mitchells  butlers plc said thursday that likeforlike sales fell 6 in the sevenweek period to jan 8 because of the effects of the covid19 omicron variant and that they were down 10 over the fourweek festive season the uk pubandrestaurant operator said that in the year to date likeforlike sales fell 15 with total sales falling 52 as a result of covid19related site closures mitchells  butlers said that it had made a strong start to fiscal 2022 and that likeforlike sales over the first eight weeks of the quarter ended jan 8 grew 27 the company said that this encouraging performance continued until early december when concerns around omicron began to surface and calls were made for further caution when socializing resulting in a downturn in activity across the sector whilst we expect activity to continue to be adversely impacted in the short term we are encouraged by the latest data on the omicron variant which we believe will boost consumers confidence to return to pubs and restaurants allowing us to regain the momentum which was beginning to build chief executive phil urban said