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in growth

Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

We own Premier Inn, the

UK’s largest hotel brand,

operating 86,000 rooms

in over 850 hotels. We

also have a significant

and growing presence in

Germany and, with 62 hotels

open, we are on course to

replicate our UK success

andbecome the number

onehotel brand.

Our scale, operating model

and passion for excellence

mean we can deliver a

great guest experience

whilst continuing to invest

in our operations and drive

attractive shareholder returns.

Find out more about ForceforGood

in our ESGReport 2024/25

Find out more online

www.whitbread.co.uk/

Sustainability highlights

Ethnic minority representation

in our leadership population

9.3%

2023/24: 9.1%

Raised for Great Ormond Street

Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH)

£2m

2023/24: £2.4m

Reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions

intensity from a 2016/17 base year

59.7%

2023/24: 54.9%

Our year at a glance

Financial highlights

Statutory revenue

£2,922m

2023/24: £2,960m

Adjusted basic earnings pershare†

194.6p

2023/24: 206.9p

Adjusted operating

cash flow†

£723m

2023/24: £787m

Adjusted profit before tax†

£483m

2023/24: £561m

Statutory basic earnings pershare

141.5p

2023/24: 161.0p

Lease-adjusted net debt

toadjustedEBITDAR†

3.0x

2023/24: 2.6x

Statutory profit before tax

£368m

2023/24: £452m

Dividend per share

97.0p

2023/24: 97.0p

Total shareholder returns*

£442m

2023/24: £756m

* Total shareholder dividends paid and share buy-backs completed in 2024/25.

†

See pages 232 to 238 for definitions of alternative performance measures. This footnote is referenced throughout the report.

Throughout this report and unless stated otherwise, all percentage growth comparisons are made comparing the latest year (2024/25) performance

with that of the prior year (2023/24).

Read more on pages 58–59

Opportunity Community Responsibility

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Contents

Strategic report

2 Purpose and strategy

3 Brands and locations

4 Business model

6 Why invest?

8 Chairman’s statement

10 Chief Executive’s review

14 Strategy in action: Our five year plan

16 Strategy and KPIs

20 Strategy in action: Grow and innovate

in the UK&I

22 UK market drivers

24 UK strategy

26 UK performance

28 Strategy in action: Focus on our strengths

togrow in Germany

30 German market drivers

32 German strategy

34 German performance

36 Strategy in action: Enhance our capabilities

to deliver long-term growth

38 Long-term growth strategy

40 Chief Financial Officer’sreview

44 Stakeholder engagement

50 Our Values

52 Chief People Officer’s review

58 Sustainability

62 Risk management

64 Principal risks and uncertainties

70 Viability statement

71 Non-financial and sustainability

informationstatement

72 Climate-related financial disclosures

Governance

90 Corporate governance ataglance

92 Chairman’s governance report

94 Corporate governance statement

96 Board leadership and company purpose

98 Division of responsibilities

99 Board of directors

103 Executive Committee

104 Composition, succession andevaluation

106 Nomination Committee report

108 Audit Committee report

114 Remuneration Committee report

120 Remuneration at a glance

122 Directors’ remuneration policy

130 Annual report on remuneration

142 Directors’ report

148 Directors’ responsibility statement

149 Independent limited assurance report

Consolidated accounts 2024/25

153 Independent auditor’s report

162 Consolidated income statement

162 Earnings per share

163 Consolidated statement

ofcomprehensiveincome

164 Consolidated statement of changes inequity

165 Consolidated balance sheet

166 Consolidated cash flow statement

167 Notes to the consolidated financial statements

Whitbread PLC Company

accounts2024/25

218 Company balance sheet

219 Company statement of changes in equity

220 Notes to the Company financial statements

Other information

231 Glossary

232 Alternative performance measures

239 Shareholder services

In 2024, we launched our Five-Year Plan to deliver

a step change in profits, margins and returns.

Throughout this report, we explain our progress

in2024/25 and our plans to 2029/30.

Find out more on pages 14 to 19

in growth

InvestingInvesting

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

2 STRATEGIC REPORT

What sets us apart?

PURPOSE AND STRATEGY

Our strategy comprises the following threepillars:

See page 16

Our long-established and

industry-leading sustainability

programme isfully embedded within

each pillar of ourbusiness strategy.

We have setambitious targets across

all areas of our business.

Find out more online

www.whitbread.co.uk

Responsibility

We always seek to operate in a way that respects

people and the planet.

See page 59

Community

We are focused on making a meaningful contribution

to the customers and communities we serve.

See page 58

Opportunity

We want all of our team members to reach their

potential with no barriers to entry and no limits

toambition.

See page 58

Underpinned by our Values

Enhance our capabilities to

supportlong-term growth

Read more on page 17

To provide high-quality, affordable hotel rooms

toour guests, to help them to live and work well

andtopositively impact the world around us.

With no barriers to entry or limits to ambition,

we will provide meaningful work, skills and career

development opportunities for our teams.

See page 55

“Our ambition is to

be the world’s best

budget hotel brand.”

Dominic Paul

Chief Executive

Purpose

Strategic pillars

Force for Good

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Our hotel brands

Food and beverage, especially a hot breakfast, is a key part of the guest experience

atPremier Inn. The majority of our guests are served by an integrated restaurant within

thehotel, tailored for the Premier Inn guest. At approximately 200 of our sites, guests are

served byaneighbouring branded restaurant trading under one of our six brands above.

Find out more online

www.whitbread.co.uk/about-us/our-brands/

BRANDS AND LOCATIONS

Premier Inn is the largest hotel brand in the

UK and has a growing presence in Germany.

Our consistent guest proposition is synonymous

with providing high-quality and great value

hotel rooms. We have a long runway for

growth; our committed and future pipeline,

together with our UK extensions programme,

means we will reach at least 98,000 open

rooms in the UK and Ireland and 20,000

open rooms in Germany by 2029/30.

‘hub by Premier Inn’ offers a more

compact,digitally advanced in-room

experience at a great price in prime

citylocations. With 18 hub hotels

alreadyopen across London and

Edinburgh,wehave a committed

pipelinetoopen more sites over

thenextfew years.

Where we operate

1 As at 27 February 2025, we also operate 11

Premier Inns across the Middle East as part

ofajoint venture.

2 Includes six sites in Ireland, one site in each

ofGuernsey and the Isle of Man and two sites

inJersey.

3 Includes one site in Austria.

4 Sites where the Group has a legal interest in a

property with the intention of opening a hotel

in the future. UK committed pipeline includes

Accelerating Growth Plan extension rooms with

planning approval

United Kingdom and Ireland

Our largest and most profitable market is

driven by high volumes of domestic travel,

supplemented by inbound travel. With a

significant decline in the independent

sector and limited new room growth from

other branded operators, a favourable

supply backdrop is expected to remain

inplace for the next few years.

Germany

The German hotel market is 40% larger

thanthat in the UK and shares a number

ofattractive structural characteristics that

helped drive Premier Inn’s success in the UK.

Having grown rapidly in recent years, we are

on course to become Germany’s number

onehotel brand, delivering profitable growth

and attractive long-term returns on capital.

Long-term ambition to become

No.1

Open rooms

11,000

Committed pipeline

7,000

Read more on pages 24 to 25

Our food and beverage brands

High-quality, great

valueproposition

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

4 STRATEGIC REPORT

BUSINESS MODEL

Our differentiated

approach

With a market-leading position in

the UK and a growing presence in

Germany, through our business model

we are executing at pace toreach our

ambitions and deliver long-term value

for key stakeholders.

