The owner of Premier Inn is to cut 3,800 jobs in the UK and Ireland as part of a five-year plan to save 250m pounds and overhaul its restaurant offer.
Whitbread said it would replace restaurants at 197 hotels with an integrated food and drink model, and cut 1bn pounds from its capital building programme. The group said the changes were aimed at making the business more efficient and better suited to customer demand.
The company, which is based in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, said increased costs, including business rates and national insurance, meant changes were needed at the UK’s biggest hotel chain. Chief executive Dominic Paul said the firm had looked hard at its options and that the new plan would accelerate its strategy.
Whitbread employs about 30,000 people and said the proposals were subject to consultation with staff. It said it expected to keep a significant number of affected workers through redeployment.
Restaurants at 197 hotels will be replaced by the new model if the plan goes ahead. Whitbread said the approach was preferred by guests and would be more efficient than the current set-up.
The job cuts come after Whitbread reported pre-tax profit of 298m pounds for the year to 26 February, down 19% from the previous year. The company also made 88 roles redundant last year when it moved a call centre to Egypt, and cut 1,500 jobs in 2024.
Premier Inn is the UK’s largest hotel chain, with 86,000 rooms. Whitbread said the five-year programme is designed to support long-term value creation as it responds to rising operating costs.
In a statement, Paul said: “We’ve looked hard at the options open to us to maximise value creation over the medium and long-term,” he said. “This has been a rigorous process and we’ve approached all options with an open mind.”
The company said its new plan would also reduce spending on future building projects as it focuses more on its existing estate. Whitbread has not said how many of the 3,800 jobs will go from hotel operations, restaurants or support functions.
The overhaul marks one of the biggest changes at the business in recent years. It comes as UK hospitality groups continue to face higher labour and operating costs, while also trying to keep prices competitive for guests.
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