Update as 195 UK restaurants to close including four in Merseyside



Closures are being rolled out through phased consultations, with many sites shutting their doors through the summerThe Beefeater on Queens Drive in LiverpoolAn update has been issued after the company behind Premier Inn announced it is set to close two of its restaurant chains in the UK. Whitbread, which runs several chains throughout the UK, will close the last of its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, cutting nearly 4,000 jobs across the UK and Ireland.This decision will directly impact four restaurants in the city region, among the hundreds affected nationally. At the time of the initial announcement, the company said most staff would be kept on, but 12% of its employees from the affected locations would lose their jobs.The cuts form part of a new five-year plan that will see Whitbread try to make a quarter of a billion pounds in cost savings. Among the hundreds of restaurants to close, four locations across the Liverpool City Region will face the cut.Those that will soon be lost include Ocean Plaza Brewers Fayre in Southport, The Packet Steamer Beefeater in Bootle, Preston Brook Beefeater in Runcorn and the Stag & Rainbow on Queens Drive.The company has now provided an update on the five-year plan, which will see Whitbread become a “pure-play hotel business”, to the Liverpool ECHO. It comes after the ECHO questioned the company on the future of The Derby Lodge in Huyton.Packet Steamer was previously voted Whitbread Restaurant of the YearA spokesperson said: “This change will involve exiting all of our remaining branded restaurants, which trade under brands including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, a number of which will be converted into approximately 600 additional Premier Inn rooms, with the remainder expected to be sold as going concerns.“The proposed changes announced build on the success of our Accelerating Growth Plan, announced in 2024, which involved the conversion of over 200 branded restaurants to additional rooms, and the creation of an integrated restaurant in each hotel. This format has proved highly popular with guests and under the proposal, it would be rolled out to all hotels where there is currently a branded restaurant.“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.”The full list of Brewers Fayre premises set to close under the company’s plans includes:Abergavenny (Abergavenny)Afon Conwy (Conwy)Aire & Calder (Yorkshire)Bankhead Gate (Fife)Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria)Barry Island (Vale of Glamorgan)Bedford South (Bedfordshire)Bicester (Oxfordshire)Bideford (Devon)Bobbing Apple (Kent)Brampton Hut (Cambridgeshire)Brookers Oast (Kent)Burton House (Lincolnshire)The Carousel (Yorkshire)Castlewood (Derbyshire)Central Park (Warwickshire)Cepen Park (Wiltshire)Chafford Hundred (Essex)Chequers Corner (Essex)Cheswold Lodge (Yorkshire)The Clarence Pier (Hampshire)Cockermouth (Cumbria)Cottams Field (Lancashire)Craig House (Edinburgh)Crossways (Caerphilly)Dalesway (Yorkshire)Derry City (Northern Ireland)The Drove (Sussex)Duke of York (Kent)Exeter (Devon)The Farrier (Lincolnshire)Flagstaff Island (Leicestershire)Freebridge Farm (Norfolk)Glastonbury (Somerset)Gordano Gate (Bristol)The Hampton (Peterborough)Hanley (Staffordshire)The Harbour (Northern Ireland)The Howgate (Cumbria)Inn On The Quay (Devon)Inshes Gate (Highland)Kembrey Inn (Wiltshire)Kincardine Way (Falkirk)King William IV (Nottinghamshire)Lakeland Gate (Cumbria)Lewins Mead (Bristol)Lock Keeper (Derbyshire)Lodmoor (Dorset)Loggans Moor (Cornwall)Mains