Hundreds of family favourite pubs and restaurants are under threat as their parent company has announced a raft of closures and conversions.

Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn, and one of the UK's biggest hospitality chains, today announced that they will slash their branded restaurants by more than 200. 

Around 1,500 jobs are set to be axed, though this is still subject to consultation.

The group, which owns restaurants including Brewers Fayre and Beefeater, said the job cuts are still subject to consultation and come from its total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.

126 of Whitbread's less profitable hospitality venues will be sold over the next two years with hopes that the sales will go through in the next two years. The business has said that 21 sales have already gone through. 

An additional 112 restaurants will be converted into new hotel rooms. 

Venues impacted by the plans will remain open as usual until they are sold.

The move will leave Whitbread with 387 restaurants that are part of its hotels and 196 branded restaurants. 

Though a list of venues earmarked for sale or conversion has not been released yet, as leaders are still in the process of speaking to restaurant teams about the plans, The Northern Echo has pulled together a list of venues in the North East owned by Whitbread. 

Here's a list of venues that could be under threat following Whitbread's announcement: 

Beefeater

  • Broomside Park, County Durham
  • The Millfield, York
  • Morton Park, County Durham
  • The Talpore, County Durham
  • Whitley Bay, Northumberland
  • Moor Farm, Cramlington

 

Brewers Fayre

  • Old West Quay, Hartlepool
  • Tindale Crossing, Bishop Auckland
  • Dunelm Ridge, Pity Me
  • Preston Farm, Stockton
  • Royal Quays, North Shields
  • Derwent Crossing, Gateshead
  • The Wessington, Sunderland
  • Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire

 

Bar + Block

  • Durham, Millburngate Development
  • Newcastle Steak, Newcastle

 

Cookhouse + Pub

  • Anchor Inn, Skipton
  • Woodhorn Grange, Ashington
  • Holystone Park, Newcastle

 

Table Table

  • The Longboat, York
  • The Park, Harrogate

Chief executive Dominic Paul said: “We recognise that our transition will impact some of our team members so we will be providing support throughout this process and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to remain with us.”

The FTSE 100 company announced a pre-tax profit of £452 million for the year ending February 29, up 21 per cent on the year before.

But its restaurants and pubs division, which also includes Bar+Block and Table Table, lagged behind.

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The company’s total food and beverage sales were up only 7 per cent year on year, driven mainly by breakfasts in the restaurant chain.

Food and beverage sales were down 2 per cent for the seven weeks to April 18, the most recent period on record.

As a result, Whitbread said the cost-cutting programme will save about £150 million over the next three years.