Whitbread

Whitbread plc is a British multinational hotel company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742¹ by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in London at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Samuel Whitbread bought out his partners, expanding into porter production with the purchase of a brewery in Chiswell Street, and the company had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division is currently Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with over 785 hotels and 72,000 rooms. Until January 2019 it owned Costa Coffee but sold it to The Coca-Cola Company. Whitbread's brands previously included the restaurant chains Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table. It has not operated a brewery since 2001. Whitbread is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Whitbread plc is a British multinational hotel company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in London at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, along with a brewery in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Samuel Whitbread bought out his partners, expanding into porter production with the purchase of a brewery in Chiswell Street, and the company had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division is currently Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with over 785 hotels and 72,000 rooms. Until January 2019 it owned Costa Coffee but sold it to The Coca-Cola Company. Whitbread's brands previously included the restaurant chains Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table. It has not operated a brewery since 2001. Whitbread is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. ==History== ===Expansion and social welfare=== By the 1810s, Samuel Whitbread Jnr (1764–1815) had brought in several new investment partners including his cousin Jacob Whitbread and the Master Brewer John Martineau I (1758-1834¹). Four generations of Martineau's descendants, father-to-son, would later sit on the board of Whitbread, including John Martineau I's great great grandson, John Edmund Martineau. In 1812, the company merged with the Martineau Brewery holdings and by 1816, leadership was shared between William Henry Whitbread, Joseph Martineau and his father John Martineau I, who died in an industrial accident in a yeast vat in the brewery in 1834. Joseph Martineau became a partner in the business at the time of the merger – the same time as his father John. Three years later, in 1815, annual production reached 161,672 barrels, which at 36 gallons each, equated to over forty-six and a half million pints. Another of John's sons, Richard Martineau, later also became a partner. The business was known as Whitbread, Martineau & Co. until the mid-1840s. By 1860, William Henry Whitbread - nephew of Prime Minister Earl Grey, shared partnership of the firm with John Martineau II (1834-1910) - grandson of John Martineau I and grandson-in-law of Lord Stanley of Alderley. In her published 1877¹ autobiography, John Martineau I's niece, author Harriet Martineau, wrote that she had been a guest at "the great Brewery" in December 1831 where she had presented herself "without notice" to her "kind cousin [John's son, Richard Martineau (1804 - 1865)] and his family" at the "great Brewery [where] night after night, the brewery clock struck twelve, while the pen was still pushing on in my trembling hand". She continued: "I was really glad to be alone during those three eventful weeks, - feeling myself no intruder and being under the care of attentive servants". By 1870, Whitbread had begun producing bottled beers for sale and continued to expand production. On 24 July 1889, the company became a registered limited liability company. In 1914, the firm claimed it was "the largest beer bottler in the world." By the 1870s, John Martineau II had bought land in Eversley where he had boarded with his tutor Charles Kingsley. This was, as reported by the Bury Free Press in 1902, 'to rebuild cottages and to build fresh ones realising, long before it became the popular cry, that the fundamental basis for improving the health, happiness and morals of England was decent and healthy housing.’ ===Guinness Brewery=== From 1904, Whitbread was bottling Guinness stout. This cooperation, and rivalry, between the two breweries continued into the 20th century with both firms boasting a Master of the Worshipful Company of Brewers; John Edmund Martineau, the great great grandson of John Martineau, in 1955 and Cecil Edward Guinness, the great great great great nephew of Arthur Guinness, in 1977. In the 1920s Whitbread introduced the Double Brown which was designed to rival Guinness and was almost a recreation of Whitbread's original porter. In 2000, The Guardian reported that Whitbread was the country's third largest brewer and that Guinness was the largest. ===Pub and restaurant closures=== In July 2026, Whitbread that it would close a number of restaurants, including those trading under the Bar + Block, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Cookhouse + Pub and Table Table brands, in September 