The Millfield, York and The Carousel, Scarborough, to shut

The Millfield (Beefeater) in York and The Carousel (Brewers Fayre) in Scarborough have announced that they will be shutting down as their parent company undergoes a major restructuring programme.

Hospitality group Whitbread – which owns Premier Inn, beefeater, and Brewers Fayre – has announced plans to shut 197 restaurants and cut around 3,800 jobs across the UK and Ireland.

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Whitbread said it wanted to save money in light of cost pressures coming from business rates and national insurance contributions, with its new plan aiming to cut capital spending by more than £1 billion in five years.

This will see it sell off £1.5 billon worth of its freehold properties – meaning the hotels it owns outright – to “fund future growth and increasingly look to grow on a leasehold basis”.

Around 30,000 people work for Whitbread, with roughly 12 per cent of staff expected to be impacted by the closure – with the group adding that they “expect to retain a significant proportion of those affected through redeployment”.

It is still planning to increase the number of hotel rooms it has open to 96,000 by the 2031 financial year (from the current of approximately 86,600), with the group set to offer a new integrated food and drink model – something that it says is preferred by hotel guests.

The Milfield in York (Image: Google Maps)

Chief executive Dominic Paul 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.

“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.”

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

The Carousel in Scarborough (Image: Google Maps)

“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.”

The date of the closures are yet to be confirmed but once we know more, we will provide an update.