Premier Inn sales boost parent’s profits
Premier Inn’s growing sales helped boost the profits of parent company Whitbread in the first six months of the year.
Group pre-tax profits for the half year to September were up 5.4% to £307 million.
Like for like sales at the company, which also includes Costa Coffee, were 1.9% higher.
Premier Inn sales were up 2.4% while Costa sales were up 2.3%.
Group chief executive Alison Brittain told BBC Radio 4 there was still room for potential expansion of the business.
It plans to open 3,700 hotel room in the UK over the next financial year, in addition to between 230 and 250 new coffee shops.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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