17-07-2025
Family favourite restaurant chain with 800 sites shuts ‘landmark' branch for good in huge blow to locals
A POPULAR restaurant that's become a local landmark has shut for good, leaving nearby residents gutted.
The venue at Emersons Green in Bristol, served its last meal on Thursday July 10.
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It's now listed as 'permanently closed' online, with no official signage or farewell notice on the former Beefeater building.
However, the neighbouring Premier Inn will remain open with its own integrated breakfast area for hotel guests.
Speculation is already circling online about what's next for the site, with some locals suggesting it may be taken over by the Papas Group – the team behind Papas Fish and Chips and Wendy's.
Sudden closure
A spokesperson for Whitebread Group, which owns Beefeater and Premier Inn, told BristolLive: 'We'd like to thank our wonderful guests and team for their service and custom over the years.
'The nearest Beefeater is now The Gifford (Fox Den Road, Stoke Gifford) and we do hope to welcome people there.'
Whitbread added that the site had been sold to another restaurant business, but stopped short of naming which one.
The closure comes as part of the company's 'Accelerating Growth Plan', which aims to replace underperforming restaurants with hotel rooms in high-demand areas.
Over the next two years, Whitbread plans to exit 126 branded restaurants across the UK, 21 of which are being sold for £28 million .
Britain's retail apocalypse: why your favourite stores KEEP closing down
As part of the overhaul, the business will also be converting 112 restaurant spaces into integrated dining areas within its Premier Inn hotels – a format already used at 387 sites across the country.
The plan is expected to cut around 1,500 roles out of a workforce of 37,000.
However, Whitbread says it will try to offer alternative roles to affected staff through redeployment or its wider recruitment process, which sees around 15,000 hires each year.
Dominic Paul, Chief Executive Officer of Whitbread, said: 'When I joined Whitbread as CEO in January 2023, it was clear to me that we had a high performing hotels business, with a strong platform for growth in both the UK and Germany.
'Our strategy of continuing to invest in our brand, teams, and estate for the benefit of our guests and customers has secured a market-leading position for Premier
"Inn in the UK and is also delivering strong business performance.
'This plan is a further positive step, delivering a better experience for our hotel guests and helping to extend our market leadership in the UK.
'I recognise that these changes will be unsettling for affected team members and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to stay with Whitbread... Our teams are at the heart of our guest experience.'
This latest shutdown adds to a growing list of closures across the UK food scene.
Other recent closures
Even Nando's has quietly closed a coup.
The Sun has approached Beefeater for further comment.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre's director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is "less bad" than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
"The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend," Prof Bamfield said.
"Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult."
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023's biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic, Snug and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
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