of Balquharn (Aberdeenshire)The Marina (Leicestershire)The Mayflower (Essex)Minehead (Somerset)Monkey Puzzle (Hampshire)Mulberry Tree (Essex)Newhaven Quay (Edinburgh)Oakenhurst Farm (Lancashire)Oaks (Norfolk)Ocean Park (Cardiff)Ocean Plaza (Merseyside)Old Nelson (Gloucestershire)Old West Quay (County Durham)Orbital (Staffordshire)Papermill (Buckinghamshire)Pirnhall Inn (Stirlingshire)Queens Crossing (Edinburgh)The Redwood (Staffordshire)Rhubarb Triangle (Yorkshire)Rising Sun (Hertfordshire)Royal Quays (Newcastle)The Sandpiper (Carmarthenshire)Stable Gate (Lancashire)The Swallow (Suffolk)Swansea Vale (Swansea)Telford Lodge (Northamptonshire)Tindale Crossing (County Durham)Tirfounder Fields (Rhondda Cynon Taff)Turnpike (Yorkshire)Victoria Park (Gwent)Walsall (West Midlands)Water Mill (Yorkshire)The Wessex Flyer (Bristol)The Wessington (Sunderland)Wheatlea Park (Lancashire)Whittle Inn (Gloucestershire)Widnes (Cheshire)Willen Dragon (Buckinghamshire)The Windmill (Sussex)Winsor House (Greater London)The following Beefeater restaurants are set to close:The Anchor (Lincolnshire)The Applecart (Oxford)Badgers Sett (Worcestershire)Bagle Brook (Port Talbot)Balmoral Inn (Hampshire)The Barn (Buckinghamshire)The Beacon (Kent)The Belgrave (Devon)Bentley Green (West Midlands)Border Gate (Cumbria)The Brache (Bedfordshire)The Brecks (South Yorkshire)Broomside Park (County Durham)The Bull (Kent)Carnon Inn (Cornwall)Centre (Dundee)The Coldra (Newport)Countess Wear (Devon)The Cricketers (Surrey)Crossbush (Sussex)Crows Nest (Hertfordshire)Deer Park (West Lothian)The Dukes Worksop (Nottingham)Eureka Park (Kent)Euston Way (Shropshire)The Farmhouse (Cheshire)Farnborough (Hampshire)The Fountain (Greater London)The Foxburrow (Suffolk)Frome Flyer (Bristol)George In The Tree (West Midlands)The Gifford (Bristol)Gourdie Croft (Dundee)The Granary (Cambridgeshire)Great Oak (Hampshire)Great Yarmouth Seafront (Norfolk)Griff House (Warwickshire)Halfway House (Bedfordshire)Halifax (West Yorkshire)Hamilton (Glasgow)Harbour Lights (Hampshire)Harlow Mill (Essex)The Haywain (Essex)Heaton Park (Lancashire)The Kingswood (East Yorkshire)Lady Nairne (Edinburgh)The Ladybridge (Staffordshire)The Lakeside (South Yorkshire)Liberty Bell (Essex)London Woolwich (Greater London)The Longbow (Rhondda Cynon Taff)Longbridge (West Midlands)Longford House (Staffordshire)The Longwall (Oxford)The Lydiard (Wiltshire)Malta Inn (Kent)Manor Farm (Kent)Marsh Mills (Devon)Medina Quay (Isle of Wight)Mill House (Surrey)Mill Lodge (Lincolnshire)Millers Barn (Nottingham)The Millfield (York)Moor Mill (Hertfordshire)Morris Dancers (Lancashire)Morton Park (County Durham)Moseley Park (West Midlands)Oakley Hay (Northamptonshire)Oast & Squire (Hampshire)The Orchard (Worcestershire)Oxford Kidlington (Oxford)Oyster Reach (Suffolk)Packet Steamer (Merseyside)The Parkway (Surrey)The Pavilion (Somerset)The Plough (Kent)Preston Brook (Merseyside)Priory Marina (Bedfordshire)Quay House (Lancashire)Rackstraws Farm (Berkshire)Red Lion (Lancashire)Redditch (West Midlands)Roman Way (Nottingham)Sir Thomas Wyatt (Kent)Smugglers Haunt (Dorset)The Somerford (Dorset)The Southcote (Berkshire)Springwood Park (Cheshire)Spruce Goose (Hampshire)Stag & Rainbow (Merseyside)Strawberry Field (Essex)The Talpore (County Durham)The Three Fish (Shropshire)Travellers Rest (Greater London)The Turnpike (Northamptonshire)Twelve Bells (Gloucestershire)Walston Castle (Cardiff)Ware (Hertfordshire)The Waterfront (Swansea)The Watermill (Essex)White Hart (Sussex)White Lodge (Somerset)White Rock (Devon)Whitegate Inn (Lancashire)Whitley Bay (Northumberland)The Woolpack (Kent)