Overview
- Common Table Group, led by Thomas Anderson, agreed to buy 57 former Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Cookhouse sites plus one Premier Inn hotel in a deal reported on Wednesday that will be for an undisclosed sum.
- The buyer will be supported by Rove360, a consultancy made up of former Whitbread senior managers who previously helped deliver about £150 million in labour-cost savings to Whitbread.
- Common Table Group says it will refurbish the sites, roll out new, locally focused menus and serve barista coffee from its sister brand Rodeo, with reopenings expected from November.
- The transaction is expected to create roughly 700 jobs as closed locations are brought back into service under a more localised operating model.
- Whitbread’s April turnaround plan to cut around £2 billion in costs led it to exit standalone restaurants so it can concentrate on Premier Inn, a strategy that has drawn pressure from activist investor Corvex over capital allocation.