Whitbread opened six new hotels and 40 Costa cafes during the first quarter.
It wants to add 2,000 new hotel rooms in the UK and overseas this year. The information is reported in the context of notification that Whitbread will report a first-half sales update today.
JD Wetherspoon, which reports full-year results on Friday, has been cashing in on the downturn by buying 30-40 new pubs. Most purchases have been as a result of closures and bankruptcies.
07/09/09 Daily Telegraph B7
Independent 38
Financial Times 28
