Whitbread is to raise prices to cope with increased construction costs, despite claiming its Premier Inn brand has “significantly outperformed” the British hotel market.
Like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 25 November were 5.5% ahead of 2019 levels, it said.
However, it conceded that there had been low levels of forward bookings in January and February, generally its quietest months, while the latest coronavirus variant also had an effect on its business.
In the six weeks to 6 January, UK sales fell by 4.4% on 2020 levels, while food and drink sales slid by 17.2%.
It added that inflation, Covid and the increased construction costs for new hotels was likely to cost it £110m, but added that it was committed to new openings.
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