Mark Anderson, managing director, property, commercial and Premier Inn Germany at Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants
Everyone knows the old saying about ‘knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing’. We make it our job to know both because, in hotels, we need to give our guests clear value every time while managing our cost base and business effectively.
Our proposition and brand are based on delivering a straightforward offer – a great night’s sleep – consistently and backed up with excellent service.
Yet the simplicity of our offer and being tagged ‘budget hotels’ doesn’t mean there’s anything ‘simple’ about how we invest in or focus on getting the fundamentals for our business right. We’re forensic about attention to detail, listening to customers, working with suppliers and structuring every part of our organisation to deliver the commodity that matters to our guests – sleep. That’s why we guarantee it.
Making the right investment is what has helped us to achieve growth. Today, we have around 700 Premier Inn hotels offering more than 56,000 bedrooms and we are on track to hit 75,000 bedrooms by 2018.
This financial year we are spending approximately £10m on new beds and bedding for our guests to ensure that we provide them with a brilliant night’s sleep wherever and whenever they stay with us.
In November, we opened our new hotel format – hub by Premier Inn. This offers a more compact bedroom supported by higher-specification IT (such as app-controlled multimedia and air conditioning). Over three years of trials and refinement, guests consistently told us they would compromise on room size to be in the very best locations, but they would not compromise on price or room spec.
The onus remains squarely on the acquisition team to secure the right buildings in the right locations and because of the smart innovation packed into the compact bedroom format, and the greater bedroom densities that can now be achieved, this means buildings in some of the very best urban centres are now in play.
Proper investment – targeted into the right areas – is essential. So, from beds to bricks, we’re investing to underpin customer satisfaction and business growth – and there’s nothing ‘budget’ about that.
