Premier Inn to slash 6,000 jobs
Premier Inn’s parent company Whitbread has warned that 6,000 jobs could go following a slump in guest numbers due to the coronavirus lockdown.
It said the cuts are necessary as the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is coming to an end next month.
The company, which owns other brands including the Beefeater restaurant chain, said hotel stays in August had halved compared to last year.
While demand for hotel rooms has been strong in tourist hotspots since the end of the lockdown, Whitbread said it had been less so in cities including London.
During August, the number of diners at the chain’s restaurants fell by more than a third, although it admitted it had been helped out by the government-funded Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
Whitbread said it expected demand to remain lower than usual in the short term.
However, Whitbread boss Alison Brittain said the company was hoping to avoid compulsory redundancies. She said it was hoped that ‘a significant proportion’ of the redundancies could be achieved voluntarily.
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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