Our

ambitions

Our

outcomes

Our

enablers

Our capital

allocation

Find out more about how we generate and sustain value

www.whitbread.co.uk/

Highly engaged

teams

Market-leading

guestproposition

Sustainable

profitablegrowth

Our outcomes

Generating benefits for our teams, guests, communities and shareholders:

Investing in long-term value Rewarding key stakeholders

Our capital allocation

Striking the appropriate balance through our strict capital discipline and framework, we are:

Extending our

market-leading

position in the UK

Becoming No.1

in Germany

Enabling long-term

growth

Our ambitions

Our strategy is underpinned by our Five-Year Plan that is set to drive us closer towards the

achievement of each of the following ambitions that are set out later in this report:

See more about our Five-Year Plan on page 14

See more about our outcomes on pages 17–19

Force for

Good

Page 58

Culture

and values

Page 50

Governance

framework

Page 90

Vertically

integrated

model

Our enablers

We have identified a number of key enablers that are fundamental to our long-term success:

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Availability

• Over 850 hotels across the UK and Ireland,

with 43 hotels in the committed pipeline

• 62 hotels in Germany, with 38 hotels

inthe committed pipeline

• Variety of room and booking options

catering to guests’ needs

Value

• High-quality rooms at affordable prices

• Offering flexibility and value through

our different rate types

• Tailored food and beverage offering

enhances the guest experience

Consistency

• UK’s leading hotel brand

• High guest satisfaction in Germany

• Investment in our product and teams

delivers a consistent, high-quality

experience

Vertically integrated model

Our vertically integrated model differentiates us from our peers and is a significant source of competitive advantage:

Driving long-term, sustainable value for our stakeholders

Operational control

Commercial excellence

Freehold-backed balance sheet

Low-cost distribution

Cost efficiency

Sustainability

We control all elements of the

valuechain...

...and for our guests.which generates key benefits for us...

We have a flexible

property model

We own and operate all

ofour hotels and brands

We own the customer

relationship

We manage our

inventory distribution

1 UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value scores as at

27February 2025.

2 Germany YouGov Satisfaction: 1 March 2024

to27February 2025

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

3 | Differentiated model underpins a market-leading proposition

WHY INVEST?

Our market-leading

reputation for both

quality and value

in theUK is also

underpinning strong

growth in Germany.

Withc.34,000 people

employed, the Group

is a constituent ofthe

FTSE 100 index.

Our operating model is a key source of competitive

advantage. Ownership of all aspects of our operations

ensures the delivery of a consistent, high-quality product,

whilst our scale and financial discipline mean we can continue

to offer great value for our guests. A centralised approach

torevenue management allows us to maximise revenue

whilstmanaging our cost of sales by integrating our digital

marketing and customer relationship management activity

into our trading strategy. Ourfood and beverage offer helps

us to drive incremental RevPAR and our Accelerating Growth

Plan will optimise our offer and further enhance the guest

experience. Our Force for Good sustainability programme

ensures we are contributing positively to the communities

where we operate.

1 UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value scores as at 27 February

2025 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.

Investment

case

2 | Unlocking value in Germany

Germany is a large and exciting market with significant

volumes of leisure and business travel. The independent

sector is larger than that in the UK and has also been

declining post the pandemic. However, there is no clear

leaderin the branded budget segment, creating opportunity

for Premier Inn.

Having grown rapidly through a combination of acquisitions,

conversions and new builds, we have 100 hotels in our open

and committed pipeline. Including our pipeline, we are

already one of the largest operators and are on course

tobecome the country’s number one hotel brand.

Open hotels*

Pipeline hotels

* Includes one hotel in Austria.

1 | Long-term growth opportunity in the UK

With 86,000 rooms open and a further 8,000* rooms in our

pipeline, we have significant growth potential of up to 125,000

rooms across the UK and Ireland. With a material reduction in

independent supply following the pandemic and a subdued

pipeline of new build hotels, we do not expect UK supply to

recover to 2019 levels until at least 2027. Our flexible approach

to property ownership means we are well placed to take

advantage of this significant market opportunity by adding

rooms through both new sites and extensions as demonstrated

by our Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP).

* UK and Ireland committed pipeline, including AGP rooms with

planning approved.

Open and

committed rooms

2029/30 open

rooms target

94,000

98,000

125,000

Long-term

potential rooms

UK YouGov BrandIndex

Quality

Hilton

Marriott

Premier Inn

Crowne Plaza

Best

Western

Holiday Inn

Airbnb

Holiday Inn Express

Ibis

Travelodge

Booking.com

10 20 30 40

Value

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

4 | Attractive returns on a growing capitalbase

5 | Asset-backed balance sheet provides stability and enables growth

Since 2019/20, we have added over 7,000 rooms across

the UK and Ireland and increased our return on capital

employed† (ROCE). Whilst benefiting from a small shift

towards more leasehold properties, lease-adjusted returns

have also increased over this period and remain well

above our cost of capital. At the end of 2024/25, our

UKestate stood at 86,000 rooms and we achieved

ROCE† of 12.9%. While this is lower than 2023/24 levels,

this reduction reflected the impact of our Accelerating

Growth Plan, higher inflation and softer UK demand.

Withthe further optimisation of our estate, our ongoing

commercial initiatives and operating efficiencies, we

expect to increase UK returns substantially as reflected

inour Five-Year Plan. Our German business is also making

excellent progress and is on track to deliver similar rates

of return to the UK over the medium to long term. As laid

out in our Five-Year Plan, our current open estate in

Germany of 11,000 rooms will be mature and deliver

double-digit returns by 2029/30 with our remaining

estate maturing thereafter.

COVID-19 pandemic

85k

86k

65k

68k

72k

76k

79k 79k

82k

84k

Number of UK rooms Premier Inn UK ROCE†

12.9%

13.0%

13.4%

13.3%

11.3%

2.3%

12.9%

15.5%

12.9%

(14.4)%

Our strong balance sheet

and property expertise

underpin our confidence in continuing to invest in

high-returning hotel projects. These projects can

sometimes be capital intensive and take years to

complete and are often out of reach for many of our

competitors. As well as helping to bolster the strength

ofour financial covenant, our freehold estate provides

operational flexibility and is also a potential source

ofattractive long-term funding through selective sale

andleaseback transactions. Owning freehold property

also means we can both maximise the commercial

opportunity in any location, as well as optimise our

estate by recycling lower-returning assets into bigger,

more efficient hotels in better locations, maximising

long-term returns.

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

Open

Freehold

Leasehold

52%

48%

Freehold

Leasehold

52%

48%

Open and

committed

Premier Inn UK returns

Five-Year Plan

Our investment case is underpinned by the execution

of our Five-Year Plan to deliver incremental Group

adjusted PBT† of at least £300m

by 2029/30 that will

generate more than £2bn available for share buy-backs

and dividends.

1 Versus 2024/25.

Read more on pages 14 and 15

1 Fitch Affirms Whitbread at ‘BBB’; Outlook Stable –

FitchRatings, 29 January 2025.

Freehold:leasehold mix

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

Our position as the UK’s number one hotel

brand has been founded on our ability to

deliver a consistent and high-quality service.

By continuing to invest in our estate, our

supporting infrastructure and our teams,

wehave been able to secure an unrivalled

market reputation for both quality and

value. Our leadership position in the UK is

not something we take for granted and we

are determined to extend it further through

a carefully managed programme of long-term

investment. This will ensure that we can

continue to deliver for our guests whilst

generating attractive long-term returns for

our shareholders. By replicating this approach

in Germany, we have a growing presence

inone of Europe’s largest hotel markets,

where we are on course to become the

number one hotel brand

Five-Year Plan

Against a more challenging macroeconomic

backdrop during 2024/25, our business

model and strategy, together with the

dedication and professionalism of our

teams, have enabled us to lay the foundations

for significant value creation.

Given our strong balance sheet and our

confidence in the delivery of our Five-Year

Plan, that includes recycling at least £1bn

ofour most mature property, we expect

togenerate at least £300m of incremental

profit and more than £2bn for share

buy-backs and dividends by 2029/30.

Ourplan is covered in more detail in the

Chief Executive’s review and on pages 10

to13.

