Uncertain future for Boston restaurant as parent company plans to shed almost 200 sites
A family restaurant in Boston is facing an uncertain future after its parent company announced plans to shed almost 200 sites across the UK.
Burton House, in Wainfleet Road, is one of 197 restaurants affected by the proposals.
On Thursday (April 30), parent company Whitbread announced plans to become a ‘pure-play hotel business’, focused on Premier Inn (pure-play being a term for companies centred on one type of product or service).
As a result, it intends to exit the restaurant side of its operation – the brands Brewers Fayre, which would include Burton House, and Beefeater.
Some of the sites it plans to convert into about 600 additional Premier Inn rooms, with the remainder expected to be sold as going concerns.
The business stresses, however, the plans are only at the consultation stage.
A spokesman said: “The proposed changes announced today build on the success of our Accelerating Growth Plan, announced in 2024, which involved the conversion of over 200 branded restaurants to additional rooms, and the creation of an integrated restaurant in each hotel. This format has proved highly popular with guests and under the proposal, it would be rolled out to all hotels where there is currently a branded restaurant.
“We recognise the impact of this proposal on colleagues who work at the affected sites. As a business which recruits around 15,000 people every year, we expect to be able to retain a significant proportion of those affected and will be looking to redeploy as many of our impacted colleagues as possible.
“However, we do anticipate that the proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, would result in a reduction of around 3,800 roles of a total UK and Ireland workforce of around 30,000. We will do all we can to support those colleagues affected.”