Regional UK hotel rates show quarterly decline
Whitbread warns of ‘ tougher ’ year ahead
Hatters Hostel owners fined over asbestos failings
MONTH IN REVIEW www . hotelowner . co . uk 1 2 3 4 5 6
Whilst we are only seven weeks into our new financial
year Premier Inn has had a good start to the year and
Costa has also seen positive like for like sales growth ,
although we remain cautious and expect a tougher consumer environment than last year . Alison Brittain , chief executive , Whitbread
REGIONS
Regional UK hotel rates show quarterly decline
Top destinations in the UK showed a decrease in hotel rates compared with last year , data from HRS - Global Hotel Solutions has suggested .
The quarterly figures showed Liverpool down by 14.3 %, and Bristol close behind with an 11.7 % decrease . Reading saw no change with its average rates and London showed a marginal decline of 0.6 %.
Surprisingly the top three cities in Ireland saw increases in their average rate per room night with Cork showing a 29.1 % jump .
Andy Besent , managing director of HRS , said : “ There continues to be uncertainty in the UK surrounding Brexit and now with Theresa May calling for an early general election we will have to wait to see the impact .
We have seen outbound travel from the UK more expensive due to the weak pound but the fall in average rates should at least make the UK a more attractive and cost effective destination for travellers ”.
ECONOMIC WEATHER
Whitbread warns of ‘ tougher ’ year ahead
The owner of Premier Inn has warned of a “ tougher ” year ahead as shares in the firm dropped 7 %.
Despite preliminary results showing strong profits for the 52 weeks to 2 March 2017 , the company has said that it “ remains cautious ”.
The group ’ s sales increased 8.2 % to £ 3.1bn , and the Premier Inn brand enjoyed total sales growth of 9 % and like-for-like sales growth of 2 %.
Last year , the company saw one of the biggest FTSE100 drops in its share price following the Brexit vote .
Alison Brittain , chief executive , said : “ Whitbread has had another year of strong growth - total basic earnings per share increased by 7.3 %.
“ Premier Inn ’ s strong sales growth benefitted from the 3,816 gross new UK rooms we opened this year and the accelerated maturity of the circa 9,000 rooms we have opened over the last two years . We achieved occupancy of over 80 % with record levels of direct bookings at 94 %.”
The additional rooms put pressure on Premier Inn , as RevPAR growth slowed to 1.4 %. Compared with the rest of the UK , the hotel chain underperformed .
In February last year , Premier Inn built its first German hotel in Frankfurt and has committed to building five more .
Brittain added : “ In the year ahead we will continue to focus on organic growth and investing in our customer proposition .
“ Whilst we are only seven weeks into our new financial year Premier Inn has had a good start to the year and Costa has also seen positive like for like sales growth , although we remain cautious and expect a tougher consumer environment than last year .”
REGULATIONS
Hatters Hostel owners fined over asbestos failings
Two family-run companies have been fined after a surprise health and safety inspection found there was no asbestos survey before converting a basement .
The directors of Hatters Hostel Ltd , the company behind Hatters Hostel , have been fined over £ 44,000 .
Manchester Crown Court heard how Hatters Taverns Limited appointed sister company Hatters Hostel Limited as the contractor for the basement conversion , to turn the former restaurant unit into a bar , which required a stripping of the area .
An unannounced inspection carried out by the Health and Safety Executive ( HSE ) found that no asbestos survey was carried out before tradesmen began the conversion .
By the time of the inspection , the work had been going on for eight months and involved workers from six different firms . No asbestos was found on three walls that had been renovated and it is unknown if the workers were exposed to the harmful mineral , as evidence could have been destroyed .
UPCOMING EVENTS
15 May
IMEX Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel – Frankfurt
16 May
Phocuswright Europe – Amsterdam
22 May
Boutique and Lifestyle Hotel Summit 2017 – London
22 May
Boutique Hotel Summit 2017 London
10 www . hotelowner . co . uk May 2017