Macaully Moffat

Whitbread has conditionally agreed to sell 53 of 261 restaurant sites earmarked for closure to Queensway Inns, which plans to relaunch them as value-oriented pubs. Some Beefeater and Brewers Fayre locations in Lancashire could therefore be saved, although the specific sites, new branding and reopening dates remain unknown. Whitbread plans to close all remaining Brewers Fayre sites on September 7 and Beefeater sites on September 10 as part of a restructuring intended to expand Premier Inn hotels, with up to 3,800 job losses expected.