Thanks to strong sales and store openings for the Costa Coffee brand, Whitbread has benefitted from a mini resurgence.
The company, which is also behind the Premier Inn hotel chain, has enjoyed a successful quarter with total sales at Costa Coffee rising by 22.5 per cent compared to a year ago, pushing group sales up 9.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Premier Inn also did well with eight per cent growth.
Growing success
The overall sales figures met analysts’ expectations even though business was thought to be adversely affected by the extended Easter and Royal Wedding holiday.
There was disappointing news for its restaurant chain, with trading hurt by what was described by chief executive Andy Harrison as “a more difficult casual dining market”. Indeed like-for-like sales at its restaurants fell by 1.4 per cent compared to the previous year.
However, there are now plans for Costa Coffee to enjoy further expansion after opening 73 new branches during the period. The hotel and restaurant group wants to open another 300 Costa Coffee outlets during the next year – that’s an increase of 15 per cent; while adding 4,000 rooms to its Premier Inn line-up, an increase of nine per cent.
Double the savings
If you’re searching for savings on hotels and drinks, there is one website that can help with both – 5hop5.ie. The voucher codes website has both a drinks and hotels section – simply search its listings and note down the voucher codes that are relevant for you so you can apply them on your next purchase.
