The last remaining Beefeater restaurant in Reading has been put up for sale.
Beefeater is a family dining restaurant chain known for serving up steaks and traditional pub classics such as chicken melts, fish and chips and pies to diners.
Until recently, the town had two Beefeater restaurants, with the other being located at the Premier Inn at the Reading Gateway destination in Whitley.
However, that restaurant was closed in July 2024 by its owning company, Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inn hotels.
At the time, the company stated that it was moving away from operating standalone branded restaurants—like Beefeater and Brewers Fayre—in favour of expanding hotel capacity and the dining spaces within hotels.
Now the Southcote restaurant is set to change as well, as Whitbread has put the site up for sale.
An advert for the Beefeater in Southcote is live on Rightmove, with marketing suggesting that it is a “prominent development opportunity”.
It also states: “The site lends itself to a wide range of uses such as retail, commercial, residential and care, subject to planning permission.”
Explaining the reason for the sale, a company spokesperson said: “Whitbread is currently marketing the Beefeater restaurant site at Southcote as we look to identify a new owner, and we have been in discussions with a number of interested parties.
“The marketing material reflects the site’s development potential, noting that any future change of use would be subject to planning permission.
“By way of context, Whitbread announced its Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP) in April 2024.
“This programme is focused on optimising the food and beverage offer across our estate by converting some lower‑returning branded restaurant sites into additional Premier Inn bedrooms, while exiting several sites that no longer meet our long‑term return thresholds.
“The Southcote Beefeater is one of the locations we are seeking to exit as part of this strategy.
“Importantly, while we continue to market the site and seek a new owner, the Beefeater restaurant remains open and trading as normal, and we look forward to continuing to welcome guests in the meantime.”
Reading Borough Council’s planning department recently confirmed that building regulations had been complied with for a project to turn the Beefeater at Reading Gateway into nine new hireable rooms and more restaurant space for the Premier Inn.
Whitbread has also closed two other restaurants in nearby Bracknell.
The Downshire Arms Beefeater closed in July 2024 for a conversion project to create 12 new hotel rooms and more dining space at its Twin Bridges Premier Inn hotel.
Similarly, the Weather Vane Brewers Fayre restaurant closed in the summer of the same year, with Whitbread winning permission to convert it into 17 rooms for the Premier Inn Bracknell Central hotel.