2026. Chief Executive Dominic Paul said the company was forced into this restructure "in light of significant cost increases" including increases in national insurance and business rates. The company expected that 3,800 job roles are to be lost as part of the restructure. ==Current operations== Whitbread's principal current operations are: ]] ===Premier Inn=== Premier Inn is the UK's largest budget hotel chain, with over 750 hotels. In January 2026, it was announced that Whitbread had sold nine Premier Inn hotels to LondonMetric Property for £89 million as part of a sale and leaseback transaction. Whitbread continued to operate the hotels under new 30-year lease agreements following the sale. The acquisition increased LondonMetric’s Premier Inn portfolio to 22 hotels. ===Table Table=== , Greater Manchester)]] Table Table is a UK restaurant brand. They started as converted Brewers Fayre restaurants. The brand was originally set up, unnamed, in 2006; the name Table Table was launched in May 2008. There are around 100 sites in the UK. All Table Tables closed as part of a restructuring on 4 September 2026. ===Beefeater=== Beefeater was launched in 1974. The chain underwent a huge revamp in the early 2000s. It then proceeded to change its name to "Beefeater Grill" for a period but in 2014 reverted to "Beefeater". Beefeater had around 140 restaurants across the UK. In April 2024 Whitbread announced plans to sell 126 unprofitable Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants. It also set out plans to close a further 112 restaurants and convert them into more hotel rooms. Batches of restaurants were sold off over a two year period, with at least 15 (such as Coombe Lodge, Croydon) being bought by the Papa's Group, and re-opened as a JD Wetherspoons pubs as part of a franchise agreement in late 2025. In May 2026, Whitbread announced the eventual closure of all their remaining restaurants, including Beefeater. As part of this programme, Mitchells & Butlers acquired a package of seven sites in June 2026. The package included former Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, which Mitchells & Butlers announced would be converted into Miller & Carter and Toby Carvery restaurants. All Beefeater pubs are set to close on 10 September 2026 as part of company restructure. ===Whitbread Inns=== The Whitbread Inns brand of restaurants was created by Whitbread in 2014. In January 2016 there were 13 pubs (all of which were Table Table) across central and southern England. ==Former operations== Whitbread's former operations include: Costa Coffee, founded in London in 1971¹ by the brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. Acquired by Whitbread in 1995, it had since grown to over 2,861 stores across 30 countries. In August 2018, Whitbread announced that it would sell Costa Coffee to The Coca-Cola Company in a deal worth £3.9bn. The acquisition was completed on 3 January 2019 following a $4.9 billion transaction, with approval from regulatory authorities in the EU and China. Brewsters, a brand created in 1999. The emphasis was on families and most sites had been built as Brewers Fayre; this was to give Brewers Fayre a more adult feel. Taybarns, an all-you-can-eat American buffet-style restaurant. There were six sites in England and one (the very first site at Swansea) in Wales. Britvic, a large UK manufacturer of soft drinks, producing brands such as J2O, Robinson's and Tango as well as Pepsi in the UK and Ireland. Marriott hotels and clubs in the UK, sold to brand owner Marriott Corporation. TGI Friday's – Whitbread originally held the UK franchise rights to the American restaurant chain TGI Friday's. The restaurants are known for their "over the top" American style and are popular with teenagers for birthday parties. On 17 January 2007 Whitbread announced that the franchise rights for TGI Friday's were being sold to a joint venture between Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc and ABN AMRO Capital for £70.4m. Pizza Hut UK, sold to brand owner Yum! David Lloyd Leisure – Whitbread ran more than 50 David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) clubs in Great Britain and Ireland, with a further number in Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. DLL is Britain's biggest tennis operator and manages more than 500 tennis courts. On 4 July 2007, Whitbread announced that it had conditionally agreed to sell the David Lloyd Leisure chain to Versailles Bidco Limited for £925 million. Whitbread will initially use the proceeds from its sale to pay off debt. Hogshead, a group of town-centre pubs, similar to Wetherspoons, became part of the Laurel Pub Company in 2001. Threshers, a chain of off licences. Germany: Churasco, owned since 1990, and Maredo, owned since 1994; in 1999 the Churasco restaurants had been transformed into Maredo-branded ones; Maredo was sold in 2005. Brewers Fayre, Founded in 1979¹ and designed to resemble a traditional pub. It was closed in September 2026 alongside all Beefeater restaurants. ==References== ==External links== Whitbread official website

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