Full-year results and

finaldividend

Premier Inn UK outperformed the market

and delivered a robust financial performance

in the year, with accommodation sales in

line with last year. UK food and beverage

revenues reduced as a result of our

Accelerating Growth Plan, in line with our

expectations. In Germany, the continued

and progressive maturity of our hotels

meant that we outperformed themarket

and delivered a much-improved

performance. This offset a reduction in

netfinance income (before lease liability

interest) following the return of £442m

toshareholders through dividends and

share buy-backs, as well as total capital

expenditure totalling £488m. The net result

was that the Group delivered a statutory

profit before tax of £368m, after £116m

ofadjusting items (including £76m of

property-related impairments).

We successfully completed the issuance

ofa new £400m bond in February 2025

and our balance sheet remains strong, as

reflected by our investment grade rating

Given the strategic progress made over

thepast year and our confidence in the

delivery of our Five-Year Plan, the Board

isrecommending a final dividend of 60.6p

per share, resulting in a total dividend

pershare to 97.0p (2023/24: 97.0p). The

final dividend will be paid on 4 July 2025

toshareholders on the register on 23 May

2025. As in previous years, the Dividend

Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) will enable

eligible shareholders to receive their

dividend entitlement in the form of

additionalWhitbread shares.

Strategy

The three pillars of our strategy have

notchanged:

(i) grow and innovate in the UK;

(ii) focus on our strengths to grow

inGermany; and

(iii) enhance our capabilities to support

long-term growth.

Embedded within each pillar is our commitment

to our Force for Good sustainability programme

that ensures we execute our strategy in

ways that seek to minimise our impact on

the environment, maximise opportunities

for all and deliver benefits for our communities.

Further details of our progress on each

pillar are included in the Chief Executive’s

review on pages 10 to 13, while examples

ofour strategy in action explain how the

execution of our plans is continuing to

produce a fantastic experience for our

guests, quality employment for our teams

and attractive and sustainable returns for

our shareholders.

Read more about each of our strategic pillars

as well as our Force for Good commitments

and progress on pages 16 to 19

Capital allocation

With a large capital base, capital allocation

is a key area of focus as we look to grow

our financial returns. Retaining a strong

balance sheet with investment grade metrics

means we can take full advantage of our

vertically integrated model to optimise the

balance between short-term growth and

the delivery of attractive, sustainable

long-term returns. Since April 2023, the

Group has returned £1.2bn to shareholders.

Reflecting our confidence in the Group’s

medium-term prospects and preserving

Long-term investment

“ Our leadership position

is not something that we

take for granted and we

are determined to extend

it further through a well-

managed programme of

long-term investment.”

Adam Crozier

Chairman

Find out more online

www.whitbread.co.uk

1 Based on number of available hotel rooms.

2 Fitch Ratings, 29 January 2025.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

sufficient capacity to fund our existing

capital programmes, as well as any suitably

attractive and high-returning investments,

the Board has announced plans to complete

an additional £250m share buy-back to be

completed during the current financial year.

Further details regarding the latest

share buy-back can be found in the Chief

Executive’s review on pages 10–13

The Board

As a few Board members are approaching

the prescribed maximum tenure of nine

years on the Whitbread Board, we have

been considering carefully how best to

ensure the smooth transition and transfer

ofthe considerable collective experience

ofdeparting Board members. As part of

this process, we announced in December

2024 that Chris Kennedy will be stepping

down from the Board and as Chair of the

Audit Committee at the Company’s AGM in

June 2025. Chris joined the Board in March

2016 and he has been an invaluable source

of advice and counsel to me as Chair, as

well as to the rest of the Board. We want to

thank him formally for his enormous

contribution over that time and wish

himthe very best in his future endeavours.

Whilst we are well advanced with the

recruitment of a new Audit Committee

Chair, I am pleased that Horst Baier, who

has significant and relevant experience,

hasagreed to act as interim Chair of the

Committee whilst this process completes

and to allow a reasonable period of handover.

We expect to announce at least two new

non-executive directors over the coming

year and are focused on appointing

individuals that can further enhance the

Board’s already extensive skills matrix,

whilst also considering the background and

experience of departing Board members.

We have been making good progress

towards the FCA’s target of having at least

40% of the board being female and our last

three appointments to the Board have been

female directors. We will meet this target

when Chris Kennedy steps down from the

Board in June. On the FCA’s target of

having at least one of the top positions

being held by a woman, we wish to highlight

that our previous Chief Executive was female.

As and when further positions open up on

the Board, we will continue to drive progress

in this area and will provide further updates

in future reports.

Governance

Having completed internal reviews for

thepast two years, we were required to

complete an external review of the Board’s

effectiveness during 2024/25. Whilst pleased

to be able to report that the Board remains

highly effective in all areas, we are never

complacent and continue to seek ways

thatwe can improve in order to drive better

outcomes for our stakeholders. A fundamental

part of our process includes meeting with

key shareholders so that they can raise any

concerns with me directly. They can also

discuss our business strategy and culture,

remuneration, environmental, social and

governance matters as well as financial and

operational performance. As ever, these

discussions are invaluable in helping to

ensure that we consider all aspects carefully

as we seek to drive our financial performance

whilst effectively managing our key risks.

Having conducted a thorough review of our

existing remuneration policy during the past

year, we have proposed a revised policy

that will be put to shareholders for a formal

vote at the forthcoming 2025 AGM. Whilst

the core elements of the new policy have

not changed materially, full details of the

policy are laid out in the remuneration report

on pages 122 to 129. As explained in the

introduction to the report by the Chair of

the Remuneration Committee, the Committee

has sought to establish a clear framework

of appropriate incentives based on the

achievement of stretching and measurable

targets designed to align the interests of

our management and teams with those of

our shareholders and other key stakeholders.

Share capital

During the year we simplified our share

capital by converting our outstanding B and

C Preference Shares into Ordinary Shares,

which was well received by the holders of

those shares. We also traced around 5,000

shareholders that had not cashed dividend

cheques sent out to them and so were able

to re-unite them with more than £800,000

in lost assets.

The interim dividend that we paid in

December 2024 was our first to be paid

without an option of being paid by cheque.

Whilst the majority of our shareholders

have opted to have their dividends paid

electronically, not all have yet done so.

Details of how shareholders can register

sotheir dividends can be paid directly

totheir bank account can be found in

theshareholder services section of the

Annual Report on page 240.

Annual general meeting

The AGM will take place at 2:30pm on

19June 2025 at our head office in Dunstable

and full details of the meeting are set out

inthe Notice of Meeting. For those able to

attend, my colleagues and I look forward

towelcoming you then.

In line with last year and reflecting the low

numbers of shareholders using the service

previously, we will not be providing a live

video stream of our AGM but the meeting

will be available remotely via an audio-only

webcast. Shareholders who are unable to

attend the meeting in person are welcome

to submit questions by email in advance of

the meeting to agmquestions@whitbread.com.

Any questions should be submitted by 5pm

on 18 June 2025. Votes can be submitted in

person at the meeting or in advance via a

proxy card or the online proxy voting system,

but it will not be possible to vote online

during the meeting.

Outlook

Investing for the long term is an approach

that has served us well throughout our 282-year

history – it has enabled us to continue to

prosper, even in the face of significant

macroeconomic, commercial and geopolitical

headwinds. Our Five-Year Plan will deliver a

step change in our profits, margins and returns

and is underpinned by our scale, strong balance

sheet, the quality of our customer proposition

and the power of our vertically integrated

model. We are excited about our future

prospects and look forward with confidence.

Adam Crozier

Chairman

30 April 2025

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW

In October 2024, we announced our

Five-Year Plan that we are confident will

deliver at least £300m incremental adjusted

profit before tax† by 2029/30, releasing

more than £2bn available for share buy-backs

and dividends.

Having laid the foundations for significant

growth, we are executing at pace and

making excellent progress on our strategic

initiatives, against what has been a softer

market backdrop over the past year. By

focusing on what we can control, our

Five-Year Plan is on track to deliver a

step-change in our profits, margins and

returns and we remain positive about

themedium-term outlook.

