Whitbread adds two Bar + Blocks to estate

Whitbread is to open two further Bar + Block venues, its high street steakhouse business, taking its portfolio to 17 sites.

The new locations, which open today (11 June), include the first in Scotland, which opens in St Enoch Square, on Howard Street, with a further opening planned for Edinburgh later this year. The business has also opened a site in Avebury Boulevard in Milton Keynes.

Both new openings will continue the steakhouse’s all-day trading format, with a menu that puts a spotlight on 30-day aged steaks, hand cut to order.

Rebecca Donaldson, commercial marketing director, Whitbread Restaurants, commented: “We’re very excited to be back in business post a year full of restrictions and to be in the position to begin growing the Bar + Block brand again.

“We are thrilled to be opening our first restaurant in Scotland and in Milton Keynes and are gearing up for a busy summer.”

Last month Whitbread announced the opening of two new Cookhouse + Pub sites, in Blackpool and the Isle of Wight.

The hotel and restaurant operator recently reported that revenue had fallen 71.5% to £589.4m for the 2020/21 financial year, but that it was banking on a boom in staycations this summer to help it recover some of the £1bn loss it racked up last year.