Budget hotel brand Premier Inn has seen a strong start to the new year, with bookings ahead of 12 months ago.
In a trading update, Dominic Paul – chief executive of Whitbread, the UK hospitality conglomerate which owns Premier Inn – said: “Our Five-Year Plan is set to deliver incremental profit of at least £300m by FY30 and release more than £2bn for shareholders through a combination of dividends and share buy-backs. We are making good progress against our strategic priorities including our Accelerating Growth Plan and cost efficiency programme, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver a step change in profits, margins and returns.
“The structural shift in UK supply has meant that Premier Inn is continuing to sustain the significant gains made since the pandemic. Whilst forward visibility remains limited, the favourable supply backdrop, together with our brand strength and commercial initiatives, means we are confident that we can continue to outperform the market.”
Premier Inn unveiled its ambitious growth plans for Ireland, back in June.
It said it plans to open a further 5,000 bedrooms here – both in Dublin and around the country. This would represent a 30% increase in its room portfolio in Ireland.
Prior to that, Premier Inn had been planning to expand by only 3,500 rooms in Ireland.
Premier Inn launched in Ireland in 2018. It currently has six hotels in Dublin and Cork. It is now seeking new openings in Dublin – at Heuston and Connolly railway stations, Dublin 2 and South Docklands; but also outside of Dublin in areas like Killarney, Kinsale, Kilkenny, Sligo, Westport, Tralee, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford.
In the first half of last year, Premier Inn’s Irish division more than doubled its revenues to £16.4m.
