Premier Inn owner Whitbread plans 3,800 job cuts and £250m in savings

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has announced plans to cut around 3,800 jobs in the UK and Ireland.

The move is part of a new five-year strategy which it said was aiming to make £250 million in cost savings and overhaul its restaurant brands, which include Beefeater and Bar + Block.

Listed Whitbread also owns Brewers Fayre, Cookhouse Pub and Thyme Bar & Grill.

A spokesperson for the company told the Star it was not able at this stage to provide a specific regional breakdown for where the jobs would be lost and that the firm would be exploring redeployment opportunities where possible.

Whitbread said it wanted to save money in light of cost pressures coming from business rates and national insurance contributions and its new five-year plan included the increased cost-saving target and steps to cut capital spending by more than £1 billion.

Have you signed up to our FREE email newsletters?

This will see it sell off £1.5 billion worth of its freehold properties to "fund future growth and increasingly look to grow on a leasehold basis".

It will also replace its 197 restaurants with an integrated food and drink model which it said was more efficient and preferred by hotel guests.

The company employs around 30,000 staff and a consultation process is now being held with those affected.

A previous restructuring plan, launched in 2024, resulted in around 1,500 job losses.

It is still planning to increase the number of hotel rooms it has to 96,000 by the 2031 financial year, from the current figure of approximately 86,600.

Chief executive Dominic Paul said: "We always challenge ourselves to improve and, in light of significant cost increases in the form of business rates and national insurance, as well as the implied market discount to our inherent value, we've looked hard at the options open to us to maximise value creation over the medium and long-term.

"This has been a rigorous process and we've approached all options with an open mind. Our new five-year plan builds on our strengths and drives a significant acceleration of our strategy.

"This plan will transform Whitbread into a higher-margin, higher-returning pure-play hotel business. We're going to go further and faster to deliver a great experience for our guests and high-quality growth and returns for our shareholders."

It comes after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £298 million for the year to February 26 which was 19 per cent lower than the year before.

Total revenues were flat year-on-year at £2.9 billion but UK sales edged up by one per cent.