In the UK and Ireland, our Accelerating

Growth Plan is progressing well and as we

open our growing committed pipeline, we

will reach at least 98,000 open rooms by

FY30. At the same time, our commercial

strategy is driving our outperformance

versus the M&E market and we are

continuing to realise material cost savings

across all areas of our business without

compromising our reputation for both

quality and value.

This will be a breakthrough year in Germany

and we are set to deliver our first ever adjusted

profit in FY26. We are growing quickly,

driving strong guest satisfaction scores,

performing well ahead of the market and

our cohort of more established hotels is on

track to reach its targeted double-digit level

of returns. We remain confident in realising

our long-term ambition of becoming the

country’s number one hotel brand, delivering

significant revenue growth, attractive

long-term returns and providing a platform

for potential expansion into other

international markets.

We remain focused on disciplined capital

allocation and returns. Our vertically integrated

model is a key source of competitive

advantage as we continue to drive further

growth. With a more favourable outlook in

the property investment market, we will

look to recycle at least £1bn of our more

mature property assets to fund future growth

and drive higher financial returns. Given our

confidence in our Five-Year Plan, together

with the strength of our balance sheet, we

are recommending a final dividend of 60.6p

per share and are accelerating the planned

delivery of shareholder returns with a

£250m share buy-back to be completed

over the next twelve months.

2024/25 Financial

performance

While the expected impact of AGP and

softer market demand in the UK made for a

more challenging trading backdrop, Premier

Inn UK outperformed the midscale and

economy (‘M&E’) market

and delivered a

robust financial performance. The strength

of our brand and guest proposition meant

that total accommodation sales were in line

with last year while total UK F&B revenues

fell by 11% due to the impact of the transition

from lower-returning branded restaurants

to an integrated F&B offering as part of

AGP, partly mitigated by strong breakfast

sales in our integrated restaurants. In Germany,

we made excellent progress and total

accommodation sales were up by 21% with

good growth in both occupancy and average

room rate (ARR). The result was that total

statutory revenue was slightly lower than

last year at £2,922m (2023/24: £2,960m).

The combination of the impact of AGP, cost

inflation and lower interest income, partially

offset by increased cost savings and

excellent progress in Germany, meant that

adjusted profit before tax† decreased to

£483m (2023/24: £561m). There was an

increased charge for adjusting items in the

year of £116m (2023/24: £109m). The result

was that statutory profit before tax was

down 19% to £368m (2023/24: £452m).

UK – Continuing to outperform

the market

Total accommodation sales were in line

withlast year with occupancy remaining

high at 81.0% (2023/24: 82.2%), and ARR

only slightly lower than last year at £79.52

(2023/24: £79.76).

The strength of our brand, our scale and

continued network expansion are important

drivers for our business and help us to stay

ahead of the market in terms of accommodation

sales. As the largest hotel brand in the UK,

performing ahead of the market on RevPAR

growth is more challenging as we have more

rooms to fill than our competitors. However,

with the benefit of several new commercial

initiatives deployed during the year, we

outperformed the M&E market

on RevPAR

growth during the second half of the year

and maintained a significant £5.49 RevPAR

premium versus the rest of the M&E market.

Several external and internal factors were

important drivers for our UK business over

the past year including: softer UK market

demand; muted hotel supply growth; the

optimisation of F&B ata number of our

sites as part of our AGP; our continued

network expansion; and the impact of

several commercial initiatives as part of

ourongoing commercial programme.

Delivering a step-change in performance

“By focusing on what we

can control, our Five-Year

Plan is on track to deliver a

step-change in our profits,

margins and returns. We

remain confident in the

medium-term outlook.”

Dominic Paul

Chief Executive

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Taken together, these factors meant that

UKaccommodation sales were in line with

last year, while the impact of AGP meant

that F&B revenue declined by 11% resulting

in UKstatutory revenue down 3%.

Despite increasing cost pressures from cost

inflation and network expansion, our shift to

a more efficient F&B model as part of AGP,

plus increased cost efficiencies of £75m,

meant that adjusted profit before tax† fell

to£507m (2023/24: £588m). This impacted

UK pre-tax margins† that reduced to 18.8%

(2023/24: 21.2%) and UK ROCE† was 12.9%

(2023/24: 15.5%).

During the year, further sites have been

identified to be disposed of as part of our

AGP and we have also updated cashflow

assumptions for sites originally included

inthe scope of the plan. The result is a net

impairment charge of £43m being incurred

in the year in relation to AGP. Further net

impairment charges of £10m have been

incurred over the rest of the UKestate.

Germany – On track to

replicate UK success

Our German business is making excellent

progress and the Premier Inn brand is

attracting growing numbers of both

German and international guests. With the

increasing maturity of our estate and brand,

supported by our commercial initiatives,

weremain on course to deliver a positive

adjusted profit before tax† in 2025/26 and

are progressing towards our longer-term

objective of becoming the country’s number

one hotel brand and delivering strong profit

growth and double-digit returns on capital.

We are particularly pleased with the

performance of our cohort of 17 more

established hotels

. Whilst not yet mature,

the cohort delivered aggregate site-level

profit

of £16m in FY25 (2023/24: £9m).

Aswell as giving us visibility on the future

profit potential for our estate as a whole,

this performance contributed to a

much-reduced adjusted loss before tax†

forall of our German operations of £11m

(2023/24: £36m), inline with our expectations.

The Group continues to make progress

through organic growth and portfolio

acquisitions with current year performance

reflecting the increased maturity of open

sites. Having updated site-level cashflow

forecasts for these sites, we have identified

impairment indicators at a small number

ofsites which has resulted the impairment

of five sites totalling £22m in 2024/25.

Our teams

It is thanks to the continued professionalism

and hard work by our team members that

we are able to continue to deliver a great

quality service, at prices that deliver fantastic

value to our guests. Having made some

changes to our organisational structure

during the past year, the commitment from

our teams, coupled with the strength of our

model and our continued programme of

investment, meant that our guest scores

remained high over the past year, strengthening

our position as the UK’s leading hotel brand.

While the slowdown in construction during

the pandemic reduced the number of new

room openings to 459 in 2024/25, our strong

balance sheet meant we were able to add

nearly 1,500 new rooms to our committed

pipeline that will drive a marked increase in

new room openings over the next few years.

Our current open and committed pipeline

stands at 18,230 rooms (2023/24: 16,792 rooms)

with 40% of our committed pipeline being

freehold sites.

Drawing upon our growing pool of guest

data, we have continued to refine and

improve our commercial strategy that is

contributing to strong RevPAR momentum.

Key initiatives included improvements

toour trading strategies; our first online

marketing campaign; broadening our

distribution using third-party platforms;

andincreasing our brand awareness.

As a result of these initiatives and with

theincreasing maturity of our estate

andbrand, RevPAR grew by 18% in local

currency which was significantly ahead of

the M&E market

. This strong performance

was supported by our cohort of 17 more

established hotels

, that is continuing

tomature at pace, as evidenced by its

17%RevPAR growth.

As in the UK, we also made good progress

on improving our operational efficiency and

managing our costs. With our increasing

scale, we are finding new opportunities to

reduce costs without compromising our

great guest experience. Examples include

increased spans of control for some of our

hotel managers, taking advantage of new

technologies and through better procurement.

Financial strength

Having a strong balance sheet means we

can strike an appropriate balance between

investing in high-returning, long-term

growth opportunities and returning excess

capital to shareholders through dividends

and earnings-enhancing share buy-backs.

The Group remains highly cash generative

and after total capital expenditure of £488m

(2023/24: £509m), £442m of share buy-backs

and dividends and the recent issuance of

anew £400m bond

, our ratio of adjusted

EBITDAR to lease-adjusted net debt†

usingthe new Fitch methodology was

3.0x(2023/24: 2.6x), which is below our

internal threshold of 3.5x

1 STR data, standard basis, 1 March 2024 to

27February 2025, UK M&E market excludes

Premier Inn.

2 STR data, standard basis, 1 March 2024 to

27February 2025, Germany M&E market

excludes Premier Inn.

3 Cohort of 17 more established German hotels

that were open and trading under the Premier

Inn brand for 12 consecutive months as at

4March 2022.

