Everything we know as Peterborough’s Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants set to close as part of cost-cutting measures
Premier Inn owner Whitbread plans to cut around 3,800 jobs
Both of Peterborough’s Whitbread-owned restaurants are facing closure after the company announced plans to cut 3,800 jobs across the UK.
Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inn, last week confirmed a five-year strategy to save £250 million.
As part of the plans, all 197 of Whitbread’s remaining Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and TableTable restaurants will permanently close.
This includes the Beefeater restaurant in Orton Meadows and Brewers Fayre in Hampton.
Whitbread has now started a consultation process with employees and expects a “significant proportion” of affected staff to be redeployed.
The Beefeater brand, established in 1974, specialised in hearty pub grub such as steaks and mixed grills.
Brewers Fayre restaurants, meanwhile, first opened in 1979 and were designed to provide affordable family dining next to Premier Inn hotels.
When will Peterborough’s Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants be closing?
Whitbread’s plans to close its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants were announced last week, with a consultation now underway.
Because the proposals are still under consultation, Whitbread is unable to comment further on how each individual restaurant will be affected.
As a result, a timeline for when the two restaurants will close remains unknown at this stage.
What will happen to the two restaurants after they close?
If the proposals go ahead as planned, Premier Inn will be turned into a hotel-only brand with no on-site restaurants.
Whitbread has said that some of the existing Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants will be converted into Premier Inn rooms, while others will be sold off.
Again, with the proposals under consultation, more detailed information about the future of individual restaurants remains unknown.
Whitbread plans to have integrated restaurants in its hotels, rather than standalone eateries. In the case of Peterborough’s Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, both are located next to Premier Inn hotels, meaning they could potentially be converted into more rooms.