Ex-Whitbread bosses buy back 57 Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, creating 700 jobs

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026.

Common Table Group, backed by former Whitbread senior managers via hospitality consultancy Rove360, has acquired 57 restaurant sites from the FTSE 100 hotels giant for an undisclosed sum. The deal covers former Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Cookhouse venues, with the first sites expected to reopen from mid-November. Founder Thomas Anderson said the priority is to get all venues "back open and trading as soon as possible."

Whitbread shut the chains last month after blaming Labour's business rates hikes for making its restaurant estate unviable, cutting nearly 4,000 jobs.

The rescued restaurants will serve all-day food and drink menus alongside barista coffee from sister brand Rodeo, which runs 15 sites in London and Manchester.

Whitbread is already under investor pressure from Corvex Asset Management, which owns more than 6% of the company and is calling for a full sale and strategic review.