4 In aggregate, adjusted profit before tax

excluding non-site related administration

andoverhead costs.

5 The Group issued £400m of 5.50% guaranteed

notes due in 2032.

6 This measure aligns to the Fitch methodology,

with the leverage threshold set at 3.5x

lease-adjusted net debt: adjusted EBITDAR

forBBB- and 3.0x for BBB, both of which are

within investment grade.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW CONTINUED

Clear strategy

Our ambition is to become the world’s

leading budget hotel brand, delivering

afantastic experience for our guests,

rewarding employment for our teams

andlong-term, sustainable returns for our

shareholders whilst also driving positive

change through our Force for Good

sustainability programme.

To achieve our objective, we are

executingthe following three pillars

ofourbusiness strategy:

• continuing to grow and innovate

intheUK;

• focusing on our strengths to grow

inGermany; and

• enhancing our capabilities to support

long-term growth.

Each pillar is embedded within our

Five-Year Plan that we announced in

October 2024 and is set to deliver a step

change in our profits, margins and returns.

Five-Year Plan

With the execution of several strategic

initiatives and by maintaining a steady

levelof capital intensity and leverage,

by2029/30 the Group will:

• increase Group adjusted PBT† versus

2024/25 by at least £300m; and

• generate more than £2bn available

forshare buy-backs and dividends.

We have a strong track record of being

ableto more than offset UK cost inflation

through a combination of cost efficiencies

and positive UK like-for-like† sales growth.

Our Five-Year Plan illustrates the position

assuming we only offset cost inflation over

the life of the plan. However, we expect that

our actual UK like-for-like† sales growth,

together with our cost efficiencies, will be

inexcess of UK cost inflation over the life

ofthe plan. The key elements of our plan

are as follows:

UK: Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP)

(+£100m adjusted PBT† by 2029/30)

By optimising the delivery of F&B at around

200 of our sites and converting a number

of our lower-returning branded restaurants

into a more efficient, integrated F&B offer,

we will unlock 3,500 new extension rooms.

This will deliver incremental adjusted PBT

ofat least £100m by 2029/30.

UK: Network expansion (+£120m

adjusted PBT† by 2029/30)

By opening our current committed pipeline

of over 7,000 rooms, adding the 3,500

extensions as a result of our AGP andby

adding and opening a further 1,500 rooms

over the next few years, we are on course to

reach at least 98,000 open rooms by

2029/30. Before the benefits of our AGP,

our network expansion will deliver incremental

PBT of at least £120m by 2029/30.

Germany: network expansion and

RevPAR uplift (+£80m adjusted PBT†

by 2029/30)

We are on course to reach profitability in

2025/26. With the opening of our existing

pipeline and the addition of a further rooms

that will be open by 2029/30, our open

estate will almost double to 20,000 rooms.

Reflecting the increasing maturity of our

estate, improved distribution and increased

brand awareness, by 2029/30 we expect

toachieve a network RevPAR of c.€80 and

deliver adjusted PBT† of at least £70m

Thereafter, we expect to make further

progress as our estate and brand continue

to mature.

Strong commercial programme

andcost efficiencies to at least

offsetinflation

We plan to continue to drive like-for-like†

sales momentum through several initiatives

that include continuing to evolve our trading

strategies and enhancing our digital capabilities,

including greater usage and functionality

ofthe Premier Inn app. Whilst difficult to

measure the individual impact ofeach

initiative on our performance, webelieve

that each will deliver a positive contribution

and help drive like-for-like† sales momentum

in 2025/26.

Having completed an extensive exercise

looking at all areas of our P&L, we are on

track to deliver £60m of cost efficiencies

in2025/26, with a further £190m of savings

in aggregate between 2026/27 and 2029/30,

totalling £250m of efficiencies across the life

of the plan.

Maintaining average net capex

at£500m per annum

Our strong balance sheet and prudent

investment approach means we can

continue to invest in growing our business

whilst also increasing our return on capital.

Having a large portfolio of freehold property

with significant in-house property expertise

is a major source of commercial and operational

advantage, including maximising our chances

of securing the right assets in our target

locations and by enabling us to recycle

capital and release significant development

profits through sale and leasebacks and

other property-related transactions.

By segmenting our portfolio into a series

ofcategories based on a site’s strategic

importance, size, location and maturity, we

can prioritise any potential opportunities to

create further value. This could be through

an extension or further development or by

adopting a different financial structure that

results in development profits and/or

additional yield potential.

The property investment market is

improving and activity levels in the hotel

sector are increasing. We completed two

sale and leasebacks for £56m in the first

half of 2024/25 at an average yield of just

over 4% and are progressing the sale and

leaseback of a further seven hotels across

avariety of regional UK locations at

attractive yields.

We have instructed our external property

valuers to compete a current market

valuation of our freehold and long-leasehold

estate in the UK, Ireland and Germany and

as part of our Five-Year Plan we will recycle

at least £1bn of our more mature property.

By recycling more of our freehold property

into higher returning assets, we can fund all

of our plans outlined above and maintain

average annual net capex at £500m per

annum to 2029/30.

Full details of our Five-Year Plan are set out

on pages 14 and 15.

1 UK and Ireland committed pipeline excluding

extension rooms from Accelerating Growth Plan.

2 Using a GBP: EUR exchange rate of 1.18.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Capital allocation

andsharebuy-backs

Having reapplied the Group’s capital

allocation framework, given the strength

ofour balance sheet, our confidence in

thedelivery of our Five-Year Plan and the

attractive returns available from repurchasing

the Group’s shares at current levels, the

Board is recommending a final dividend

of60.6p per share (FY24: 62.9p) and has

announced its intention to conduct an

additional £250m share buy-back, to

becompleted over the next twelve months.

2025/26 guidance and outlook

In the UK, after a softer start to the quarter

that was impacted by the phasing of public

holidays, our commercial programme has

delivered an increasing level of outperformance

versus the M&E market. Our forward booked

position is ahead of last year, supported by

strong peak leisure demand. Although the

UK macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain,

with the introduction of further commercial

initiatives, we remain confident in continuing

to outperform the market.

Asset-backed balance sheet

and investment grade status

Maintain

investment grade metrics

Continue to invest

in profitable growth

Clear dividend policy Capital return

Capital allocation in 2024/25

£488m gross capex and

receiptsfrom property-related

transactions of £137m

Recommended final dividend of

60.6p per share (2023/24: 62.9p)

making 97.0p for the year

(2023/24:97.0p)

£250m of share buy-backs

completed in 2024/25

In Germany, the increasing maturity of

ourestate and brand, together with our

commercial initiatives, means we are

continuing to make excellent progress.

Witha strong events calendar, our forward

booked position is building well ahead of

last year, and we remain on track to deliver

positive pre-tax profit in FY26.

Our guidance for 2025/26 includes:

• UK: open 1,000 – 1,200 new rooms, the

majority of which will open in the second

half of the year; 500 – 700 of these new

rooms are AGP extension rooms;

• UK: increased cost efficiencies of £60m

(versus previous guidance of £50m),

meaning net inflation is expected to be

towards the lower end of our previously

guided range of 2% – 3% on our £1.7bn

UK cost base;

• UK: AGP adjusted PBT† one-off impact of

£20m – £25m in FY25 will be fully reversed;

• Germany: open c.400 new rooms and

deliver adjusted profit before tax† of

between £5m and £10m;

• Group: £15m to £20m reduction in net

finance income (excluding lease liability

interest) versus 2024/25 reflecting lower

cash balances, the outlook for Bank

ofEngland rates and the recent issue

ofanew £400m 5.50% bond; and

• Group: net capital expenditure of £400m

– £500m. with gross capital expenditure

of between £700m–£750m including

AGP (£150m - £200m) and network

expansion; receipts from property-related

transactions of £250m–£300m.

