The changes come as businesses in retail and hospitality contend with higher costs and changing consumer habits. According to the Daily Express, stationery chain TG Jones will close 19 branches during September, while all 106 Beefeater restaurants and 89 Brewers Fayre pubs covered by the announced plans are also scheduled to shut. The restaurant closures form part of a wider strategy by Whitbread, the company behind Premier Inn.
TG Jones Begins a Month of Store Closures
TG Jones will begin its September closures with its Bath branch on Tuesday, 1 September. Stores in Redcar and Redhill will follow on Saturday, 5 September, before Market Harborough and Uckfield close on 12 September.
Other confirmed dates include Cambridge on 14 September, Swindon on 15 September, Helston on 16 September, Deal on 19 September and Basildon on 21 September. Rustington will shut on 23 September, while Clevedon, Greenford, Kenilworth and Southend-on-Sea are all scheduled to close on 26 September.
Exmouth will close on 28 September and Frome on 30 September. Cardigan and Wells are also expected to shut during September, although the sources provided do not give specific closure dates. According to reports, closing-down sales have already started at affected TG Jones stores, with discounts of up to 30 per cent available. The closures follow approval of a company-wide restructuring on 1 July, leaving around 150 stores at risk.
The stationery business emerged after the high street arm of WH Smith was sold last year and rebranded as TG Jones. The Sun reported that the business was bought by private equity firm Modella Capital in a £76 million deal.
Whitbread Prepares to Close Beefeater and Brewers Fayre Sites
The larger wave of September closures will come from Beefeater and Brewers Fayre. According to the Mirror, all 89 Brewers Fayre pubs covered by the announcement are due to close on Monday, 7 September, followed by 106 Beefeater restaurants on Thursday, 10 September.
The closures stretch across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Beefeater locations on the list include restaurants in Oxford, Dundee, Cardiff, Swansea, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Bristol and London. Brewers Fayre sites include branches in Abergavenny, Bicester, Exeter, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Swansea, Newcastle and Derry City.
Whitbread announced in April that the two restaurant brands would be wound down. Around 30,000 members of staff currently work across the restaurant businesses, according to the reports provided.
Whitbread chief executive Dominic Paul said the company planned to convert its remaining branded restaurants into an “integrated food and beverage offer” preferred by hotel guests. He said the changes would also allow the company to add “more highly profitable extension rooms”.
The closures leave September as a significant month of change for the three brands, with TG Jones shutting stores gradually while the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre closures are concentrated on two dates.
