Premier Inn owner to cut 3,800 jobs in savings plan

An important development from the financial markets: Premier Inn owner to cut 3,800 jobs in savings plan 26 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Sam Read Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire Harry Low/ The hotel chain has 86,000 rooms in the UK 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 and overhaul its restaurants. Whitbread, based in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, also said it would change the way its serves food and cut £1bn from its capital building programme. Restaurants at 197 hotels will be replaced by an "integrated food and drink model", which the company said would be more efficient and was preferred by guests.

Chief executive Dominic Paul said increased costs in the form of business rates and national insurance meant changes were needed at the UK's biggest hotel chain. "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.

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"Our new five-year plan builds on our strengths and drives a significant acceleration of our strategy. " Whitbread, which employs 30,000 people, said the plans were subject to a staff consultation and it expected to retain a significant proportion of those affected through redeployment. The firm made 88 roles redundant last year when it moved a call centre to Egypt and cut 1,500 jobs in 2024 .

It comes after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £298m for the year to 26 February, which was 19% lower than the year before. Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on Sounds , Facebook , Instagram and X .

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.