Robert Breare, the chief executive of Noble House, the private pub operator, said yesterday he was leading a consortium to buy the majority of the 34 Beefeater sites whitbread has just sold as part of plans to revitalise the brand.
Mill House Inns is also said to be involved in the purchase of some of the sites, part of a total of 51 put up for sale in January, while Scottish & Newcastle has bought at least one of the outlets.
Whitbread said yesterday it had sold the sites to three companies and four individuals but could not name the buyers for reasons of confidentiality. The largest group purchase was of 11 sites by an unnamed "major" pub company.
The sale of 51 sites, 20% of the company's total Beefeaters, which is being handled by the Gerald Eve agency, will allow Whitbread to introduce a new, as yet unnamed, pub restaurant format for the Beefeater estate that has been tried on six test sites. The new format still offers old favourites such as steak and chips but diners are now being offered a host of new dressings and sauces including a "chilli mustard that blows your head off".
The makeover also involves a new decor with "light but rich and warm colours", the introduction of booths to "give customers their own space" and changes to the bar area to reverse the shift towards too much drink-only business.
Whitbtread's chief executive, David Thomas, said yesterday the changes had already brought down the average age of customers to closer to 35, though he said families and older couples "will both feel comfortable". He said he expected to make a decision on whether to extend the makeover to the rest of Beefeater's 180-odd sites by September but he was confident it would work. "I believe we are pretty close to getting a consumer proposition that will be quite exciting," he said.
Mill House Inns is also said to be involved in the purchase of some of the sites, part of a total of 51 put up for sale in January, while Scottish & Newcastle has bought at least one of the outlets.
Whitbread said yesterday it had sold the sites to three companies and four individuals but could not name the buyers for reasons of confidentiality. The largest group purchase was of 11 sites by an unnamed "major" pub company.
The sale of 51 sites, 20% of the company's total Beefeaters, which is being handled by the Gerald Eve agency, will allow Whitbread to introduce a new, as yet unnamed, pub restaurant format for the Beefeater estate that has been tried on six test sites. The new format still offers old favourites such as steak and chips but diners are now being offered a host of new dressings and sauces including a "chilli mustard that blows your head off".
The makeover also involves a new decor with "light but rich and warm colours", the introduction of booths to "give customers their own space" and changes to the bar area to reverse the shift towards too much drink-only business.
Whitbtread's chief executive, David Thomas, said yesterday the changes had already brought down the average age of customers to closer to 35, though he said families and older couples "will both feel comfortable". He said he expected to make a decision on whether to extend the makeover to the rest of Beefeater's 180-odd sites by September but he was confident it would work. "I believe we are pretty close to getting a consumer proposition that will be quite exciting," he said.
