Queensway snaps up 53 Whitbread sites with 900 jobs impacted

More than 50 Whitbread restaurant sites have been sold to Queensway Hospitality Group.

 

The 53 sites span the UK including the Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table brands, as well as a handful of Bar + Block and Cookhouse + Pub sites and will see up to 900 employees across the hotel group transferred to Queensway.

 

The sale is part of Whitbread’s five-year cost efficiency drive which includes its plan to exit restaurants and concentrate on its rooms division.

 

Last month, the Premier Inn owner revealed the closure date for all 106 of its Beefeater restaurants.

 

Exiting restaurants will see 3,800 roles cut across its 30,000-strong UK and Ireland workforce and is forecast to reduce its F&B sales by as much as £160m and profits by £10m after the firm’s wider cost-saving measures.

 

Whitbread also plans to offload £1.5b of freehold properties, reducing the overall portion of owned properties across its portfolio from 50% to 30%.

 

A statement from Whitbread said: "Whitbread has reached an agreement for the conditional sale of 53 branded restaurant sites to Queensway Inns, subject to a number of final conditions being met.

 

"Queensway Inns has extensive experience operating hospitality businesses across the UK and intends to operate the sites as going concerns. Subject to completion of the sale and following the relevant TUPE information and consultation processes, around 900 team members could transfer and will be supported through the process.

 

"The proposed sale represents further progress against Whitbread’s accelerating growth plan, first announced in April 2024. April 2026 Whitbread announced a proposal to extend the programme to include all remaining branded restaurants and add a total of 3,600 new hotel extension rooms in locations with strong demand, whilst continuing to offer a great breakfast, dinner and drinks nationwide through the creation of new Premier Inn restaurants inside all hotels. This mirrors the format which is already in operation in over half of Premier Inn hotels and is highly popular with hotel guests." 

 

Photo: Nigel Rusby/Shutterstock