Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut about 3,800 jobs in the UK and Ireland and shut its remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants as it resets its five-year business strategy, amid tax rises.

In recent years, Whitbread has invested heavily in new Premier Inn hotels across Oxfordshire including those in Abingdon, and in Oxford city centre opposite the Westgate Centre, and at Botley.

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While some Premier Inn hotels in the county now have restaurants converted to the chain’s in-house Thyme brand, a few old-fashioned Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants remain.

They include the Longwall Beefeater in Cowley, Bicester Premier Inn (Brewers Fayre), the Beefeater restaurant at Oxford Kidlington (Airport) Hotel, and the Applecart Beefeater at the Premier Inn for Didcot.

The cuts will affect about 12 per cent of Whitbread’s 30,000-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland working in its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, which are usually located next to, or inside, Premier Inn hotels. The company said consultations with affected employees would begin immediately.

Whitbread said it expected to retain a “significant proportion” of staff affected and would try to find them alternative roles, given it hires about 15,000 people each year.

The country’s largest hotel operator had already started converting some of its underperforming Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants into hotel rooms and now intends to continue the policy across the remaining 197 restaurants.

The move will involve Whitbread selling and leasing back £1.5bn of its freehold properties.

Dominic Paul, Whitbread’s chief executive, said: “We plan to convert all our remaining branded restaurants to an integrated food and beverage offer that is preferred by our hotel guests and will unlock the addition of more highly profitable extension rooms.

“Our continued efforts to drive our commercial plan and efficiencies will extend our market-leading position and allow us to take share from our competitors, many of which are struggling to grow.”

The Premier Inn in Abingdon (Image: Andy Ffrench)

Whitbread warned in late 2025 that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ 2025 budget tax policies would cost it an extra £50m this year, amid changes to the way business rates are calculated. This followed an earlier cost squeeze from higher wage bills and rising food prices.

There are more than 800 Premier Inn hotels in the UK.

The Beefeater restaurant brand – established in 1974 and known for serving steaks and classic pub dishes – as well as the Brewers Fayre chain are now expected to disappear from UK high streets.

Diners in Abingdon were upset when the Ock Mill Beefeater restaurant attached to the former Premier Inn in Marcham Road closed in 2023. The building is now owned by The Unicorn School and is being converted into classrooms.

The job cuts warning came as Whitbread reported that its revenues for the year to February 26 were ‘flat’ compared with the same period a year earlier.

The fire service shared an update at around 10am on Thursday, April 30, about the “smoking” recycling centre fire that is being moved from Noke to the Ewelme area in the south of the county.

It is being escorted by several fire engines and at the team’s base it will be safely dealt with.

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We’re currently dealing with a recycling centre lorry that is smoking and is being moved from Noke to the Ewelme area in South Oxfordshire.

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“Fire engines are escorting the vehicle back to the depot, where crews will safely deal with the issue.”

The service added that there is no need for alarm in the local area but that if members of the public see the lorry being moved, they are advised to provide crews with space.

“There’s no need to be alarmed,” said the spokesperson, “but if you see the lorry and fire engines on the road, please: slow down, close your vehicle windows, give our crews plenty of space”.

They added: “Thank you for your cooperation while we resolve this safely.”

A reason for the lorry fire is not known.