Delivering a step-change

inprofits, margins and returns

Our operational and strategic progress

inFY25 mean we are positive about the

medium-term outlook and the delivery of

our Five-Year Plan. Whilst we have limited

visibility of short-term market demand and

inflation, our vertically integrated model

means we have significant self-help levers

that can provide positive like-for-like† sales

momentum whilst also reducing our costs.

By focusing on what we can control,

together with strong growth potential in

both the UK and in Germany, we remain

confident in generating at least £300m

incremental adjusted profit before tax† by

FY30, releasing more than £2bn available

for share buy-backs and dividends.

Dominic Paul

Chief Executive

30 April 2025

2 Fitch Ratings, 29 January 2025

Five-Year Plan: Capital allocation

Read more on pages 15 and 37

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

14 STRATEGIC REPORT

FIVE-YEAR PLAN

a step change in profits,

margins and returns

DeliveringDelivering

Objective

Demonstrating our confidence in the

medium-term outlook for the Group, in

October 2024 we announced the details of

our Five-Year Plan that illustrates the scale

of our ambition and the inherent strengths

of our business model. Our plan outlines

how, over the next five years, we plan to

deliver at least £300m incremental adjusted

profit before tax†, unlocking more than

£2bn for share buy-backs and dividends.

Why is this important?

Our Five-Year Plan is focused on the drivers

that we can control and therefore weare

confident in being able to deliver a step

change in our performance. Whilst we cannot

control external factors such as market

growth and inflation, our plan assumes that

over the next five years, we are able to offset

UK cost inflation with our UK like-for-like

sales† growth plus cost efficiencies.

However, our ambition is to do better than

this and we are confident in growing UK

margins over the life of the plan.

“ Having laid the foundations

for significant growth, we are

executing at pace against our

strategic priorities. Over the next

five years, we are set to deliver

a step change in our profits,

margins and returns which will

release significant cash flow for

shareholder returns.”

Dominic Paul

Chief Executive

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Delivery of atleast

£300m

incremental Group

adjusted PBT†

vs2024/25

Generating morethan

£2bn

available for

sharebuy-backs

anddividends

Pillars of the plan How we’ll deliver 2029/30 outcomes vs 2024/25

Capital

allocation

UK:

Accelerating

Growth Plan

(AGP)

UK: Network

expansion

Germany:

Continuing

momentum

Efficiencies

and

commercial

programme

• Replacing some of our lower-returning

branded restaurants with a more efficient,

integrated F&B offer

• Unlocking the addition of new, high-returning

hotel extension rooms

• Exiting over 100 lower-returning

brandedrestaurants

• In addition to 3,500 new extension rooms

from our AGP, we also expect to open 7,000

new rooms in our committed pipeline as well

as 1,500 further new rooms that we will add

and open over the next few years

• We expect to open a further 9,000 new rooms

• Increase the appeal of our estate

throughimproved distribution and

increasedbrand awareness

• Improvements to our operating model

andadditional scale benefits

• We will at least offset the impact of UK

cost inflation through the delivery of cost

efficiencies; and

• Positive UK like-for-like sales growth, supported

by our strong commercial programme

• We will fund the plan as well as our

ongoing programme of investment by

maintaining net capex after net receipts

fromproperty-related transactions,

includingsale and leasebacks

• Lease-adjusted leverage† will remain

belowinternal threshold of 3.5x

• Incremental adjusted PBT† of£100m

• 3,500 extension rooms

• Incremental adjusted PBT† of £120m

• 98,000 open rooms in the UK and

Ireland, includingAGP

• Incremental adjusted PBT† of £80m

• 20,000 open rooms

• Network RevPAR of c.€80

• Double-digit returns on our current

openportfolio

• £250m of efficiencies in aggregate

• While these efficiencies together with

like-for-like† sales growth are assumed

tooffset UK cost inflation, we expect that,

on average, UK like-for-like† sales growth

and our cost efficiencies will be in excess

of UK cost inflation over the life of the plan

• We expect average net capex will remain

at £500m each year between 2025/26

and 2029/30

• We will recycle at least £1bn ofproperty

2029/30 outcomes

1 Versus FY25 Germany adjusted loss before tax†

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

16 STRATEGIC REPORT

We have made excellent

progress against our

strategic objectives in

2024/25. The execution

of our Five-Year Plan will

deliver a step change in

our profits, margins and

returns by 2029/30.

STRATEGY AND KPIS

Force for Good

Read more on page 19

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Grow and innovate

in the UK

2024/25 highlights Key 2024/25 outcomes Future plans

Market share gains

Accommodation sales +0.7pp ahead

oftheUK M&E sector, with a RevPAR

premium of +£5.49

UK and Ireland committed pipeline

8,222

Extend our market-leading position as the

UK’s number one hotel brand and reach at

least 98,000 open rooms by 2029/30

Long-term growth in profits and returns

Executed the first phase of our

Accelerating Growth Plan and mitigated UK

cost inflation through increased efficiencies

AGP: planning applications approved

50%

Continue to execute our AGP to deliver

atleast £100m incremental adjusted PBT†

by 2029/30, increasing margins and returns

Expand guest choice

Completed our ‘Bed of the Future’

replacement programme, and launched

theoffer of ‘rooms with a view’ across

100hotels

Rooms with a view

1,600

Broaden our distribution channels and

addmore features to our digital journey

including additional guest options and

product add-ons

Maintain excellent guest scores

Maintained our ‘Best Value Hotel Chain’

ranking from YouGov, reflecting our focus

on high quality and great value

YouGov ‘Best Value Hotel

Chain’ranking

No.1

Upgrade our digital networks and continue

the roll-out of ID5, Premier Plus and twin

rooms to our estate

Community

Monitoring

nutritional value

Offering safe, tasty, affordable food is

our responsibility as well as a business

opportunity. To date, we have made

average reductions across all our

menus of 21.2% for salt (baseline

2017), 24.7% for sugar (baseline 2015)

and 3.1% for calories (baseline 2017).

To support the UK Government’s

approach to reducing foods high in

fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), we have

reviewed all our core menus for their

HFSS status and plan to set internal

non-HFSS targets in the coming year.

We will also continue to develop

inclusive menus for guests with a

range of dietary needs including

dedicated meat-free and non-gluten

menus, supported by full nutritional

and allergen information in restaurants

and online, to ensure guests can make

informed choices.

Average sugar reduction across

our menus since 2015

24.7%

1 UK and Ireland committed pipeline as at 27 February 2025, including extension rooms approved as part of AGP.

2 UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value scores as at 27 February 2025 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Focus on our strengths

togrow in Germany

STRATEGY AND KPIS CONTINUED

2024/25 highlights Key 2024/25 outcomes Future plans

Continue to build a national network

62 open hotels across key locations,

with 3 new sites opened during the year

Germany committed pipeline

7,265

Continue to take a flexible approach

toproperty, looking for attractive

opportunities to grow our pipeline

Build brand awareness

Through the use of OTAs and our online

marketing campaigns, we have increased

our brand awareness and guestvolumes

YouGov brand awareness

19%

Explore the use of other distribution

channels to help further broaden our

reachandaccelerate brand awareness

andRevPARgrowth

Refine our proposition for the German guest

Expanded guest choice including new

payment methods, new room types and

product add-ons

YouGov guest satisfaction

61.0

Seek improvements to our operating

model, unlocking new opportunities to

drive efficiencies across our estate and

enhance the guest experience

Pathway to long-term, sustainable returns

Improved financial performance from

strong RevPAR growth and a clear focus on

our cost base

Germany RevPAR growth

18%

On track to deliver profitability in FY26,

reaching £70m of adjusted PBT† by 2029/30

Responsibility

Raising

procurement

standards

Premier Inn Germany’s evolving

supply chain management approach

ensures that we remain compliant

with German and EU regulations.

Across the Group we buy third-party

certified goods, where possible.

Forexample, from 2024, our bed

linenin Germany has been certified

byGrüner Knopf, a government-run

certification label for sustainable

textiles. To reduce deforestation risks,

in addition to compliance with the

EUDR, we continue to partner with

the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm

Oil, FSC, PEFC and the Rainforest Alliance.

