- Whitbread chief executive Dominic Paul has warned that recent UK tax hikes and rising labour costs have forced the Premier Inn owner to scale back planned hotel investments that would have created new jobs.
- Paul urged Andy Burnham to freeze property taxes in his upcoming autumn Budget. While the Government will be offering rates relief for some hospitality businesses such as pubs and music venues, hotels are excluded.
- The hotel group also voiced strong opposition to proposed regional visitor levies, cautioning that local tourist taxes would be unhelpful for its nationwide network of 842 hotels.
- Despite financial pressures, Whitbread reported a 2 per cent rise in total revenues to £1.57 billion for the six months to 27 August, though adjusted pre-tax profits dropped 9 per cent to £287 million.
- The company is pushing forward with a five-year strategy to save £250 million by closing branded restaurants such as Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, cutting up to 3,800 jobs, and will develop some former restaurant sites into additional hotel rooms.
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