Restaurant chain behind East Lothian restaurant set to close
Whitbread, the business behind Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, has confirmed plans to close the remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants in the UK and Ireland as part of its five-year business plan.
The move will result in 3,800 job losses, it has been reported.
"Significant cost increases in the form of business rates and National Insurance" have been highlighted by the company.
The restaurants are typically located next to or inside Premier Inn hotels.
A number of the restaurants will be converted into additional Premier Inn rooms, with the remainder expected to be sold as going concerns.
A spokesperson for Whitbread said: “Whitbread has announced 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 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.”
Asked specifically about Craig House, a spokesperson for Whitbread said they would not be commenting on specific sites.
