verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message beefeater type subsidiary industry hospitality founded 1974 headquarters dunstable england area served united kingdom products food and beverages parent whitbread website www.beefeater.co.uk beefeater balmoral inn southampton harlow mill beefeater harlow beefeater is a chain of over 140 pub restaurants in the united kingdom owned by whitbread . 1 the chain s name references both the english figure of the beefeater as well as its menu s meat particularly beef offering . the chain is positioned slightly upmarket of whitbread s brewers fayre chain . contents 1 history 2 locations 3 references 4 external links history edit beefeater was set up by the then whitbread brewery in 1974 with the opening of its first restaurant the halfway house in enfield . the premise was for simple food such as prawn cocktails and char grilled steaks and was seen as a rival to berni inns . beefeater expanded over the next 20 years before the chain experienced difficulties in the 1990s . during the 1990s the flagging brand tried a number of strategies to boost sales . a large number of beefeaters for example the ock mill in abingdon and the crossbush in arundel were converted to out and out . this was unsuccessful and they were rebranded back to beefeater in 2005 . also a few sites became grillbars but these were soon sold . a banter was launched at the roundabout beefeater in reading which has since been demolished after it failed . brian turner was recruited to advise on the remaining beefeaters and his signature dishes and face were featured on the menu . as the brand declined further a number of sites such as the cotton mill in kilmarnock and craig house near inveresk were rebranded as brewers fayre while others were sold like the carpenters arms in botley oxford now a mcdonald s. in the early 2000s the parent company whitbread invested millions of pounds refurbishing almost all of its beefeater outlets in a project known internally as b2 . this involved the complete refurbishment of the restaurants from scratch retaining nothing of the existing fittings and design . the refurbished restaurants described by the parent company as warm modern and stylish have been mostly successful and embraced by customers . main changes included chargrills in all outlets and many have open plan grill areas so customers can see their meals being prepared . however in 2006 whitbread sold the majority of its standalone beefeater sites along with standalone brewers fayre restaurants to mitchells & butlers . 2 these were rebranded under mitchell s & butlers own brands . whitbread s refurbishment programme was completed in 2008 ; the last site was the woolpack outside ashford in kent . 2008 saw the pemberton beefeater built in llanelli which was the first new site to open since before 2000 . since then new sites have been built alongside new premier inn hotels in locations such as burges hil and stirling . also in 2008 beefeater acquired 10 brewers fayre sites such as the millfield in york . in 2009 2010 beefeater implemented a remodelling and retraining programme similar to the brewers fayre programme . all sites received a partial refurbishment which featured a new colour scheme carpets and furniture . in late 2009 the brand became known as beefeater grill . in september 2013 beefeater began a partnership with the gourmet society offering their members discounts on production of a gourmet society restaurant discount card . in 2013 a new look and feel was introduced returning the name to beefeater . the company introduced a new logo featuring a stylised cow in 2015 . in february 2016 beefeater opened a new restaurant concept in birmingham titled bar block bringing beefeater to the high streets of britain . 3 vernon kay was in 2015 appointed the boss of beef and in may 2016 kay resumed this role live on the chris moyles show on radio x discussing with moyles the correct amount of fat to leave on a steak . 4 locations edit beefeater restaurants are located thhroughout mainland britain from inverness loch ness house to plymouth marsh mills . most restaurants are located alongside major road junctions with a neighboring premier inn however a few are found in town centres . references edit about us . beefeater grill . 2012 . retrieved 19 october 2012 . beefeater sites bought by m & b . bbc news . 21 july 2006 . retrieved 24 march 2016 . bains sanjeeta 27 february 2016 . see inside new bar and block steak restaurant and bar in birmingham . birmingham mail . retrieved 24 march 2016 . http www.hellomagazine.com celebrities 2014091620979 vernon kay beefeater hungry games interview external links edit official website media related to beefeater restaurant at wikimedia commons v t e whitbread plc subsidiaries and brands current beefeater grill brewers fayre costa coffee coffeeheaven premier inn table table taybarns touchbase former berni inn britvic david lloyd leisure hogshead pizza hut swallow hotels t.g.i. friday s threshers whitbread inns other samuel whitbread whitbread round the world race category v t e food chains in the united kingdom casual dining angus steakhouse ask beefeater grill bella italia brewers fayre byron hamburgers caf rouge carluccio s chiquito damon s ed s easy diner frankie & benny s giraffe gourmet burger kitchen harry ramsden s harvester hungry horse la tasca little chef loch fyne restaurants nando s ok diner pizza hut pizzaexpress prezzo strada table table taybarns t.g.i. friday s toby carvery tony roma s wagamama wahaca wildwood kitchen zizzi fast food barburrito burger king chicken cottage chipotle mexican grill dixy chicken domino s pizza five guys kfc mcdonald s morley s papa john s pizza sam s chicken sbarro southern fried chicken subway taco bell tops pizza tortilla wasabi wimpy yo sushi baked goods auntie anne s cinnabon cooplands ditsch dunkin donuts eat greggs krispy kreme millie s cookies patisserie valerie pret a manger sayers spudulike upper crust the west cornwall pasty company coffee shops and tea rooms amt coffee betty s caff nero caff ritazza coffee 1 coffee republic costa coffee harris hoole starbucks dairy baskin robbins ben & jerry s kaspa s shakeaway pub chains all bar one chef & brewer o neill s scream pubs slug and lettuce walkabout wetherspoons yates s retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title beefeater restaurant & oldid 743804469 categories restaurant groups in the united kingdomwhitbread divisions and subsidiariesrestaurants established in 19741974 establishments in the united kingdomhidden categories articles needing additional references from september 2007all articles needing additional referencescommons category without a link on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages svenska edit links this page was last modified on 11 october 2016 at 10 43 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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