Whitbread ready to let Pelican go

LEISURE group Whitbread will this week announce the sell-off of its poorly performing Pelican brand of restaurants, which include the Cafe Rouge and Bella Pasta chains.

The long-expected move will be launched by chief executive David Thomas on Tuesday.

Whitbread bought the Pelican chain for £133m five years ago from entrepreneurs Roger Myers and Karen Jones.

Whitbread's restaurants made operating profits of £123m on sales of £1.1bn in the year to March, but 91% of the profit was from Brewers Fayre, Beefeater and Travel Inn. The performance of the other brands was described by Whitbread as 'unacceptable'.

Whitbread will also give an update on its hotels on Tuesday.