Let’s be real for a second: nobody’s surprised that running a business is getting pricier. But here’s the kicker—Whitbread says the specific pain points are inflation in food costs and skyrocketing energy bills. Remember when a pint of beer cost about the same as a bus fare? Yeah, those days are gone, my friend. Now, it’s more expensive to heat the fryer than it is to fill the fryer with chips.
The company also pointed a finger at higher wages—which, let’s be honest, is a good thing for workers, but it squeezes margins tighter than a vegan at a steakhouse. So Whitbread looked at its books, sighed deeply, and decided it’s cheaper to shut the doors on about 20% of its pub-restaurants. They’re keeping the hotels—Premier Inn—because, apparently, people still need a bed, even if they’re not eating a Sunday roast.
So, What Happens to the Empty Buildings?
Good question, and frankly, I’m a little worried. You drive past a closed Beefeater, and it becomes a ghost of breaded mushrooms past. Whitbread says they’ll try to repurpose some sites into Premier Inns, but converting a multi-story pub into a hotel is like trying to turn a skateboard into a bicycle—technically possible, but you’ll lose the wheels. The rest? They’ll probably sit empty for a while, which is just sad.
What’s more ironic is that Whitbread’s sales actually went up last year—by about 8%. So it’s not that nobody wants a carvery anymore. It’s that the cost of serving that carvery has become so ridiculous that you’d lose money on every plate. Imagine that: you’re stacking plates high with Yorkshire puddings, but each one is bleeding a little bit of your profit. Brutal.
Whitbread to sell 250 pub-restaurants for £600m - Green Street News
