Whitbread Group has hired a heavyweight of the retail world to help drive its £1bn hotel expansion plans.
Joanne Moon has been appointed as director of acquisitions at the company to expand its new Hub by Premier Inn brand.
She will also help to secure buildings and sites to ensure Whitbread meets its target of increasing the size of the Premier Inn portfolio by 45% to 75,000 bedrooms by 2018.
Moon joins from Asda, where she left her position as property acquisitions director ?in March after eight years ?with the supermarket. She previously spent a decade at Tesco.
Moon said: “Whitbread moves at pace and makes decisions quickly. It has a very clear strategy of where it wants to be and how it is going to get there.”
The first Hub by Premier Inn is set to open in November in St Martin’s Lane, WC2. The company already has 10 sites for the hotels, which have smaller rooms, where features are controlled by smartphone apps.
Noella.Pio.Kivlehan@estatesgazette.com
