Whitbread said today it will shut its 197 remaining branded restaurants and start selling more meals at its Premier Inn hotels, potentially cutting about 3,800 jobs as it battles pressure from UK property taxes and an activist investor.
Whitbread had been exploring ways to boost returns after the UK budget left Britain's largest hotel operator saddled with higher costs.
The company was already converting some underperforming restaurants into hotel rooms and was urged by activist investor Corvex in December to review its strategy.
A surge in energy prices triggered by the war in the Middle East is expected to compound difficulties for the hospitality sector, which had already been hit by weak consumer spending and increased costs.
Whitbread said it will take a £5m hit this year from the impact of the Iran war on hotels in the Middle East.
Whitbread warned that planned changes to its five-year strategy would reduce adjusted pre-tax profit by £10m in the current financial year ending February 2027.
Whitbread shares fell as much as 12% to 2,098 pence today.
The changes in Whitbread's strategic planning come as fiscal pressures mount on the hospitality sector, with CEO Dominic Paul saying the plan would transform Whitbread into "a higher-margin, higher-returning pure-play hotel business".
The company plans to sell £1.5 billion of freehold property to fund future growth and reduce net capital expenditure, reducing its freehold ownership to 30%-40%, making it a majority leaseholder for the first time since the Premier Inn chain was founded in 1987.
"We see the updated plan as constructive and expect it to support stronger longer-term outcomes," JPMorgan analyst Estelle Weingrod said.
Whitbread said the plan would generate £2 billion of free cash flow available for shareholder returns by fiscal 2031, though it will pause share buybacks this year.
The company also reported forward bookings that outpace those of last year, supported by peak leisure demand and a strong events calendar.
