History
In the 1980s Whitbread also had the Roast Inns chain. Its slogan was The Family Welcome.
In 1995 50 more outlets were added, at a cost of £85 million, taking the total to 280. At this time the Charlie Chalk Fun Factory was added to about thirty pubs. In 1996 52 were opened, with 17 having a Travel Inn next door; most were built near motorways. In early 1997 Whitbread introduced the Kiln & Kettle chain, which was similar to Brewers Fayre but without the children. Around the same time 90 more outlets opened.
In May 1999 Whitbread announced it was proposing to leave the brewing industry and attempted to buy 3,600 outlets (including Firkin pubs) from Allied Domecq in a proposed £2.25 billion deal, in which they lost out to Punch Taverns. Later in October 1999 Whitbread formed a pubs and bars division (2,900 outlets) and a restaurants division (1,300 outlets) which included Brewers Fayre headed by Bill Shannon. On 25 May 2000 Whitbread announced it was leaving the brewing industry by selling its beers to Interbrew for £400 million, which allowed expansion of its food restaurants. In March 2001 Whitbread sold its non-food pubs to Deutsche Bank for £1.6 billion. In September 2001 34 outlets were put up for sale. In 2003 it announced that 35 outlets a year would be added over five years.
Read more about this topic: Brewers Fayre
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