Beefeater (restaurant) - History

History

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, such as "The Cotton Mill" in Kilmarnock and "Craig House" near Inveresk, were rebranded as Brewers Fayre, while others were sold, like the Carpenters Arms in Botley, Oxford, which is now a McDonald's.

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 completed by early 2008. The remaining, unrefurbished restaurants were sold later that year.

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.

In 2009/2010 Beefeater implemented a remodelling and retraining programme similar to the 'Brewers Fayre' programme. All sites received a partial refurbishment (similar to the Brewers Fayre refurbishments) which featured a new colour scheme, carpets and furniture. In late 2009, the brand became known as Beefeater Grill.

Beefeater had now started another refurbishment program changing its logo and theme again.