Premier Inn boost Whitbread sales
UK hotel and restaurant group Whitbread has reported a strong start to the year – fuelled by its Premier Inn chain.
Like-for-like sales at the budget hotel rose 10.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 June, compared with the same period a year earlier.
Sales across the Whitbread group were up 7.6 per cent over the same period.
Whitbread, which also owns the Beefeater restaurant chain, Brewers Fayre pubs and Costa Coffee shops, saw overall sales up 7.6 per cent over the same period.
Chief executive Alan Parker said: “In these times of austerity, our strategy of value for money hospitality brands in growing segments of the market has put us in a position of relative strength.”
Sales at Costa rose 8.5 per cent, while those at Whitbread’s pub restaurants were up 3.6 per cent.
Whitbread has opened four new Premier Inns in the past quarter and has plans to open 250 new Costa stores in the current financial year.