Nearly 200 restaurants will close (Image: Getty)
Two iconic restaurant chains will disappear from the UK and Ireland in a restructure that will see 3,800 people lose their jobs. Premier Inn owner Whitbread will close all its 197 remaining branded restaurant chains, including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, and replace them with hotel-integrated food and beverage offerings, which it said were more efficient and preferred by hotel guests.
It comes as part of a five-year strategy to reduce costs and overhaul its restaurant offering. Some of the former restaurant sites will be converted into around 600 new hotel rooms, while others are expected to be sold. Whitbread said it would aim to retain a significant proportion of staff affected through redeployment, but about 12% of Whitbread’s 30,000-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland are expected to lose their jobs.
Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants were usually situated next to Premier Inn hotels (Image: Getty)
Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants were usually situated next to, or inside, Premier Inn hotels. Grill restaurant Beefeater has been going since 1974, while Brewers Fayre has served traditional British pub food since 1979.
Whitbread has battled rising costs after the UK’s latest budget, leaving the company to make changes to protect profits and boost margins.
A spokesperson said: “Whitbread has announced today that, as part of its proposed new Five-Year Plan, it intends to become a pure-play hotel business focused on Premier Inn, the UK’s number one hotel brand, which is synonymous with quality and value.
“This change will involve exiting all of our remaining branded restaurants, which trade under brands including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, a number of which will be converted into approximately 600 additional Premier Inn rooms, with the remainder expected to be sold as going concerns.
“The proposed changes announced today build on the success of our Accelerating Growth Plan, announced in 2024, which involved the conversion of over 200 branded restaurants to additional rooms, and the creation of an integrated restaurant in each hotel.
“This format has proved highly popular with guests and under the proposal, it would be rolled out to all hotels where there is currently a branded restaurant.
“We recognise the impact of this proposal on colleagues who work at the affected sites. As a business which recruits around 15,000 people every year, we expect to be able to retain a significant proportion of those affected and will be looking to redeploy as many of our impacted colleagues as possible.
“However, we do anticipate that the proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, would result in a reduction of around 3,800 roles of a total UK and Ireland workforce of around 30,000. We will do all we can to support those colleagues affected.”