Whitbread to cut 6,000 jobs as hotel demand slumps

Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn and Beefeater, has warned that 6,000 staff could lose their jobs. The company criticized the cuts on a decline in hotel guest numbers since lockdown.

It comes as the government's furlough scheme, which still pays 27,000 Whitbread staff, ends next month.

Whitbread said hotel stays in August had halved compared with last year, while diner numbers fell by more than a third, though said it had been helped by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

The firm could also be affected by new rules forcing restaurants to shut at 22:00. From Thursday, hospitality venues will have to close earlier to help slow down the spread of the coronavirus.

Whitbread said it expected demand to remain lower well into 2021 and possibly 2022.

Whitbread boss Alison Brittain said the company was hoping to avoid compulsory redundancies "With demand for travel remaining subdued, we are now having to make some very difficult decisions, and it is with great regret that today we are announcing our intention to enter into a consultation process that could result in up to 6,000 redundancies in the UK, of which it is hoped that a significant proportion can be achieved voluntarily."

Around three-quarters of Whitbread's 35,000 staff are still paid in part through the government's furlough scheme.

The firm said it had taken the decision in the face of subdued demand, noting that it would stop receiving help with staff wages at the end of next month.

Whitbread said it had lost more than three-quarters of its sales in the first half the year when hotels and restaurants were forced to close because of the virus.

Since then it said demand for hotel rooms had been "strong" in tourist hotspots but London and other metropolitan areas had been less popular.

The expected job losses, which account for around a fifth of Whitbread's workforce, follow cuts to the company's head office staff, which affected around 150 people.

Shares in the company lost around 2.5% of their value shortly after markets opened in London.