Premier Inn owner Whitbread has revealed it will axe around 1,500 jobs across the UK amid plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants by more than 200 in favour of building more hotel rooms.
The group, which owns restaurants including Brewers Fayre and Beefeater, said the job cuts are still subject to consultation and come from its total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.
It said the move was part of a plan to “optimise” its food and drink offering to add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate and increase “operational efficiencies”.
There are currently eight Premier Inn Hotels across Northern Ireland and nine in the Republic.
A ninth 81-bed Premier Inn Hotel is currently being progressed by Co Armagh firm JH Turkington next to Belfast International Airport.
The Four Corners Premier Inn hotel in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, which includes the Bar + Block restaurant, was sold 18 months ago for £12.2m
Whitbread said it plans to sell 126 of its less profitable branded restaurants, with 21 sales already having gone through.
It will also convert 112 restaurants into new hotel rooms.
Dominic Paul, Whitbread chief executive, said: “We recognise that our transition will impact some of our team members so we will be providing support throughout this process and we are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of those affected to remain with us.”
The FTSE 100 company announced pre-tax profit of £452m for the year ending February 29, up 21% on the year before.
But its restaurants and pubs division, which also includes Bar+Block and Table Table, lagged behind.
The company’s total food and beverage sales were up only 7% year on year, driven mainly by breakfasts in the restaurant chain.
Food and beverage sales were down 2% for the seven weeks to April 18, the most recent period on record.
As a result, Whitbread said the cost-cutting programme will save about £150m over the next three years.
Whitbread also said it will offer a £150m stock buy-back to shareholders in the next six months and increase dividend payments by 26% this year.
Mr Paul said the company’s financial performance was “really excellent” and that the Premier Inn hotel brand was the “driving force” behind the results.
Referring to the job cuts, he added: “Decisions like this are never easy, but this will make us a stronger and better business in the future.”
