Whitbread steams ahead with Beefeater mark II
Whitbread is to press ahead with its new look "second generation" Beefeater format following successful trials.
The leisure group will convert a further nine sites to an existing six trial "Beefeater II" sites.
If all goes to plan the company will then look to convert the rest of the 150-strong brand at a rate of one a fortnight.
Whitbread Restaurants managing director Bill Shannon said: "We are going to test the roll-out of Beefeater in various sites with different demographics."
Whitbread's criteria for running with the new format is that conversion reaps an incremental £6,000 in sales per site, per week. Mr Shannon said sales had typically risen from £18,000 to £27,000, since January.
He also said the Beefeater name would be staying. "Of all the research done, the Beefeater name has come through very positively," said Mr Shannon. Rumours had suggested Whitbread would abandon the name in favour of a new one.
"Beefeater has very high consumer recognition," he said. "It is a bit like Marks & Spencers - if you can fix the product and the service and the ambience, you have a hell of a brand."
Whitbread recently trimmed the Beefeater chain down from 201 sites to 150, with numerous package and one-site deals. The 51 bottom-end units fetched £50m.
The group has also announced plans to spend £300m growing its other pub-restaurant brands. The Brewer's Fayre estate will grow from 230 to 350 sites over the next five years and the Brewster's concept will go from 150 to 250.
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Whitbread to spend £300m opening 175 new pubs (15 July 2003)
Insider likely to land top job at Whitbread (14 July 2003)
