Mitchells & Butlers
Mitchells & Butlers is one of the largest UK operators of restaurants, pubs, and bars. The company centrally manages networks across all locations to support many popular brands.
Secure access service edge (SASE)—an ingredient for success
With 1,700 venues and 46,000 staff, this popular service-focused business relies on Cisco and Meraki technology to provide seamless service and stellar guest experiences.
Connecting and protecting dining experiences
At Mitchells & Butlers, they're more than just a collection of 1,700 pubs, bars, restaurants, and cozy hotels. They're a hub of buzzing network activity driven by 46,000 staff members and underpinned by a massive tech arsenal. Imagine this: 13,000 Windows devices, 8,000 tablets, 8,000 access points, and a web of routers and switches, all needing to work in perfect harmony. Working together, these conduct the company's daily digital symphony, playing the tune of top-notch guest experiences.
"Our guests' journey starts online, and it's our job to make sure their virtual interactions are as satisfying as the service they receive in person," explains Martyn Eddins, Head of Technology & Support at Mitchells & Butlers. "Our success hinges on a dependable network—the unsung hero that makes or breaks the guest experience."
Like many in the hospitality industry, Mitchells & Butlers provides guests with free Wi-Fi and online table reservations. The company also has tablets for food ordering and offers online ordering for food delivery, which the IT team supports. They handle corporate office technology, too. This includes helping people work from anywhere with the right connectivity plus productivity tools and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
The company began its journey with Meraki several years ago, deploying Cisco Meraki wireless, switching, endpoint management, and other technologies across all venues, extending to the headquarters in Birmingham. This move wasn't just a tech upgrade—it was about empowering Mitchells & Butlers' teams with the tools to ensure uninterrupted service for their guests and the staff who serve them.
Easy networking and security management with a SASE solution
Eddins and his team take security extremely seriously because they have so many devices, locations, and people to consider. But they found that managing different security solutions across many properties can be a bit like working on a complex puzzle. To solve it, Mitchells & Butlers turned to Cisco Secure Connect, a unified SASE solution that uses a single cloud-based control center to simplify networking and security management.
"The decision to go with Cisco Meraki and now Secure Connect not only saved us time but also aligned with our cloud-first infrastructure goals, allowing us to deploy swiftly without the burden of physical hardware," says Eddins. "Using the single dashboard to manage it all simplifies our operations."
Cisco Secure Connect transformed the challenging task of maintaining secure, always-on connections by unifying everything in a cloud-based security hub that's a breeze for the team to manage. This integration means they can bid farewell to the chaotic patchwork of tools and devote more time to what's truly important: supporting hospitality staff and ensuring guest satisfaction.
The combination of Meraki and Cisco Secure Connect was a game-changer, but Mitchells & Butlers hasn't been crushing it for over 135 years by resting on its laurels. Next up? They're diving deeper to unlock the system's full potential, including advanced features like zero-trust network access for web-based apps.
Martyn Eddins, Head of Technology & Support at Mitchells & Butlers, speaks to managing distributed systems effectively.
The Mitchells & Butlers seal of approval
Why does Mitchells & Butlers recommend Cisco Meraki with Secure Connect? It's simple: the company has a highly distributed IT environment that must deliver high performance and availability, be easy to manage, and ensure security and compliance. The team can now sleep better at night thanks to Cisco's unparalleled control, ease of management, and end-to-end visibility.
"The thing about working with Cisco is that they're with us every step of the way," says Eddins. "Of course, we work with managed service providers, but we also have direct contact with Cisco, who helps us maximize the value of these solutions."
It's not just about keeping the lights on at Mitchells & Butlers; it's about making those lights shine bright for every person who walks through the doors—providing fantastic hospitality powered by fantastic technology.
