Whitbread has announced plans to close all remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants across the UK and Ireland, putting thousands of jobs at risk, including at sites in Lancashire.
Branches in the county include Beefeater sites on Southport Road in Scarisbrick, Ormskirk, and Devonshire Road in Bispham, Blackpool, as well as Brewers Fayre venues at Oakenhurst Farm in Lower Darwen, Blackburn, and Cottams Field in Lancaster.
The Premier Inn owner said about 3,800 jobs will be cut as part of the move, affecting around 12 per cent of its 30,000-strong workforce in the UK and Ireland. Consultations with staff are set to begin immediately.
Whitbread said it expects to retain a "significant proportion" of affected workers and will attempt to redeploy staff into other roles.
The company plans to convert its remaining 197 branded restaurants into hotel space or integrated food and beverage offers for guests, as part of a major shift in strategy.
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."
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Whitbread said the decision follows rising costs, including tax changes announced in Rachel Reeves’s 2025 budget, which it warned would add £50m to its annual costs. The business has also faced pressure from higher wages and food prices.
The move will see the long-established Beefeater brand, founded in 1974, and Brewers Fayre disappear from the UK hospitality landscape as Whitbread becomes a hotel-focused business.
Whitbread said revenues for the year to February 2026 were flat, while its share price has fallen by around 20 per cent over the past six months.
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