Share of suppliers assessed

forinherent human rights risk

100%

1 Germany YouGov Brand Awareness: 1 March 2024 to 27 February 2025.

2 Germany YouGov Satisfaction Scores: 1 March 2024 to 27 February 2025.

3 In local currency EUR.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Enhance our capabilities

tosupportlong-term growth

2024/25 highlights Key 2024/25 outcomes Future plans

Use our strong balance sheet to fund growth and returns

Significant operating cash flow helped

tofund our investment programme and

ongoing returns to shareholders

Shareholder cash returns

£442m

More than £2bn available for share

buy-backs and dividends

Retention and engagement of teams

Launch of our refreshed Company values

toteams across the business

UK team members with >1 year’s

service

75%

Drive retention and engagement

throughour continued investment in pay,

training, career development and wellbeing

Improve technology capability

Increased digital capabilities and new

commercial opportunities unlocked by

ournew reservation system

Hotels successfully migrated to new

reservation system

900+

Explore product and service enhancements

which will further improve the guest

experience and generate additional

revenue streams

Build on our efficiency programme

Increased cost efficiencies versus target

due to acceleration of existing initiatives

plus further savings

Delivery of cost efficiencies

£75m

Deliver £250m of cost efficiencies between

2025/26 and 2029/30

Responsibility

Sustainable

construction

Since 2022, we target BREEAM

Excellent for all our UK&I developments,

both freehold and leasehold. Of the

last 80 hotels opened, 75 achieved an

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)

rating of A or B. In Germany, all 14 new

build hotels have either received or are

pending sustainable building certification.

Whitbread’s leading development

strategy is repurposing underused

buildings into high-quality,

energy-efficient hotels. This allows

usto cut down on embodied carbon,

maximise the lifespan of existing

structures and significantly reduce

construction waste.

All our new self-built hotels in

UK&I will be powered solely by

REGO-backed electricity, with

no gas connection for water and

space heating or cooking, from

2025

1 Dividends paid and share buy-backs completed during 2024/25.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

20 STRATEGIC REPORT

towards our

long-term room

potential inthe

UK and Ireland

STRATEGY IN ACTION: GROW AND INNOVATE IN THE UK&I

“ By opening 8,000 new rooms,

together with 3,500 extension rooms

through our Accelerating Growth Plan,

we are on track to have 98,000 open

rooms by 2029/30 and thereafter

reach our long-term room potential

of125,000 rooms.”

Mark Anderson

Managing Director, Property and International

ProgressingProgressing

Five-Year Plan: Accelerating Growth Plan; UK: Network expansion

Watch a video

of our progress

by scanning the

code above

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Accelerating

GrowthPlan

In April 2024, we announced our plan

to optimise food and beverage at a

number of sites whilst unlocking the

ability to build higher-returning

extension rooms.

Through converting over 100

lower-returning branded restaurants,

we will unlock 3,500 extension rooms

in hotels where we know there is excess

demand. Over the last 12 months, we

have submitted the majority of required

planning applications and have started

work at several sites to replace the

branded restaurant with a new,

moreefficient integrated restaurant,

before then building the approved

extension rooms.

Our plan also includes exiting over

100 lower-returning branded restaurants

and replacing the branded restaurant

with a new, more efficient integrated

restaurant. We are making good

progress, and so far have sold 38

branded restaurants for £38m and

areconfident in exiting the remaining

affected sites over the next 12 months.

By 2029/30, this plan will deliver an

incremental £100m adjusted profit

before tax† (versus 2024/25), resulting

in increasing margins and returns for

the UK business.

Five-Year Plan

Accelerating Growth Plan on page 24

Long-term room potential inthe UK and Ireland

125,000

London/Regions mix

How we’re growing our potential in the UK and Ireland

Ireland long-term room potential

5,000

Open and

committed rooms

2024/25

open estate

Committed

pipeline

Open rooms

by 2029/30

94,000

98,000

125,000

Long-term

room potential

hub

‘hub by Premier Inn’ resonates

well with guests, offering a

modern in-room experience at an

attractive price. With 18 hotels

open across London and

Edinburgh, we see opportunity

to open more sites across

prime city centre

locations.

Ireland

With 1,000 rooms open across

sixhotels in Ireland, we are excited

by the significant potential for

further expansion. We are

confident that we can reach our

long-term room target of

5,000 open rooms over

the next few years.

Open and committed pipeline of hub hotels

4,700

London 18%

Regions 82%

London 42%

Regions 58%

1 UK and Ireland open and committed pipeline including AGP extension

rooms with planning approval.

2 Committed pipeline of 8,222 rooms, excluding AGP extension rooms,

as at 27 February 2025.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

22 STRATEGIC REPORT

UK MARKET DRIVERS

Grow and innovate

inthe UK

A key pillar of our strategy isto

protect and extend our position

as theUK’s leading branded

budget hotel chain, delivering

excellent service for our guests,

rewarding employment for our

teams andattractive returns

forourshareholders.

Market overview

68m

population

185m

room nights booked in the

UKmarket

720,000

total market hotel rooms

12%

Premier Inn market share

ofUKrooms

2027

Supply not back to 2019 levels

until at least 2027

10%

independent decline since 2019

UK market

The UK is a large and mature

hotel market with 185 million

rooms booked each year and

atotal supply of approximately

720,000 rooms. Since the

pandemic, the hotel industry

has had to navigate material

shifts in the shape of both

domestic and inbound demand,

as well as significant cost inflation,

at the same time as political

instability and economic

pressures have altered travel

behaviour and market conditions.

However,Premier Inn has

continued to perform well and

given the strength of our brand

and operating model, coupled

with a favourable supply backdrop,

we are confident in being able

to continue to grow market

share. We see a compelling

opportunity to continue to

invest in new capacity and

driveattractive, long-term

returns for ourshareholders.

1 Company data 2023.

hub by Premier Inn,

London Paddington

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Outlook for UK hotel supply

Having updated our proprietary analysis,

westill expect UK hotel room supply

(including Premier Inn) to remain below

pre-pandemic levels until at least 2027.

Thereafter, we expect total supply to grow

broadly in line with previous trends and

weremain confident that we can continue

to take market share from smaller and

lesswell-capitalised competitors.

Accelerated decline

ofindependents

We believe that total UK hotel supply

contracted by approximately 4.5% between

2019 and 2023, led by an accelerated decline

in the independent sector that reduced by

10%. This represented a marked increase

over the steady decline seen over previous

years as customers migrated from

independents

towards branded budget

hotels, including Premier Inn. Over half of

independents that closed during this time

period had less than 25 hotel rooms. This

highlights the ongoing challenges facing

smaller establishments, where competition

and changing consumer preferences are

making it increasingly difficult for them

tomatch the offer provided by larger,

branded operators. We believe that the

independent sector is likely to continue

tocontract as a result of sustained high

inflationary pressures and an uncertain

macroeconomic environment.

12%

24%

25%

15%

16%

53%

47%

2015 2019 2023

Premier Inn

UK branded budget (excluding Premier Inn)

UK branded non-budget

Independent

730k

10%

24%

16%

50%

750k

720k

Total UK hotel supply: number of rooms

Structural advantages of

thebudget hotel market

The UK branded budget hotel sector is a

highly attractive market, with large volumes

of domestic short-stay travel for both business

and leisure. The sector, including Premier

Inn, has continued to grow, even during

thepandemic. However, over the next few

years, the supply of branded budget hotel

rooms is expected to grow at a slower rate

than the long-term average as operators

gradually rebuild their pipelines that have

been impacted by a material slowdown

inconstruction and higher interest rates.

Premier Inn has grown significantly over

thepast decade, increasing its market share

of all UK rooms from 6% in 2010 to 12% in

2023. With our strong balance sheet and

in-house property expertise, we are confident

that we can continue to grow ourpipeline

and increase our market share at a time

when many others cannot.

