Whitbread PLC, who own some of the UK’s leading commercial property chains, recorded excellent sales this year and so the company have announced plans for growth over the next three years.
The news comes after Whitbread, which owns Costa Coffee, Premier Inn, Taybarns, Beefeater Grill, Brewers Fayre and Table Table, revealed overall like-for-like sales for of 2.7 per cent in the last 50 weeks up until 16 February 2012. Premier Inn’s and Costa Coffee’s like-for-like sales were 3.4 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively for the same period.
Speaking of the sales results, Whitbread’s Chief Executive, Andy Harrison, said: “Whitbread has delivered good total sales growth for the year in difficult economic conditions, as we continue to invest in our strong brands.
“We expect to report in April another full year of double digit earnings growth, in line with expectations.”
Whitbread Commercial Property Growth
Since 4 March 2011, Whitbread has opened 158 UK commercial properties to house new Costa Coffee shops, as well as opening 148 new stores overseas. The chain has also created a further 4015 hotel rooms by expanding existing Premier Inn commercial properties and opening new ones.
From the growth over the last year, Whitbread now has 2,177 Costa Coffee stores and 48,310 Premier Inn hotel rooms. This is set to continue over the next three years, as the company plans to have a total of 3,500 Costa Coffee shops and 65,000 Premier Inn hotel rooms. The firm also plans to spend £70 million refurbishing existing hotel rooms.
Speaking of the company’s expansion, Mr Harrison stated: “Premier Inn has outperformed its competitive set, benefiting from our commitment to maintain our hotels to a consistent high standard. Our scale, strong balance sheet and good returns enable us to continue to expand in line with our plans and win share of the hotel market.
“Costa has delivered excellent results this year, with total sales increasing by 25 per cent, driven by good like for like sales growth and record new store openings of 359 stores.”
The commercial property company have already created 2,500 jobs due to their expansions, and by 2015 approximately 10,000 jobs will be created if the growth rate goes to plan.
So why are Whitbread companies performing so well, especially Premier Inn, when other hotel commercial properties, such as Travelodge, are struggling with masses of debt? Premier Inn believes the success is down to their recent advertising campaign which stars Lenny Henry. Since the campaign started, over three quarters of all hotels room are occupied, an increase of 6.6 per cent.
Whitbread’s commercial properties currently serve around 11 million customers every month and employ around 40,000 people worldwide.
