A major restaurant chain will close all 195 sites across the UK in the coming days, marking a final goodbye after more than 50 years.
All Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites will close their doors for the final time very soon as part of a major restructure by parent company Whitbread.
Whitbread announced the closures in April as part of a five-year growth strategy, placing around 3,800 jobs at risk.
The company is also closing its Bar + Block, Table Table and Cookhouse + Pub sites this month.
Why are Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants closing?
The restructure is designed to refocus the business and achieve £250 million in cost savings.
Whitbread plans to convert some of the restaurant sites into additional Premier Inn rooms and sell off around £1.5 billion worth of freehold properties to fund further expansion.
The group currently owns about 86,600 hotel rooms and aims to grow this to 96,000 by the 2031 financial year.
Dominic Paul, chief executive of Whitbread, 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.
"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."
Although Whitbread said it aims to redeploy many of the affected staff elsewhere in the business, it confirmed that the changes will result in significant job losses.
A company statement said: "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."
Can you still use loyalty points at Beefeater and Brewers Fayre?
If you are looking to visit any Whitbread-owned sites in the next week before the closures, you can no longer use any reward points.
Diners had until Monday, August 24 to earn additional points through the brand’s loyalty scheme, with customers given one week to redeem their vouchers before they expired on Monday, August 31.
The Beefeater Grill Reward Club allowed diners to collect points on food and drink purchases, with every £1 spent earning five points.
Rewards could be redeemed starting at 500 points, including £5 food vouchers, free starters, desserts, or bottles of wine.
When are the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites closing?
Brewers Fayre locations will shut for the final time on Monday, September 7.
Beefeater will then close its doors a few days later, on Thursday, September 10.
Both were the staple chains for Whitbread, and have been a part of the UK restaurant scene for decades.
Beefeater was founded 52 years ago in 1974, and expanded significantly in 1995 when Whitbread acquired and rebranded the rival Berni Inn chain to Beefeater, which had 115 locations.
At its peak, Beefeater had more than 250 locations by the late 1990s.
Brewers Fayre was founded slightly later in 1981 and had expanded to more than 100 locations nationwide by the end of the 1980s.
As well as this, 20 Bar + Block, 32 Table Table and 14 Cookhouse + Pub restaurants, all of which are owned by Whitbread, will also be shutting this month.
Table Table will be closing down after 18 years, with Cookhouse + Pub and Bar + Block chains launching in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
All three chains will close on Thursday, September 3.
Some Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites could be saved
Despite the widespread closures, 53 of the sites could be given a new lease of life under a fresh hospitality brand.
Out of all the 261 sites earmarked for closure, 53 could be sold to Queensway Inns, who plan to relaunch them as a new chain.
A spokesman for Whitbread told Newsquest previously: "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."
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The 53 sites are reportedly a mix of all Whitbread brands earmarked for closure, with some Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites potentially being saved.
The future of the remaining 208 restaurant sites remains uncertain.
Queensway plans to rebrand and relaunch the sites as affordable pubs, but the new brand name, menu pricing, and reopening dates have not been confirmed.
Will you be visiting the Beefeater or Brewers Fayre for the final time before their closure? Let us know in the comments.
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