Premier Inn announces £100 million London expansion
Released
on: May 1, 2008, 7:52 am
Press
Release Author: Whitbread
PLC
Industry:
Consumer
Services
Press
Release Summary: Premier Inn announce the development of six new
Premier Inn hotels to be opened in London over the next three
years, with an overall investment of £100 million
Press
Release Body: Whitbread PLC, the UK’s largest
hotel and restaurant group, has announced the development of six
new Premier Inn hotels, with 1200 rooms, to be
opened in London over the next three years, with an overall investment
equivalent to £100 million.
Whitbread
has agreed to acquire the Quality Hotel (Westminster),
Comfort Inn (Kensington) and Purple Hotel (City
of London) from the Real Hotel Company PLC (RHC)
for £18.5 million, adding 400 new rooms. An additional
£12 million will be spent converting them to Premier
Inn hotels. Whitbread has also secured
the first right of refusal to acquire all 12 of the remaining
Purple hotels from RHC should they be earmarked
for sale. The proposed acquisition is subject to RHC
shareholder approval and certain property related consents.
Premier
Inn is also developing three new build hotels in
the Greater London area, which together with extension to existing
properties adds 800 new rooms. The three new London
hotel builds are located at Waterloo, Ealing and Old Street
in the City and are scheduled to open by 2011. The equivalent
of £70 million* will be invested in these leasehold developments.
Premier
Inn is the largest group of hotels
in London by number of properties with 44 hotels and 5,300
rooms. These latest plans will increase the total number of rooms
in the Capital to 6,500, with a further pipeline of 2,000 rooms
expected to be announced over the next twelve months. Together,
these will represent an increase of 60% to Premier Inn’s
London estate.
Alan
Parker, Chief Executive Officer of Whitbread PLC, said:
“We
have exciting expansion plans for Premier Inn in
London and the addition of 1200 rooms is a great start. The Capital
is an important focus for Premier Inn, and there is an increasing
need for high quality, affordable accommodation. Our further pipeline
will position us as the largest hotel chain in London with at
least 8,500 rooms before the Olympics in 2012”.
*
The £70 million relates to the capital value of the lease
commitments, the cash capital to be invested amounts to £6.5
million.
About
Whitbread PLC
Whitbread PLC is the UK's largest hotel and restaurant
group with market leading businesses Premier Inn, Brewers Fayre,
Beefeater and Costa. Founded in 1742, the company is listed on
the London Stock Exchange (as WTB.L) and is a member of the FTSE4Good
indices.
Web
Site: http://www.whitbread.co.uk/
Contact
Details: Whitbread PR contact:
Julie Foster
Interim Communications Director
Whitbread PLC
Oakley House
Oakley Road
Luton
LU4 9QH
01582 844244
www.whitbread.co.uk
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