Premier Inn targets 85,000 rooms by 2020

Whitbread is targeting 85,000 Premier Inn rooms by 2020 having predicted that branded budget hotels will account for 29% of the market in four years time.

Like for like sales are up 3% at the hospitality group, with total sales up 12% at £2.9b and underlying profit before tax up 11.9% at £546m for the 53 weeks to 3 March.

Premier Inn saw total sales grow of 12.9%, with like for like sales up 4.2%.

Whitbread currently operates 64,599 Premier Inn rooms, which saw occupancy of 80.9% in the period. Revpar was up 2.6%, compared to 8% the previous year.

Chief executive Alison Brittain said that with a pipeline of around 12,700 rooms, the group was on course to hit a total of 85,000 by 2020 through continued shift from independent to branded hotels.

She said: "Both Premier Inn and Costa benefit from attractive market growth opportunities and we will continue to capitalise on these by developing our network and brand strength as we fulfil our ambitions to reach c.85,000 UK hotel rooms and c.£2.5b system sales in Costa, by 2020.

"The world around us is shifting, with rising customer expectations, an evolving competitor landscape, rapid technological developments and changing cost structures. In responding to this change, I am especially keen to reinforce our relentless focus on our customers and on innovation to develop our brand propositions ensuring we stay ahead and become more productive."

Premier Inn remains the largest UK hotel brand as 24,000 bedrooms set to open before 2018 >>

First Hub by Premier Inn outside London opens in Edinburgh >>

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