‘Absolutely devastating’ cry punters as major restaurant chain reveals another site at risk of closing as 200 face axe

PUNTERS have been left “devastated” after a family favourite restaurant chain revealed one of its sites could close.

Whitbread’s The Grandstand Beefeater restaurant in Newton Abbot has been earmarked for closure, it has confirmed, as part of plans to shut 126 venues.

However, the location is not guaranteed to shut as the closure is subject to consultation.

In any case, punters have been left gutted by the news the Devon branch could shut, with one branding it “absolutely devastating”.

Another said: “Yet another nail in the coffin of Newton Abbot, folk are jumping ship before the bugger sinks completely.”

A third added: “Oh well that sucks.”

Whitbread recently revealed plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants across the UK in favour of building more hotel rooms.

The chain runs roughly 840 sites across the UK and owns notable brands like Premier Inn, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre.

It plans to convert 112 restaurants into hotel extensions while closing 126 “loss-making” venues, with 21 sales already having gone through.

It is expected the 126 sites will close within the next two years.

If a site is losing a branded restaurant, a new integrated restaurant will be made within the hotel.

In a statement, Whitbread previously said: “We recognise that this will be unsettling for our team members and we are providing them with dedicated support.

“We are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of our affected team members to stay with us by either transferring into new roles or by taking up other vacancies across the business more broadly through our existing recruitment activity.”

The restaurants will continue to operate as usual while the consultation takes place.

The move will leave Whitbread with 387 restaurants that are part of its hotels and 196 branded restaurants.

It’s unclear exactly which other pubs and restaurants are earmarked for closure and where they are located.

However, the chain has so far confirmed these four could close:

• The Manor Farm Beefeater in Rainham, Kent
• The Bridge Barn Beefeater in Woking, Surrey
• The Acorn Beefeater in Burgess Hill, Sussex
• The Grandstand Beefeater in Newton Abbot, Devon

Whitbread said all the closures are subject to consultation, and a decision has not yet been made.

It is not yet clear if all the sites will be converted into hotel rooms, or if they will be closed for good.

The group said the job cuts are still subject to consultation and come from its total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.

It said the move was part of a plan to “optimise” its food and drink offering to add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate and increase “operational efficiencies”.

It follows reports that Whitbread was looking to speed up plans to sell hundreds of its pubs and restaurants.

The chain was said to have marked at least 250 of its 440 pubs and restaurants for sale, most of which are located close to Premier Inn hotels.

Earlier this year, The Sun revealed that over 7,000 pubs are expected to go bust in the next year.

Rising costs and fewer punters through the door has meant that four out of five pubs have seen their profits take a nosedive.

What is happening to the hospitality industry?

Many food and drink chains have been struggling recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people eating and drink out.

Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation.

Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny’s closing branches.

Some chains have not survived, with Byron Burger falling into administration last year.

Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans.

The brand plans to close 20 loss-making restaurants after a “challenging” start to the year.

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