Premier Inn: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Whitbread PLC is owned by its shareholders: as a listed company it has no single person with significant control on the register. In the year to February 2026 it reported turnover of £2,920m.
- In the year to February 2026, Premier Inn had turnover of £2,920m, down 0.1% on the year before.
- It made a pre-tax profit of £298m.
- This profile shows Whitbread PLC, which owns Premier Inn. Its revenue of £2,920.2m is £2,245.7m of hotel rooms, £627.3m of food and drink in its hotels and branded restaurants and £47.2m of other income; £2,659.3m came from the UK and Ireland and £260.9m from Germany. Its pre-tax profit of £298.4m is after £184.7m of adjusting items (group accounts to 26 February 2026, p. 172).
- It employed an average of 32,386 people, with staff costs of £802m.
- Whitbread PLC is listed on the stock market, so it is owned by its shareholders.
- These figures are from Whitbread PLC's group accounts for the year to February 2026, filed at Companies House on 9 July 2026.
- Registered name
- WHITBREAD PLC
- Company number
- 04120344
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 1 December 2000
- Registered office area
- Luton
- Industry code on the register
- 70100: Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to February 2026, filed 9 July 2026
What does Premier Inn do?
Whitbread is the hotel group that owns Premier Inn, the UK's biggest hotel brand, with over 900 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Germany, including its smaller-room hub by Premier Inn hotels in London and Edinburgh. It earns most of its money from room bookings and the rest from food and drink, served in restaurants in or next to its hotels, including its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurants. It began as a brewer in 1742 and sold its breweries in 2000 and Costa Coffee in 2019, and these figures are the group accounts of Whitbread PLC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In brief: hotel group · owns Premier Inn · UK, Ireland and Germany · pub restaurants beside its hotels
Source: Premier Inn's own website, retrieved 9 November 2026.
Who owns Premier Inn?
Whitbread PLC, company number 04120344, has no person with significant control on the register. That is normal for a company whose shares trade on a regulated market: ownership sits with the shareholders who hold the shares at any given time.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Premier Inn?
The Companies House register lists 12 current officers for Whitbread PLC.
All 12 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Richard Dunnell Gillingwater | 27 June 2018 |
| Frank Fiskers | 31 January 2019 |
| Kal Atwal | 1 March 2021 |
| Hemantkumar Kiritbhai Patel | 21 March 2022 |
| Dame Karen Elisabeth Dind Jones | 9 January 2023 |
| Dominic James Paul | 17 January 2023 |
| Priscilla Deborah Snowball | 24 January 2023 |
| Alexandra Clare Thomas Hathaway | 22 June 2023 |
| Shelley Roberts | 1 November 2023 |
| Christine Mary Hodgson | 1 September 2025 |
| Jonathan Anton George Howell | 1 January 2026 |
| Mark Christopher Allan | 1 October 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Premier Inn file?
Whitbread PLC reported turnover of £2,920m in the year to February 2026. That was down 0.1% on £2,922m the year before.
It reported 32,386 employees. The year before it reported 34,700.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £298m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £368m the year before.
Staff costs came to £802m. That is an average of £25,000 a head. It ended the year with £234m at the bank and net assets of £3,136m. It paid dividends of £169m.
| Measure | Feb 2026 | Feb 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £2,920m | £2,922m |
| Pre-tax profit | £298m (filed) | £368m (filed) |
| Employees | 32,386 | 34,700 |
| Staff costs | £802m | £819m |
| Average staff cost per head | £25,000 | £24,000 |
| Bank and cash | £234m | £909m |
| Net assets | £3,136m | £3,335m |
| Dividends paid | £169m | £178m |
| Interest paid | £200m | |
| Directors' pay | £4m |
What these figures cover: This profile shows Whitbread PLC, which owns Premier Inn. Its revenue of £2,920.2m is £2,245.7m of hotel rooms, £627.3m of food and drink in its hotels and branded restaurants and £47.2m of other income; £2,659.3m came from the UK and Ireland and £260.9m from Germany. Its pre-tax profit of £298.4m is after £184.7m of adjusting items (group accounts to 26 February 2026, p. 172).
Read the accounts to February 2026 (PDF, Companies House) · every accounts filing
What do these figures mean? Turnover vs profit · Profit per £100 · Cash vs profit · Net assets · Group accounts
How Premier Inn compares
Premier Inn files as Whitbread PLC, with turnover of £2,920m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Premier Inn
What does Premier Inn do?
Whitbread is the hotel group that owns Premier Inn, the UK's biggest hotel brand, with over 900 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Germany, including its smaller-room hub by Premier Inn hotels in London and Edinburgh. It earns most of its money from room bookings and the rest from food and drink, served in restaurants in or next to its hotels, including its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurants. It began as a brewer in 1742 and sold its breweries in 2000 and Costa Coffee in 2019, and these figures are the group accounts of Whitbread PLC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Is Premier Inn bigger than Travelodge?
Yes, by turnover. Premier Inn reported £2,920m in its latest accounts, against £1,009m at Travelodge. Our Premier Inn v Travelodge page compares the two on profit, margin, growth and staff. Premier Inn v Travelodge →
Who owns Premier Inn?
Whitbread PLC is owned by its shareholders. As a listed company it is exempt from the register of people with significant control, so no single owner appears at Companies House.
How much does Premier Inn make?
Whitbread PLC reported turnover of £2,920m in the year to February 2026. It filed a pre-tax profit of £298m.
How many people work at Premier Inn?
Whitbread PLC reported 32,386 employees in the year to February 2026.
Who runs Premier Inn?
The Companies House register lists 12 current officers for Whitbread PLC. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Whitbread PLC's filings at Companies House, company number 04120344, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Premier Inn: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 9 November 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/premier-inn/. Figures from Companies House filings for WHITBREAD PLC (04120344).
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