Premier Inn’s German expansion not a mistake, Whitbread tells activist investor Hospitality Premier Inn owner Whitbread has been forced to defend its expansion into Germany after the activist investor seeking to gain a board seat cast significant doubt over the move. The FTSE 100 hospitality giant, which also owned Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, first expanded into Germany in 2014 and now operates 75 Premier Inn hotels in [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread faces board pressure from activist investor Hospitality Premier Inn owner Whitbread is facing pressure to hand a board seat to an influential activist investor after it voiced “growing concern” with the firm’s turnaround plans. The FTSE 100 hospitality giant said in April it would slash thousands of jobs and sell off all of its restaurants in a bid to keep up with [...]
Tesco, B&Q and Whitbread scolded in minimum wage crackdown Retail Labour’s new workers’ rights police force has scolded Tesco, B&Q and Whitbread, and more than 600 other firms, for failing to pay the minimum wage. The Fair Work Agency has published the names of 658 companies which have been fined £7m and forced to return £4m to more than 27,000 workers who have not been [...]
Burnham urged to axe tourist tax expansion in devolution drive August 3, 2026 A leading hospitality trade body has urged Andy Burnham to drop plans to expand the so-called “tourist tax” across the country as part of his devolution drive. UK Hospitality (UKH) has written a letter to the Prime Minister, seen by City AM, warning that the government’s overnight visitor levy would cost 33,000 jobs in the [...]
Whitbread food sales slump after revealing exit from restaurant arm June 18, 2026 Whitbread has seen food and drink sales slump after it revealed its divisive decision to sell its restaurants and pivot to a hotels-only business. The Premier Inn owner said food and drink sales fell by five per cent to £148m in the three months to the end of May, compared to a three per cent [...]
Whitbread: Activist investor pushes for sale of FTSE 100 Premier Inn owner May 18, 2026 An activist investor with a major stake in Premier Inn’s owner Whitbread has called for the FTSE 100 firm to put itself up for sale, attacking its “chronic misallocation of capital”. Corvex Management, which owns 11.8m shares – around seven per cent – in Whitbread, has issued a scathing rejection of the firm’s latest cost-saving [...]
Blackstone, Saudi wealth fund collect £4m dividends from four Morrisons stores May 4, 2026 Private equity firm Blackstone and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund have handed themselves £4m in dividends from their ownership of four Morrisons supermarket buildings. The pair acquired the sites – in Maldon, Stockport, Harrogate and Newcastle – for £110m in 2023 as part of a sale and leaseback arrangement which saw the supermarket chain sell [...]
Whitbread to cut nearly 4,000 jobs in £2bn cost saving plan April 30, 2026 Whitbread is to slash nearly 4,000 jobs as part of plans to offload restaurants and sell off the freehold rights to its hotels, in a bid to raise £2bn. Shares in the company slipped on Thursday after it announced the plans to raise £1.5bn by selling off the freehold rights to a raft of its [...]
Bank of England Live: Interest rates held as hawks warn of ‘highly uncertain’ energy prices April 30, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today decided to hold interest rates at 3.75 per cent in a hawkish display. In last month’s decision, the Bank held rates in a unanimous decision. Afterwards, short-term gilt yields, which reflect government borrowing costs, sharply rose as traders priced [...]
Whitbread hopes to win back investors with £1.5bn property sell-off April 29, 2026 Premier Inn owner Whitbread will hope to win back investors when it announces a £1.5bn sell-off of a shedload of its property portfolio on Thursday. The FTSE 100 giant is gearing up for its full-year results later this week, and aims to please its investors with a cash injection to turn the corner on a [...]