Whitbread (LON:WTB) Set to Spend £40 Million on Beefeater Closures to Refocus on Hotels
LONDON, August 25, 2026, 07:14 BST — Whitbread will allocate £40 million to close its Beefeater restaurants as the company shifts its strategy towards expanding its hotel business.
Whitbread plc · LON:WTB
Beefeater exit dashboard
Pre-marketCompanyMarket data: August 24, 2026, 16:30 BST
Dashboard: August 25, 2026, 07:14 BST
Dashboard: August 25, 2026, 07:14 BST
Close
2,463p
+1.61% on Monday
Vs FTSE 100
+1.26pp
WTB +1.61%; FTSE +0.35%
Volume
268.7k
42.1% of 50-day average
52-week high gap
-25.4%
High: 3,302p
Analyst target range
Average upside +9.0%Low downside -16.8%High upside +50.2%
Recommendation mix
| View | Analysts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Buy | 6 | 33% |
| Buy | 1 | 6% |
| Hold | 8 | 44% |
| Sell | 3 | 17% |
18-analyst S&P Global consensus; average target last updated June 22, 2026.
Closure and reporting clock
AUG 31
Last day to use loyalty vouchers
SEP 3–7
Other brands and Brewers Fayre close
SEP 10
All 106 Beefeater restaurants close
OCT 15
Whitbread FY27 interim results
Q1 FY27 operating pulse
| Metric | Change | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Group sales | +2% | £727m |
| UK accommodation sales | +3% | Core hotel demand |
| UK RevPAR | +2% | Pricing/occupancy |
| London accommodation | +7% | Outperformed UK |
| UK food & beverage | -5% | Exit exposure |
| Germany accommodation | +13% | Local currency |
Transition economics
FY27 PBT hit
£40m
FY31 incremental annual PBT target
£100m
Targeted recurring FY31 uplift is 2.5× the one-year FY27 transition hit. Periods differ.
Investor read-through
| Driver | Evidence | What confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| Capital recycling | £1.5bn freehold property target | Sale prices and lease costs |
| Room conversion | About 600 additional rooms | Opening pace and occupancy |
| Return hurdle | 15%–20% by FY31 | Conversion cost and site profit |
| Shareholder capacity | £2bn FCF by FY31 | Debt, capex and distributions |
| Main risk | Restaurant exit disruption | October 15 margins and guidance |
Sources: Whitbread business review; Q1 FY27 trading update; Tasty Rewards; MarketWatch; S&P Global consensus via StockAnalysis. Figures may be rounded. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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