Four closed Whitbread restaurants in Kent are set to reopen under new ownership after being saved from permanent closure. The venues, including a Beefeater in Dover and a Brewers Fayre in Paddock Wood, are among 110 former Whitbread sites acquired by two hospitality groups.
Acquisition details and job creation
Whitbread closed 261 standalone branded restaurants across the UK last month as part of a wider five-year growth strategy. The closures affected five brands: Brewers Fayre (89 locations), Beefeater (106), Bar + Block (20), Table Table (32), and Cookhouse + Pub (14).
Queensway Inns has acquired 53 former Whitbread venues and plans to relaunch them as "value pubs." The group said more than 900 team members could be transferred into new roles as part of the reopening. Meanwhile, Common Table Group, a newly established hospitality firm, acquired 57 sites, including one Premier Inn hotel, and expects to create more than 700 jobs.
Kent sites confirmed for reopening
According to The Sun, confirmed Kent locations include Brookes Oast (Brewers Fayre) in Paddock Wood, French Connection (Table Table) in Ashford, Smugglers Retreat (Table Table) in Ramsgate, and The Plough (Beefeater) in Dover. Other sites are in Essex, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Staffordshire, and Surrey, with some in Scotland and Wales.
Thomas Anderson, founder of Common Table Group, said: "We're building an entrepreneurial business with a local feel, where our teams are empowered to make decisions and shape each venue around the people and communities it serves." He added that all venues would remain "restaurants at heart" with an all-day food and drink offering, and would feature coffee from his London-based doughnut brand, Rodeo Doughnuts.
Whitbread's strategy and impact
The closures are part of Whitbread's plan to achieve £250 million in cost savings, with some former restaurant sites converted into Premier Inn rooms. The company expects to generate around £1.5 billion from the sale of freehold properties to support expansion. The closures resulted in approximately 3,800 job losses, though Whitbread said it aimed to redeploy as many affected staff as possible.
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." He added, "This plan will transform Whitbread into a higher-margin, higher-returning pure-play hotel business."
Common Table Group said all sites would be up and running again "as soon as possible," with the first opening planned in mid-November. The group currently owns about 86,600 hotel rooms and aims to increase this to 96,000 by the 2031 financial year.
