It will transform a former Brewers Fayre restaurant
The restaurant is expected to open its doors “towards the end of the year”. (stock image)(Image: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Toby Carvery has confirmed plans to open a new restaurant along the Kent coast later this year. The roast dinner chain has announced it will open a branch in Dover, taking over a former Brewers Fayre restaurant.
The Duke of York Brewers Fayre closed its doors for good back in May after operating in the port town for more than three decades. Now the Toby Carvery team has expressed their excitement in bringing the vacant space back to life in the near future.
A spokesperson for the restaurant chain said: “We are delighted to be bringing Toby Carvery, the home of the roast, to Dover. This will be a significant investment and will create a number of new jobs.
“We are excited about the potential for this venue and will look to open our doors towards the end of the year.” An exact date for the launch is yet to be determined, though the restaurant is likely to open sometime during the winter months.
Toby Carvery currently operates four restaurants in Kent, found in Badgers Mount, Gravesend, Maidstone and Thanet. News of the Dover opening follows recently submitted plans from the chain to Canterbury City Council, which would see the now-closed Long Reach in Whitstable repurposed.
The lodged signage application would see the property, which previously operated as a Beefeater, transformed into a Toby Carvery. Earlier this year, Whitbread, parent company to Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Premier Inn, announced plans for a major restructuring of its hospitality offering as part of the brand’s move towards becoming a “pure-play hotel business focused on Premier Inn.”
This would involve the closure of its remaining Brewers Fayre and Beefeater restaurants across Kent. A spokesperson for Whitbread said in an announcement made in April: “The proposed changes announced today 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 with guests and under the proposal, it would be rolled out to all hotels where there is currently a branded restaurant. 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 the 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.”
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