Macaully Moffat

Whitbread has conditionally agreed to sell 53 restaurant sites to Queensway Inns, which plans to operate them as going concerns before relaunching them as affordable pubs. Carlisle’s Lakeland Gate and Barrow-in-Furness’s North Road Brewers Fayre sites were recently marketed for sale, so they could potentially be included, although Whitbread has not identified the venues involved. The deal forms part of a wider plan to close or repurpose 261 restaurants, expand Premier Inn by 3,600 rooms, and eliminate the Brewers Fayre and Beefeater brands from the estate. The restructuring is expected to cause about 3,800 job losses, while around 900 employees could transfer to Queensway if the sale is completed.