Premier Inn ramps up expansion plans with five hotels in South East
The Whitbread-owned chain has taken five leasehold sites in Farborough (pictured), Farnham, Fleet, Portsmouth and Wokingham – a total of 374 new bedrooms – as part of its on-going national expansion plans.
“We opened more than 4,200 bedrooms across 28 hotels in our last financial year – a record rate of expansion for the second year running,” said John Bates, head of acquisitions for Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants.
“We now have 52,000 bedrooms across the UK and Ireland and are on target to reach our goal of 65,000 bedrooms by 2016.
“We’re investing in projects right across the South East and these latest deals add to further hotels we are developing at Gosport and Winchester. Some of these locations are difficult areas to get in to and, in such a market, certainty and adaptability are vital.
“Our Whitbread-backed covenant and flexible formats give our developer and investor partners the confidence they need that we are the right partner for them.”
The five leasehold sites: -
- Farnborough: an 80-bedroom hotel and 200-cover Beefeater Grill restaurant on the corner of Victoria Road and Figrove Parade in the town centre.
- Farnham: a 60-bedroom hotel and 200-cover Beefeater Grill restaurant on Guildford Road.
- Fleet: a 70-bedroom hotel at Waterside Business Park.
- Portsmouth: an 84-bedroom hotel on Dugal Drummond Street.
- Wokingham: an 80-bedroom hotel on the corner of Wellington Road and Denmark Street.
Since March 2012, Whitbread has created more than 3,000 new jobs across the country and plans to create 10,000 new jobs over the next three years as it expands its Premier Inn and Costa brands.
Last week, Grant Hearn - chief executive of fellow budget hotel chain Travelodge – spoke of its continued rivalry with Premier Inn, showing no signs that the feud is over in this video interview with BigHospitality.
“I think there is a lot of focus on the rivalry between Whitbread and ourselves,” said Hearn. “I think they focus on us a lot and have been quite disrespectful about us in recent years.
“We have a very clear agenda. We have got to make our product competitive with Premier Inn. We are going to continue selling that product at a better price than they do because we are very good at controlling costs.”
