Chain closes almost 200 UK restaurants with nearly 4,000 jobs lost

All Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites will close their doors for the final time in the coming days as part of a major restructure by parent company Whitbread.

Whitbread said in April that it would close its remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites as part of a strategy overhaul.

The business said this would result in 3,800 job cuts, although a spokesperson added that it would try to retain as many staff as possible.

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Included in its strategy, Whitbread said it will sell and lease back many of its freehold properties, and earlier this summer the Brewers Fayre in Oxford Road, Bicester was listed for £950,000.

In addition, The Applecart Beefeater at the Oxford South Milton Interchange was listed for a £600,000 sale.

Following this, Beefeater customers were informed of the date of the restaurant closures in a letter sent to reward club members.

It stated: “As you may have seen, we have recently announced changes to our business, which is resulting in the closure of our Branded Restaurants.

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“This means that on Thursday 10 September 2026 your local Beefeater and all other UK Beefeaters will close.”

The restructure is part of Whitbread’s new five-year growth strategy, which aims to re-focus the business and reduce costs by £250 million.

This includes a shift towards an integrated food and drink model that the company believes is more efficient and better suited to Premier Inn guests.

Dominic Paul, Whitbread’s chief executive, previously said: “We always challenge ourselves to improve and, in light of significant cost increases in the form of business rates and national insurance, as well as the implied market discount to our inherent value, we’ve looked hard at the options open to us to maximise value creation over the medium and long-term.

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“This has been a rigorous process, and we’ve approached all options with an open mind.

“Our new five-year plan builds on our strengths and drives a significant acceleration of our strategy.

“This plan will transform Whitbread into a higher-margin, higher-returning pure-play hotel business.

“We’re going to go further and faster to deliver a great experience for our guests and high-quality growth and returns for our shareholders.”