8 Aug 2012: Mitchells & Butlers, the UKs biggest restaurant and pub group which owns the All Bar One, Toby Carvery, Harvester and ONeills chains amongst others, has hired specialist digital strategy agency Underwired help the company develop its digital customer engagement and data strategy. The companys annual sales are close to £2bn and across the groups 1,600 businesses it serves 435 million drinks and 125 million meals each year.

Underwired has been engaged to help the company develop its digital customer engagement and data strategy. The agency, whose other clients include Sony, Bupa, Harveys Furniture and Holidaybreak plc, recently became independent following an MBO in March.

Paul Madden, Head of Digital at Mitchells & Butlers, commented:  "The digital channel continues to grow in importance to our customers and we are constantly looking at new ways to improve our online services and the levels of personalisation we can provide. Underwired demonstrated a clear strength in the area of customer relationship management and understand how to maximise engagement through a robust data strategy."

Felix Velarde, Underwireds Managing Director, added:  "Mitchells & Butlers owns brands were all very familiar with, and their customers are exceptionally engaged. This provides rich territory for some fascinating strategy development work, and we are extremely pleased to have been selected to work with the digital team on this project."