Four Cheshire Brewers Fayre restaurants close doors for good

Four Brewers Fayre restaurants in Cheshire have closed their doors for good after struggling 'to meet their targeted levels of return'. The venues that permanently shut last week are The Twirl of Hay in Great Boughton, Chester, Burleydam in Childer Thornton, Ellesmere Port, Brocklebank in Crewe and The Winwick Quay in Warrington.

Owners Whitbread said that while its UK Premier Inn hotel performance has gone from 'strength to strength', some of its branded restaurants have seen a reduction in footfall from non-hotel guests. This has resulted in them struggling 'to meet their targeted levels of return', the firm added.

Its three Beefeater branded sites in the county are unaffected. As part of the closure announcement, Whitbread has also revealed plans to invest up to £500m over the next four years in order 'to grow our Premier Inn UK rooms pipeline, enhance the food and beverage offer for more of our hotel guests and improve the performance of our branded restaurant estate'.

Over the next two years, it plans to replace around 112 of its lower-returning branded restaurants with 'integrated restaurants'. The vacated space would be then used to add new higher returning hotel rooms to meet demand.

Dominic Paul, Chief Executive Officer, said: "I recognise that these changes will be unsettling for affected team members and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to stay with Whitbread by either transferring into roles this plan will create, or by taking up other vacancies across the business more broadly through our existing recruitment activity that makes c.15,000 hires each year.

"Our teams are at the heart of our guest experience, and I want to thank each and every team member for their continued hard work and dedication to deliver the great quality, service and value that our guests expect from us."

He also said: "When I joined Whitbread as CEO in January 2023, it was clear to me that we had a high performing hotels business, with a strong platform for growth in both the UK and Germany. Our strategy of continuing to invest in our brand, teams, and estate for the benefit of our guests and customers has secured a market-leading position for Premier Inn in the UK and is also delivering strong business performance.

"Our significant freehold estate and strong balance sheet mean we are in a unique position to be able to add 3,500 new hotel rooms and meet the strong demand we are seeing from guests around the country, whilst continuing to offer a great breakfast and dinner at all of our hotels. This plan is a further positive step, delivering a better experience for our hotel guests and helping to extend our market leadership in the UK."

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