All Whitbread articles
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NewsLabour minister admits tourist tax launched without assessing jobs impact
Local government minister Jim McMahon said the government had failed to carry out a formal national impact assessment of the levy and its effect on the economy
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Weekend PressPremier Inn owner: ‘Tourist tax’ could stop us opening new hotels
Whitbread boss Dominic Paul tells The Times Andy Burnham’s planned levy on overnight visitors would hit an industry already struggling with higher business rates
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OpinionVisitor levies may work in cities. The real test lies elsewhere
Jet-setting city-break visitors to English cities are unlikely to be put off by a tourist tax, with overnight levies already commonplace acorss Europe. The greater concern is for more price sensitive family staycations to coastal, rural and seasonal destinations which are already under pressure
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NewsHospitality leaders condemn tourist tax as latest blow to a sector at breaking point
Communities secretary Angela Rayner announced local and regional leaders will be able to introduce a percentage-based charge on overnight stays in hotels, holiday lets and B&Bs, with Labour mayors indicating they are likely to levy around 5%
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NewsFive Guys and Whitbread named for underpaying staff
Five Guys said the £54k underpayments identified by HMRC were caused by “technical differences in how payroll regulations were applied”, and have now been repaid
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NewsUKH launches new guest safety principles for hotels
The guidance is built around five core principles of ensuring guest security and safety in accommodation
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NewsTravelodge CEO steps down
Joanna Boydell’s departure, announced alongside the group’s H1 results, comes as the business overhauls its safety procedures following a sexual assault at one of its hotels
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NewsWhitbread to sell 53 sites to Queensway Inns
Based in Newcastle, Queensway has extensive experience operating hospitality businesses across the UK and intends to operate the sites as going concerns
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NewsWhitbread restaurants to close for good in September
The Premier Inn operator is preparing for the final trading days of its branded restaurants as part of a major restructuring plan
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NewsWhitbread appoints new non-executive director
Mark Allan, CEO at Land Securities Group, begins his role on 1 October 2026 and will also join the audit committee and nomination committee.
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NewsChickpea appoints group ops director
Matthew Aitken-Case previously hed ops roles at Whitbread’s Bar + Block Steakhouse, Premier Inn, and Costa Coffee
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Weekend PressWhitbread CEO: ‘Dear Andy Burnham, here’s why we’re investing £500m less in the UK’
Writing in The Sunday Times, Dominic Paul says the next prime minister must abandon ‘ruinous’ changes to business rates that are choking growth
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Weekend PressUK hotels poised for business rates reprieve next year
As a ‘big loser’ from Rachel Reeves’s shake-up last November, the sector is hoping to secure a reversal from the chancellor on crippling taxes, The Sunday Times reports
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NewsWhitbread: ‘We think the plan we’ve laid out is the right one’
Following its Q1 results, the group has pushed back against calls from activist investor Corvex Management to reduce UK capex saying it ‘would not be the right thing to do’
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NewsWhitbread delivers ‘strong and improved’ Q1 performance
The group has reported total sales growth of 2% in the first quarter of its financial year and says its new five-year accelerating growth plan is being executed ‘at pace’
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NewsM&B to acquire small package of Whitbread sites
The pub and restaurant group is to acquire a seven-strong package of sites from Whitbread, which will be converted to either Miller & Carter or Toby Carvery, chief executive Phil Urban told MCA.
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OpinionWhitbread: Its next chapter as a pure-play hotel business
Less than two years since launching a new five-year plan for Premier Inn and Beefeater owner Whitbread, chief executive Dominic Paul has rolled out a fresh one. MCA columnist Dominic Walsh assesses the reasoning and impact of its latest strategy
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NewsActivist hedge fund calls for sale of Whitbread
Corvex Management has written to Whitbread’s board and shareholders demanding a ‘rigorous and comprehensive’ sale process be launched for the business
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OpinionBeefeater’s slide from market leader to samey follower
In its heyday Beefeater was an iconic best-in-class brand, its restaurant designs pivotal to its success. But in subsequent evolutions, the original ethos was lost and its core values completely eroded, Philip Harrison writes
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OpinionTrailblazing Beefeater faces the chop
With owner Whitbread long ago losing interest in branded restaurants in favour of more proftiable hotels, it was surprising Beefeater and Brewers Fayre lasted as long as they did, their dependency on Premier Inn maintaining the brands on terminal life support