The Whitbread group has been the object of widespread press speculation surrounding the future of its high street restaurants, namely Bella Pasta and Café Rouge.

The company is in the middle of conducting a strategic review of all its assets, and has set targets that the chains must reach based on like-for-like sales for the previous year.

While Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee have performed well in the first quarter, analysts suggest that Café Rouge and Bella Pasta were failing to meet the standards set by Whitbread and were in line to be sold.

A spokesperson for Whitbread denied the claims that any restaurants had been highlighted this early in the review commenting that the group was still in the process of the strategic review launched last October.