Workers at two Worksop-area restaurants under threat of closure still have no information as to what is to happen in the future and whether they will still have jobs.

Both The Dukes in Worksop, a Beefeater grill restaurant, and the King William lV at Oldcotes, of the Brewers Fayre brand, are among sites across the country that could face permanent closure.

Parent company Whitbread has said that it may shut down the chain restaurants, potentially affecting almost 4,000 jobs, or 12 per cent of staff at sites across the country.

A spokeswoman for Whitbread said: "Our proposal is still under consultation so there’s no further local detail I can offer at this stage, other than to say we appreciate it must be unsettling for those who may be impacted."

The King William IV at Oldcotes, a Brewers Fayre restaurant, is under threat of closure.

placeholder image — The King William IV at Oldcotes, a Brewers Fayre restaurant, is under threat of closure.

In a statement released by the company, Whitbread announced that as part of its proposed new Five-Year Plan, it intends to become a pure-play hotel business focused on Premier Inn, the UK’s number one hotel brand.

It adds: 'This change will involve exiting all our remaining branded restaurants, which trade under brands including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, a number of which will be converted into approximately 600 additional Premier Inn rooms, with the remainder expected to be sold as going concerns.

“The proposed changes build on the success of our Accelerating Growth Plan, announced in 2024, which involved the conversion of over 200 branded restaurants to additional rooms, and the creation of an integrated restaurant in each hotel.

'This format has proved highly popular and under the proposal, it would be rolled out to all hotels where there is currently a branded restaurant.'

The statement continues: 'We recognise the impact of this proposal on colleagues who work at the affected sites.

'As a business which recruits around 15,000 people every year, we expect to be able to retain a significant proportion of those affected and will be looking to redeploy as many of our impacted colleagues as possible.

'However, we do anticipate that proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, would result in a reduction of around 3,800 roles of a total UK and Ireland workforce of around 30,000.

'We will do all we can to support those colleagues affected.'

The Beefeater brand has been trading for 50 years, and Brewers’ Fayre for 47 years.