Apr 27, 2021
Whitbread to invest £350m in hotels and marketing despite record loss
The company posted a record £1bn loss for 2020 on Tuesday but said that, alongside an expected rapid bounceback in leisure travel, it would seek to reach a broader range of business guests by marketing through corporate travel management companies for the first time. Whitbread shares were down about 3 per cent in morning trade. Whitbread would not fully recover until mass events such as football matches and pop concerts returned, Brittain added. In the UK, 92 per cent of Premier Inn hotels have remained open during the latest lockdown but only for essential business travel, while 12 of its 30 German hotels are closed as the country suffers another wave of coronavirus. Despite targeting cost cuts of £100m by 2024, Whitbread said it would invest £350m this year in opening about 5,000 new rooms and its first big marketing campaign for three years, which will feature the British actor and comedian Lenny Henry.
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