Whitbread is laying the groundwork for a possible sale of part of its £700million pub and restaurant arm.
The move could place its long-established Beefeater steakhouse chain on the chopping block.
The FTSE 100 hospitality giant is understood to have hired advisers to explore options for the division, which also houses the Brewers Fayre chain, amid concerns that poor food-and-drink sales are weighing on the wider business.
The move marks the latest chapter in the sell-off of operations of the one-time brewer as bosses focus on repeating the UK success of its flagship hotel chain Premier Inn in Germany.
Sources told the Telegraph that discussions are at a preliminary stage and may not result in the operations being offloaded.
They insisted that only a "small part" of Whitbread’s food and drink operations was under consideration.
Divergence of performance
It follows a warning in Whitbread’s recently-published annual report of “the increasing divergence of performance of the hotel business and the food and beverage business”.
Beefeater is the oldest brand owned by the company after being set up by the then Whitbread Brewery almost half a century ago. It is one of Whitbread’s two biggest food and beverage businesses alongside Brewers Fayre.
Aberdeen does not have a Beefeater presence, but there are Brewers Fayre outlets Portlethen and Elgin.
Whitbread’s advisers are understood to have begun contacting potentially-interested parties, asking them to sign non-disclosure agreements ahead of a formal sales process.
Many of Whitbread’s pubs and restaurants operate under a “co-lo” arrangement next to or part of Premier Inn hotels, often serving breakfast on behalf of its sister company.
Major move
The potential decision to offload the business is the first major move since Whitbread sold Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola for £3.9billion in 2018.
Whitbread’s history can be traced back to 1742 when Samuel Whitbread went into partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell.
Whitbread remained a brewer until 1974 when its first Beefeater steakhouse was opened.
In 1987, the company ventured into hotels with Travel Inn, which would eventually become Premier Inn.
FTSE 100
The UK's top share index, the FTSE 100, closed up 56 points on Friday at 7,627. The London Stock Exchange is closed today for a bank holiday.
Brent crude futures were 0.70% higher at $77.49 a barrel this morning.