No more Mitchells & Butlers discount vouchers....

claire111

I hold one M&B share in my SIPP purely for the 20% discount vouchers which I have received for many years in January.

This year M&B have told HL that shares in a SIPP do not qualify. I have checked their website and there is no mention of this. Can they withdraw this 'perk' without notifying shareholders ?

TIA

dunstonh

This year M&B have told HL that shares in a SIPP do not qualify. I have checked their website and there is no mention of this. Can they withdraw this 'perk' without notifying shareholders ?

You are not the shareholder when its in a SIPP.
and when you hold your shares on a platform, the corporate notifications go to the platform and it's the responsibility of the platform to notify you.

claire111

Thanks for response

Mitchells and Butlers say this on their website

"Only shareholders holding shares in certificated or nominee form are entitled to the vouchers"

HL say 

"Providing the company in question makes its shareholder benefits available to holders of shares within a nominee service then Hargreaves Lansdown should be able to obtain the relevant benefit."

M&B DID notify HL that SIPP held shares wouldn't qualify, but did it on the exact date that the shares needed to be held for qualification, so therefore without notice.

Not much I can do but I used to make good use of the vouchers which were very generous so it is disappointing..

dunstonh

"Providing the company in question makes its shareholder benefits available to holders of shares within a nominee service then Hargreaves Lansdown should be able to obtain the relevant benefit."

Remember that technically, you are not the shareholder when you use the pension wrapper.  The trustees are the shareholder.

M&B DID notify HL that SIPP held shares wouldn't qualify, but did it on the exact date that the shares needed to be held for qualification, so therefore without notice.

Due to the way announcements have to be made via the stockmarket if they are likely to have a material impact on the share price, that is to be expected.  Letting some people know earlier would be insider trading.

Not much I can do but I used to make good use of the vouchers which were very generous so it is disappointing..

We are not talking about a lot of money.  Why not buy a share in the ISA wrapper or GIA (if you don't utilise your unwrapped allowances).  ISAs don't use trust arrangements and GIAs are direct (albeit nominee with HL).

claire111

Thanks I will definitely do that for Vouchers January 2024 forwards. If anyone else is inclined it is a great perk; 12 x vouchers for 20% off food and drink any day of the year for parties up to 6 people, except xmas day !!    

Edit: parties up to 10 people not 6

DireEmblem

You've just reminded me to claim my M&B discount vouchers.  To be fair I dont use them much but I do go to a toby's once in a while.

I hold mine at 212, and send the customer service a request for a certificate of my holdings on the day you need the vouchers.  They seemed to accept that when I contacted M&B directly.

Alistair31

So I could buy 1 share in a Trading 212 GIA then claim the vouchers direct from M&B?

claire111

Alistair31 said:

So I could buy 1 share in a Trading 212 GIA then claim the vouchers direct from M&B?

Yes but you would have to hold the share on the qualifying day which for 2023 book of vouchers was 2 December 2022.

subjecttocontract

claire111 said:

Thanks I will definitely do that for Vouchers January 2024 forwards. If anyone else is inclined it is a great perk; 12 x vouchers for 20% off food and drink any day of the year for parties up to 6 people, except xmas day !!    

That's not quite right......each voucher provides a 20% discount on the total bill for up to 10 people.

claire111

subjecttocontract said:

claire111 said:

Thanks I will definitely do that for Vouchers January 2024 forwards. If anyone else is inclined it is a great perk; 12 x vouchers for 20% off food and drink any day of the year for parties up to 6 people, except xmas day !!    

That's not quite right......each voucher provides a 20% discount on the total bill for up to 10 people.

Ah you're right thank you - I was trying to guess from memory as I have none now !

claire111

Little update : I complained to M&B and for my troubles received a voucher booklet in the post... and have also just received this email from HL today

"We are contacting all HL SIPP holders of the Mitchells & Butler’s Plc shares as there has been some recent updates in the requirements for this year’s shareholder perk.

What is the Shareholder Perk? 

 You’ll get a book of vouchers, each giving 20% off the total bill in their pubs and restaurants if your hold the shares on the qualifying date of 02 December 2022. 

 For more information on the perk, you can visit the Mitchells & Butler’s Shareholder Benefits FAQ page

 What has happened? 

 Mitchells & Butler’s recently informed us of a change to their shareholder Perk requirements, stating that SIPP holders would no longer qualify for the voucher booklet.

 The change was confirmed to us on the shareholder Perk qualifying date of 02 December 2022. This unfortunately meant clients who held the shares in a SIPP account were unable to act on the new requirements in order to receive the vouchers as they had done in previous years.  

Following this news, we reached out to Mitchells & Butler’s to further query the change to the requirements and why we were notified of them on the qualifying date without and any prior notice.

After pushing back on this change, I’m pleased to confirm Mitchells & Butler’s have now agreed to send us vouchers for our SIPP holders. 

We also queried why they initially changed the requirements and then reverted back to allow SIPP holders. Mitchells & Butlers confirmed to us that they “reserve the right to amend the Terms & Conditions of the vouchers and who are eligible each year, to adapt to changing circumstances” and following a review of the Terms and Conditions and client feedback, they decided to allow SIPP holders to receive the vouchers.

Please rest assured, for the next years voucher period, we will be in contact with the company leading up to the voucher period to ensure we have any relevant information prior to the qualifying date that the company is able to relay to us.

Should you want to get in contact with Mitchells & Butler’s directly, please use the link below which will direct you to their FAQs page. To view their contact details please scroll to the bottom of the webpage and select ‘Contact US’ under the ‘Help’ section.

When should you expect to receive your vouchers? 

We have confirmed the number of vouchers we require, and they have confirmed they will be dispatching them to us between Friday 24 February 2023 and Monday 27 February 2023. 

Once we have received the vouchers for our SIPP holders, we will begin distributing them to the eligible holders. Therefore, you should expect to receive the voucher in due course. 

We’re very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you."