Whitbread Shuts Down Restaurants, Focuses on Hotels

0:00It's April 30th. Welcome to Lester News Today, powered by AI. With Bread, the powerhouse behind Premiere in, just drop plans to shut down all 197 of its leftover branded restaurants like. Beef eater and brewers fare across the UK and Ireland. They're shifting hard to a pure hotel game, folding food and drinks right into the hotels for better flow, and what guests actually want. This hits hard with about 3,800 jobs on the line out of their 30,000 strong crew, but they're talking consultations, first, and redepoint folks where they can. It all ramps up from recent budget squeezes, hiking costs like business rates, building on pass moves that turned over 200 restaurant spots, into extra rooms. Looking ahead, this five-year push aims for 2 billion pounds in free cash flow by 2031, trimming property holdings and capex to match. Big rivals, setting Premiere in up to thrive long-term.