All 106 Beefeater restaurants across the UK will shut their doors for good on Thursday, September 10, 2026, as owner Whitbread pushes ahead with a £250m cost-cutting plan that puts around 3,800 jobs at risk.
The closure date was revealed in a letter sent to members of the restaurant’s rewards scheme this week and seen by the Southend Echo. “As you may have seen, we have recently announced changes to our business, which is resulting in the closure of our Branded Restaurants,” the letter said. “This means that on Thursday 10 September 2026 your local Beefeater and all other UK Beefeaters will close.”
“Beefeater to shut all 106 UK restaurants on September 10, 2026, as Whitbread cuts £250m costs.”
The loyalty programme itself will end on August 31. Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inn, first announced in April that both Beefeater and Brewers Fayre would close, citing “significant cost increases” according to chief executive Dominic Paul. The company plans to convert the sites into additional Premier Inn bedrooms and integrated hotel dining spaces.
Paul said at the time: “We plan to convert all our remaining branded restaurants to an integrated food and beverage offer that is preferred by our hotel guests and will unlock the addition of more highly profitable extension rooms. Our continued efforts to drive our commercial plan and efficiencies will extend our market-leading position and allow us to take share from our competitors, many of which are struggling to grow.”
A Whitbread spokesperson said the company expects to “retain a significant proportion of those affected” and will look into redeploying “as many of our impacted colleagues as possible.” Around 30,000 employees currently work at the locations – typically inside hotels – across the UK and Ireland, though the move puts roughly 3,800 jobs across the UK at risk as Whitbread shifts toward becoming a pure-play hotel business.
Closure dates for the Brewers Fayre and Bar + Block chains have yet to be confirmed.
