainability goals of the group,” he said.
Ian Reeley, head of building development and sustainability solar PV development at Mitchells & Butlers, said the clean energy installation programme would help the firm meet its climate goals.
“We are committed to achieving a 70 per cent reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and one of the key initiatives we’ve implemented to aid the delivery of this is the major rollout and installation of PV panels to our freehold in collaboration with EDGE,” he said. “Our PV locations are geographically spread, and each require a highly bespoke series of works, so a one-size-fits-all approach was never a consideration.”
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