Whitbread sells stake in healthy café chain Pure

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has sold its stake in healthy café chain Pure after almost eight years.

The hospitality group bought a 49% share in Healthy Retail Limited, which trades as Pure, in 2016 when it had eight sites.

A Whitbread spokesperson said: “As Pure was not a core part of Whitbread’s strategy, the group has sold its interest to a third party.”

Documents on Companies House show Whitbread Plc stopped being a person with significant control of Healthy Retail Limited on 22 December 2023.

Pure was founded in 2009 and serves healthy grab and go salads, wraps and drinks. It trades from 17 cafés in London and Gatwick Airport, as well as two delivery kitchens.

Accounts show sales at Healthy Retail Limited doubled to over £20m in 2022 as the business rebounded from the pandemic.

However, it saw pre-tax losses widen from £3.45m in 2021 to £4.55m in 2022.

The company estimated ongoing rail and tube strikes cost the business at least £600,000 in losses over 2022 and 2023 and “millions of pounds” of sales as its core commuter customers stayed at home.

Two of Pure’s best-performing shops before the pandemic also had to close due to Network Rail works in 2022, although its Waterloo Station shop reopened in February 2023.

Pure’s electricity bill during the period doubled from 2019 and the company directors wrote in its accounts that it was impacted by a drop in consumer disposable income amid the cost of living crisis.

Despite the difficulties, Pure opened two new shops in 2023 and it expects the number of people commuting and working in offices near its cafés to gradually increase over the next three to five years.

Whitbread operates over 840 Premier Inn hotels in the UK and is behind restaurant brands including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Bar + Block.