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Music and signage solutions for memorable experiences.
Mitchells & Butlers is one of the UK’s leading pub and restaurant operators, providing eating and drinking experiences through its well-known brands and delivering great service, quality and value for money.
From high street venues like O’Neill’s to community pubs such as Sizzling Pubs, each brand plays a distinct role - but all share a focus on delivering a great guest experience built around atmosphere, value and consistency.
Mitchells & Butlers were looking for a flexible entertainment solution that could work across all of their brands, while still allowing each venue to feel authentic. Their teams needed a solution that was simple to manage and would support great hospitality rather than add operational pressure.
In O’Neill’s, music helps create energy, particularly in the evenings, supporting a vibrant and social environment. In Sizzling Pubs, music plays a more subtle but equally important role, creating a welcoming and relaxed backdrop that works for families, regulars and all-day trading.
Mitchells & Butlers partnered with Startle to deliver a flexible music and entertainment platform capable of supporting a wide variety of guest experiences.
The solution includes:
This approach helps ensure the right tone is set in every venue, whether that’s a lively high street evening or a relaxed midweek meal in a community pub.
...the right tone is set in every venue, whether that’s a lively high street evening or a relaxed midweek meal in a community pub.
Music remains central to how Mitchells & Butlers bring their venues to life.
Carefully curated playlists help create environments that feel welcoming, contemporary and appropriate for different occasions throughout the day and evening. The music at Mitchells & Butlers reflects the brand's lively and current character, blending indie pop, neo-soul, and dance pop styles to create an atmosphere that feels sociable and effortlessly cool. The sound is crafted to keep spirits high without overwhelming conversation.
Designed for pubs and bars, the professionally curated DJ sets help venues build energy and occasion in a way that feels seamless and consistent.
Mitchells & Butlers use Ultimate DJ to help create vibrant, high-energy atmospheres during key busy trading periods, and it allows teams to focus on delivering great guest experiences. Teams can feel confident the music matches the mood of the venue while remaining focused on providing great hospitality.
Since introducing Ultimate DJ, guest and team feedback has been consistently positive, with many commenting on the atmosphere and energy it helps create within venues.
Startle also provides digital signage to Mitchells & Butlers’ venues, helping bring screens to life with engaging and relevant content.
From food and drink promotions to brand messaging and live updates, Mitchells & Butlers’ digital signage contributes to a more connected and immersive guest experience, working alongside music to enhance atmosphere within the venue.
Startle Arena, our automated sports promotion tool, supports Mitchells & Butlers in enhancing the sports experience through engaging on-screen content around fixtures, updates and live events, helping venues build atmosphere before, during and after key matches.
In selected venues where it is relevant to the local audience, Mitchells & Butlers are able to stream both live and on-demand GAA sports, including hurling and Gaelic football. This allows certain pubs to create a tailored, relevant and engaging guest experience.
In venues where it suits the audience and occasion, Mitchells & Butlers also use Rock and Roll Bingo to introduce an interactive and social entertainment experience, adding variety to the entertainment offer.
Rock and Roll Bingo is a fun, digital bingo-inspired game packed full of iconic songs, specifically designed for pubs to give their customers a night of entertainment they’ll remember.
By simplifying the management of music and entertainment, Startle allows teams to stay focused on delivering great hospitality and engaging with guests.
The right soundtrack and signage help to enhance the overall guest experience with spot on atmospheres, and support engagement across different dayparts - encouraging guests to relax, stay longer and return again.
Feedback from both guests and teams has been consistently positive, particularly around the atmosphere created within venues and the ease and reliability of the system. And, we work with the Mitchells & Butlers team to evolve their music, entertainment and visual content over time.
Working with Startle has been a very positive experience for Mitchells & Butlers. They understand the important role that music and atmosphere play in shaping the overall guest journey and helping our venues feel welcoming, engaging and on brand. Their solutions support us in delivering a consistent, high-quality experience across our estate, while still allowing our teams to focus on what matters most – great hospitality.
Head of Electronic Leisure
Book your free brand sound discovery call to see how Startle can transform your music and signage across all locations.
