Premier Inn owner to cut around 1,500 jobs as hotel brand to undergo shake-up
Premier Inn's owner has announced 1,500 jobs are at risk amid restaurant closures
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Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut 1,500 jobs as it plans to expand its hotels.
The hotel giant will close more than 200 of its restaurants, converting 112 into an extra 3,500 bedrooms.
The group, which owns restaurants including Brewers Fayre and Beefeater, said the job cuts are still subject to consultation and will come from its total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.
Whitbread plans to sell 126 of its less profitable branded restaurants, with 21 having already sold.
Chief executive Dominic Paul said: “We recognise that our transition will impact some of our team members so we will be providing support throughout this process and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to remain with us.”
The FTSE 100 company announced a pre-tax profit of £452million for the year ending February 29, up 21 per cent on the previous year.
Premier Inn will convert 112 restaurants into an extra 3,500 bedrooms
PA
However, the firm's restaurants and pubs division, which also includes Bar+Block and Table Table, lagged behind.
Whitbread's total food and beverage sales were up just seven per cent year on year, largely driven by breakfast sales.
Food and drink sales were down two per cent for the seven weeks to April 18.
Whitbread said these cost-cutting measures will save around £150million over the next three years.
It pledged to offer a £150million stock buy-back to shareholders in the next six months and increase dividend payments by 26 per cent this year.
The CEO said the company's financial performance was "really excellent", citing the Premier Inn hotel brand as the "driving force" behind the results.
Mr Paul said the decision regarding the job cuts had been "really challenging".
He added: "It’s really important that we therefore handle that in the right way for our people.”
However, he said: “We also have made sure that we balance our business overall.
"What we’ve announced today will increase our profits and returns, and that’s also important for our people, because it enables us to continue to invest in our people within the business.
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“We are a public company, so we also need to think about our shareholders.
"Our capital returns policy, of dividends and share buybacks, is within that context.”