Premier Inn owner Whitbread to cut 1,500 jobs amid plans to slash branded restaurants in favour of more rooms

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has announced plans to cut 1,500 jobs from its branded restaurant sites across the UK as the company looks to place restaurants with more rooms.

Whitbread, which owner Brewers Fayre and Beefeater, said that the job cuts are still subject to consultation and will come from a pool of its total 37,000-strong UK workforce. More than 200 restaurants across the country are set to be cut in a move which will see some Premier Inn sites increase the number of rooms they have to offer to customers.

Bosses say that the move was part of a plan to “optimise” its food and drink offerings. More than 3,500 rooms are set to be added to the portfolio of hotels in a bid to increase “operational efficiencies”.

Whitbread also added that it plans to sell 126 of its least profitable branded restaurants, with 21 of these sales having already gone through. 112 restaurants will be converted into rooms. Dominic Paul, Whitbread chief executive, said: “We recognise that our transition will impact some of our team members so we will be providing support throughout this process and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to remain with us.” The move to cut jobs come as Whitbread reported a pre-tax profit of £452 million for the year ending February 29. This was a rise of 21%.