Brewers Fayre restaurants closing today as final orders called

Wheatlea Park, Brewers Fayre <i>(Image: Google Maps)</i>
Wheatlea Park, Brewers Fayre (Image: Google Maps)
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The final orders are being called at Brewers Fayre restaurants today as the familiar chain closes for good after decades on Britain's roadsides.

All 89 remaining restaurants will serve their last customers on Monday, September 7, as owner Whitbread brings the Brewers Fayre brand to an end.

For diners across the area, one of the nearest restaurants affected is Wheatlea Park on Warrington Road in Wigan.

The restaurant, next to the Premier Inn Wigan West, will close after its final dinner service tonight.

Other North West Brewers Fayre restaurants shutting for good include Stable Gate on Alphagate Drive in Denton and Oakenhurst Farm, off Eccleshill Road in Lower Darwen.

Cottams Field on Caton Road in Lancaster is also closing.

Brewers Fayre has been a familiar name across the UK for decades, with its restaurants known for family dining and often found alongside Premier Inn hotels.

But Whitbread announced earlier this year that it would get rid of all its separately branded restaurants in a major overhaul of the business.

The move affects around 200 restaurants and is expected to result in approximately 3,800 job losses across the UK and Ireland.

Brewers Fayre is not the only well-known restaurant name disappearing as a result.

Bar + Block, Table Table and Cookhouse + Pub sites had their final trading day on September 3.

Beefeater will be next, with 106 restaurants due to close after service on Thursday, September 10.

Whitbread instead plans to operate restaurants within its Premier Inn hotels, a model it says is more efficient and "highly popular with hotel guests".

The changes form part of a five-year strategy aimed at making £250 million in cost savings.

The company still plans to grow its Premier Inn business, increasing its number of hotel rooms from around 86,600 to 96,000 by the 2031 financial year.

Chief executive Dominic Paul said when the overhaul was announced: "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."

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