Whitbread is to close all 106 of its UK Beefeater restaurants within weeks, ending the brand's high street presence. The Premier Inn owner confirmed the date in a letter to Beefeater Reward Club members, stating that all UK Beefeater sites, including customers' local restaurants, will close on Thursday, September 10. The Reward Club itself will close earlier, on August 31.
The closures are part of Whitbread's wider plan to withdraw from branded restaurant operations and focus on its hotel estate. Announced in April, the five-year strategy aims to generate £250m in cost efficiencies and return £2bn to shareholders. Around 3,800 jobs are expected to be lost across Whitbread's 30,000-strong UK and Ireland workforce. The company has also warned that the changes could reduce food and beverage sales by up to £160m and cut profits by around £10m once its broader savings programme is considered.
Other affected brands
Whitbread is also targeting the sale of around £1.5bn worth of freehold properties, reducing the proportion of properties it owns outright from about 50% of its portfolio to 30%. Beefeater is not the only restaurant brand affected. Whitbread also operates 89 Brewers Fayre sites, which are expected to close as part of the same overhaul, though the company has not yet confirmed whether those will shut on September 10.
The decision comes as Whitbread focuses more heavily on its Premier Inn hotel business. Chief executive Dominic Paul said last month that exiting the restaurant brands would help the group achieve “higher profits and returns” in the UK.
Closure dates and Merseyside sites
Bar + Block, Whitbread's all-day steakhouse concept introduced in 2016, will shut its 20 sites on September 3, including locations in Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, and others. Table Table, the family-oriented pub chain, will close 32 venues on September 3, including The Derby Lodge in Merseyside. Cookhouse + Pub will cease trading at 14 branches on September 3. Brewers Fayre, established in 1981, will close its sites on September 7, including Ocean Plaza in Merseyside. Beefeater, trading since 1974, will shut all its premises on September 10, including the Packet Steamer and Stag & Rainbow in Merseyside.
The full list of affected sites includes four in Merseyside: The Derby Lodge (Table Table), Ocean Plaza (Brewers Fayre), Packet Steamer (Beefeater), and Stag & Rainbow (Beefeater). The closures are scheduled to take place between September 3 and September 10, with the final Beefeater shutdown marking the end of the brand's operations.
