Restaurant chain to shut all 106 sites in coming weeks

Beefeater has confirmed the closing date of all its restaurants across the UK.

Although there are no Beefeaters in Bolton, affected branches nearby include the Heaton Park Beefeater and The Whitegate Inn, Chadderton.

The mass closures are part of Whitbread’s major restructuring plan.

The company announced in April that it would shut its remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites as part of a strategy overhaul, placing around 3,800 jobs at risk.

Whitbread revealed plans to close all of its Beefeater sites as part of a major restructuring (Image: Getty Images)

UK restaurant chain Beefeater to shut all 106 sites in coming weeks

Customers were informed of the closure in a letter sent to Beefeater 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.

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

In the letter, the company also said it would close the loyalty scheme on August 31.

Whitbread was contacted for a new comment.

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, said previously: “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.

“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.”

Whitbread’s restructuring strategy explained

Under the new strategy, Whitbread plans to convert some restaurant sites into additional Premier Inn rooms and sell off around £1.5 billion worth of freehold properties to fund further growth.

The group currently owns approximately 86,600 hotel rooms and intends to increase this to 96,000 by the 2031 financial year.

Whitbread said that although it expects to redeploy many affected employees within its wider business, the restructure will still result in significant job losses.

A statement said previously: “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.”

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The company believes the integrated food and drink model is better aligned with the requirements of Premier Inn guests, who account for a large portion of restaurant trade in Whitbread-owned venues.

Brewers Fayre, which is also owned by Whitbread, will also be closing, but does not yet have confirmed closure dates.

Will you be sad to see your local Beefeater restaurant close? Let us know in the comments.