Beefeater (restaurant)
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Headquarters | Dunstable, United Kingdom |
| Area served | United Kingdom |
| Products | Food and beverages |
| Parent | Whitbread |
| Website | http://beefeater.co.uk |
Beefeater is a chain of pub restaurants in the United Kingdom, owned by Whitbread. There are currently 131 Beefeater restaurants in the UK.
Contents |
[edit] History
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) |
Beefeater was set up by the then Whitbread Brewery in 1974 with the opening of its first restaurant The Halfway House in Enfield. The premise was for simple food, such as prawn cocktails and char-grilled steaks, and was seen as a rival to Berni Inns. Beefeater expanded over the next 20 years, before the chain experienced difficulties in the 1990s.
During the 1990s the flagging brand tried a number of strategies to boost sales. A large number of Beefeaters, for example the Ock Mill in Abingdon, and the Crossbush in Arundel, were converted to Out and Out. This proved unsuccessful and they were rebranded back to Beefeater in 2005. Also a few sites became "Grillbars", but these were soon sold. A "Banter" was launched at the Roundabout Beefeater in Reading, which has since been demolished after it also failed. Brian Turner was recruited to advise on the remaining Beefeaters, and his signature dishes and face were featured on the menu. As the brand begun to decline further, a number of sites, like the Moorfield in Kilmarnock, were rebranded as Brewers Fayre, while others were sold, like the Carpenters Arms in Botley, Oxford, which is now a McDonald's.
[edit] Re-launch
In the early 2000s, the parent company (Whitbread plc) invested millions of pounds refurbishing almost all of its Beefeater outlets in a project known internally as "B2". The works involved the complete refurbishment of the restaurants from scratch, retaining nothing of the existing fittings and design.
The refurbished restaurants, described by the parent company as "warm, modern and stylish", have been mostly successful and embraced by customers. Main changes included introducing chargrills to all outlets, and many having open plan grill areas so customers can see their meals being prepared. Due to building shape restrictions, the kitchen remained "back of house" in a few exceptions, such as the Coldra in Newport, Wales.
The B2 conversion programme was set to be completed by February 2008. The remaining, unrefurbished restaurants were sold in late 2008.
[edit] Rejuvenation
Beefeater implements the same remodeling and retraining programme that 'Brewers Fayre', a sister company, uses.
[edit] Premier Inn partnership
Despite the success in general terms of the B2 programme, it was found that Beefeater Restaurants not adjoining a Premier Inn (also owned and operated by Whitbread) were not performing as well. In late 2006, Whitbread made the decision to sell off the majority of stand-alone Beefeaters.
These were sold to a rival restaurant company, Mitchells & Butlers, which owns a number of pub and restaurant brands, such as Harvester, Toby Carvery and Scream Pubs. Since the sale, the retained estate's financial performance has improved.[citation needed]
The period after this sale has seen Whitbread also sell its Pizza Hut and T.G.I. Friday's brands, with the intention of concentrating entirely on its Beefeater, Table Table, Brewers Fayre, Taybarns and Costa Coffee brands.
[edit] "The Fire behind the food" campaign
In April 2008, Beefeater launched a new marketing campaign in line with its new Spring menu. The focus of the campaign was to advertise the chargrilling aspect of the Beefeater experience. A new TV advert was produced and has been run on ITV1 and Channel 4 in the Midlands, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire region.
[edit] National Steak Week
National Steak Week is an annual promotion by Beefeater.[1][2]
It is a celebration of all things steak. The purpose of National Steak Week is to raise awareness of the steaks available in the UK and improve the levels of understanding of how to cook the perfect steak.
The current media face of National Steak Week is Jayne Middlemiss who won Celebrity MasterChef 2009.
[edit] References
- ^ "Two-For-One Steak Meal For Every Reader.". The Express via Europe Intelligence Wire. October 10, 2002. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26509327_ITM. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ "Beefeater set to exploit data for new push. (News).(Beefeater chain will launch database marketing strategy)(Brief Article)". Precision Marketing. April 4, 2003. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-100755025/beefeater-set-exploit-data.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
