Dreaming big: Premier Inn owner Whitbread is taking on rivals
26 April 2012
Consumers are cutting back where they can, but a decent cup of coffee is clearly a necessity.
Whitbread, owner of the booming Costa Coffee chain, was reported a 13% rise in profit for the year to March 1 of £305 million. Sales were up 11% to £1.7 billion.
That’s not all coffee ,of course. The Premier Inn budget hotels and Beefeater pubs are also making a contribution.
Chief executive Andy Harrison said news the country is officially in recession won’t make much difference to the company. “The UK economy has been going sideways for a while now... whether up 0.2% or down 0.2% — for me that’s flat,” he said.
