Whitbread Targets 125,000 UK and Ireland Bedrooms
Main Photo: hub by Premier Inn London Marylebone Road, due to open late 2023
Date: October 2022
Name: Whitbread Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn
Locations: Massive in UK (800 hotels), Ireland (2 so far) & Germany (40 open and 30 in the pipeline) growing and just starting out in UAE (11 hotels), Qatar (2)
Number of Keys: Currently 83,000 in UK & Ireland with 9,000 in the pipeline; 125,000 targeted
Buyer: Whitbread tend to own their hotels, unlike Travelodge
Whitbread has strengthened its property acquisition team to drive the expansion of Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn across the UK and Ireland.
Whitbread’s recent announcement of a new long-term network target for Premier Inn in the UK and Ireland of 125,000 bedrooms – equivalent to a 17% market share – made during Whitbread’s FY23 interim results announcement to the City on 25th October 2022.
Whitbread currently operates a network of 82,700 hotel rooms in the UK and Ireland with a further 8,875 bedrooms in its committed development pipeline. The business is on course to open between 1,500 and 2,000 new Premier Inn rooms this financial year and will return to opening 2,000 to 3,000 rooms per year going forward.
Derek Griffin, head of acquisitions for Premier Inn, said: “We are focused on maintaining our position as the UK’s number one hotel business. Our network of hotels is trading well and with the backing of Whitbread’s strong covenant and financial firepower we are well-placed to invest in growing our estate through the cycle and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.
Whitbread’s new long-term expansion targets for Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn are being driven by structural changes in the UK hotels market. The company believes the supply of hotel bedrooms is 4% lower that it was pre-pandemic, creating a favourable market backdrop and providing opportunities for Premier Inn to grow market share.
Price: Undisclosed
THPT Comment: Great to see Whitbread back on the growth path….Alison Brittain has guided to company well during her tenure as CEO, which comes to an end at the end of 2022. We wish her successor, Dominic Paul (from Domino’s) well. An independent website has kindly outlined the differences between Premier Inn and it’s main rival, Travelodge.
First Seen: RPBi
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