Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as Whitbread announces thousands of job cuts across its Premier Inns, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites
- Whitbread: Cutting 18% of jobs due to ‘subdued’ demand
- Boris Johnson to announces new restrictions today
- More than £50bn knocked off FTSE 100 yesterday
Whitbread has also warned that demand for hotels in major cities is still weak, which is forcing the 6,000 job cuts announced this morning.
The company was closed its doors from late March to early July. It’s seen strong demand at tourist sites since reopening, but not in metropolitan areas — probably because so few people are going on business trips.
Since reopening, total UK accommodation sales growth was ahead of the market, benefitting from the fast reopening, the strength of the Premier Inn brand and our leading customer proposition. Demand was strong in seaside & tourist locations, with occupancy levels of almost 80% during August in those locations. However, demand remained subdued across the rest of the hotel market, particularly in London and metropolitan areas.
Across our entire UK estate, overall occupancy levels steadily improved on a weekly basis, averaging 51% in August with year-on-year accommodation sales recovering to -47.3%, while UK Restaurant performance was boosted by the positive impact of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. Total UK sales (accommodation and food and beverage) improved to -38.5% in August.
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
We start with bad news from the UK – Whitbread, the hotel and restaurant chain, is cutting up to 6,000 jobs. It’s the latest in a string of firms across the leisure sector to cut headcount since the pandemic began.
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.
In line with our longstanding values of treating our people fairly, our priority is now to ensure that this process is clear and transparent for all colleagues and that everyone impacted is supported throughout.
Related: Pubs and restaurants across England to be forced to shut at 10pm
Related: Fears over second Covid lockdown wipes £50bn off FTSE 100
Related: US stock markets continue falling amid Covid fears as Dow drops 510 points
“We remain committed to using our tools to do what we can, for as long as it takes, to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible, and to limit lasting damage to the economy,”
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