Proven resilience during

periods of macro uncertainty

Hotel room demand is strongly correlated

with economic growth and RevPAR typically

grows in line with GDP. Whilst current

macroeconomic forecasts predict relatively

low GDP growth in 2025/26, this needs to

be viewed in the context of what has been

amarked decline in total hotel supply. The

branded budget hotel sector has proven

resilient during previous consumer and

economic downturns, as guests tend to

trade down to lower-cost alternatives

thatprovide great value.

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

UK STRATEGY

Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP)

Food and beverage (F&B) is a fundamental

part ofour proposition and a hot breakfast

is particularly important to our hotel guests,

helping to drive occupancy and RevPAR.

Byoptimising the delivery of F&B at around

200 of our sites and converting a number

of our lower-returning branded restaurants

into a more efficient, integrated F&B offer,

we will unlock 3,500 new extension rooms

over the next few years that will drive increased

margins and returns for the UK business.

We are making good progress and are on

track with our plans. Whilst the exact phasing

of new rooms coming onstream is difficult

to predict, the first of our new extension

rooms are nearing completion and we expect

to have between 500 to 700 extension

rooms open by the end of FY26. Despite

amarked increase in the market supply

ofrestaurants for sale across the UK, we

have sold 38 branded restaurants for a

totalconsideration of £38m and remain

confident of exiting the remaining affected

sites over the next 12 months as planned.

Extending our market-leading

position in the UK

“ During the past year, we’ve

made excellent progress

in enhancing our digital

capabilities and improving

our guest offer. In 2025/26,

we expect to go further and

deliver positive like-for-like

sales

† momentum.”

Joe Garrood

Chief Commercial Officer

Premier Inn

Key:

Five-Year Plan:

2029/30outcomes

98,000+

open rooms

£100m+

incremental adjusted PBT† from

Accelerating Growth Plan

£120m+

incremental adjusted PBT† from

network expansion

Dublin

Aberdeen

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Dundee

Inverness

Newcastle

upon Tyne

Cork

London

Isle of

Man

Plymouth

Cardiff

Guernsey

Jersey

Norwich

Leeds

Manchester

Birmingham

Belfast

hub by Premier Inn

Watch a video of

our AGP progress

byscanning the

codeto the left

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Network expansion

With over 850 open hotels across the UK

and Ireland, Premier Inn is the UK’s largest

hotel chain with an approximately 12% share

of all hotel rooms. Despite our extensive

coverage, we still have opportunities to

increase our market share. Based on our

latest proprietary analysis, we believe that

the favourable supply backdrop in the UK

and Ireland will continue for a number of years,

with supply not returning to pre-pandemic

levels until at least 2027. Having identified

catchments where we do not currently have

a presence, or where we can add more

rooms without cannibalising our existing

estate, we have significant growth potential.

By opening our current committed pipeline

of over 7,000 rooms, 70% of which is freehold,

adding the 3,500 extensions as a result of

our Accelerating Growth Plan and adding

and opening a further 1,500 rooms over

thenext few years, we are on course to

reach at least 98,000 open rooms by

2029/30. Over the longer term, we have

thepotential to reach 125,000 open rooms,

which is 45% more than we have open today.

Drawing upon our suite of development

options including new builds, conversions,

extensions and single-site acquisitions, the

pace and extent of our expansion will be

driven by the availability of appropriate sites

that can meet our target levels of return.

Commercial programme

As a vertically integrated operator, we are

able to deploy a broad range of commercial

initiatives that are focused on driving

like-for-like† sales momentum to support

and extend our market-leading position in

the UK. Our commercial strategy remains

focused on those drivers that are within

ourcontrol and include:

Maximising revenue

The highly dynamic nature of the

midscaleand economy (M&E) market

requires that wecontinuously evolve our

trading strategies to maximise revenue and

outperform our competitors. With further

improvements to our trading engine, we

plan to drive even more value and improve

our trading performance further. With our

new cloud-based reservation system we are

continuing to trial and test the introduction

of new ancillary revenue streams, including

the use of dynamic pricing to increase revenue.

Enhancing our digital capabilities

As well as increasing the range of inventory

we can sell through our digital partners, we

are also continuing to optimise our website

and app functionality, further improving

thedigital guest booking experience. Early

progress has been encouraging, with our

app generating 9% of total accommodation

sales in 2024/25.

The opportunities to increase our digital

capabilities are significant. With increased

connectivity with our guests through our

app, we will be able to make better use

ofour data in order to increase revenue

through more effective engagement, as

wellas reduce costs to drive higher margins.

Refining marketing strategies

Continuing to attract new guests is essential

as we seek to extend our leadership and

grow market share; we are exploring greater

use of social media marketing channels such

as YouTube and TikTok, as well as third-party

digital platforms, to help broaden our reach.

Broadening our appeal

tobusinessguests

Business guests are an attractive customer

segment because they tend to drive higher

RevPARs and travel more frequently than

leisure guests. Our Business Booker portal

has grown substantially over the past few

years, and at the same time, we have

1 Excluding extension rooms from Accelerating

Growth Plan.

2 UK YouGov Brand Consideration: 1 March 2024

to 27 February 2025.

strengthened our relationships with several

travel management companies (TMCs).

Together, these channels represented

approximately 21% of total accommodation

sales in 2024/25 (2023/24: 20%).

During 2025/26, we plan to integrate our

Business Booker and Business Account

programmes into a single offering named

‘InnBusiness’ for the benefit of users and

todrive further revenue growth. With the

addition of Sabre to our distribution

channels, we will also seek to grow our

international inbound business volumes.

Further improvements in F&B

In addition to AGP, we are continuing to

rollout our new integrated ground floor

concept across our estate that is driving

positive guest feedback and increased

F&Brevenues. For our remaining branded

restaurants, we have several initiatives

inplace to help drive positive sales

momentum and increase profitability.

Operational excellence

Our significant refurbishment plan

andongoing repair and maintenance

programme ensure that we meet the high

standards expected by our guests. Adding

more twin and Premier Plus rooms to our

estate will broaden our appeal and allow

usto attract a premium to our standard

room rate. With the introduction of new

technologies, further process improvements

and a more efficient organisation structure,

we plan to drive positive guest scores whilst

maintaining a tight control over our costs.

UK YouGov brand awareness

93%

Room with a view at Premier Inn St Pancras

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Premier Inn UK

£m FY25 FY24 vs FY24

Statutory revenue 2,691 2,770 (3)%

Other income (excl rental income) 1 — n/a

Operating costs before depreciation, amortisation

and rent (1,696) (1,722) (2)%

Adjusted EBITDAR† 997 1,048 (5)%

Net turnover rent and rental income 1 0 200%

Depreciation: right-of-use asset (153) (144) (6)%

Depreciation and amortisation: other (193) (183) (6)%

Adjusted operating profit† 652 722 (10)%

Interest: lease liability (145) (134) (8)%

Adjusted profit before tax† 507 588 (14)%

ROCE† 12.9% 15.5% (260)bps

PBT margins† 18.8% 21.2% (240)bps

Premier Inn UK

KPIs

£m FY25 FY24 vs FY24

Number of hotels 852 853 0%

Number of rooms 85,984 85,443 1%

Committed pipeline (rooms)

7,192 6,795 6%

Committed pipeline (AGP extension rooms)

1,030 — n/a

Occupancy 81.0% 82.2% (120)bps

Average room rate† £79.52 £79.76 0%

Revenue per available room† £64.42 £65.56 (2)%

Sales growth:

Accommodation 0%

Food and beverage (11)%

Total (3)%

Like-for-like sales† growth:

Accommodation (2)%

Food and beverage (2)%

Total (2)%

1 Includes one site in each of: Guernsey and the Isle of Man, two sites in Jersey and six sites in Ireland.

2 UK and Ireland committed pipeline excluding extension rooms from Accelerating Growth Plan.

3 Planning approval received for Accelerating Growth Plan extension rooms.

UK PERFORMANCE

Room with a view at Premier Inn St Pancras

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Premier Inn UK’s total statutory revenue was down 3%, reflecting an 11% reduction in F&B

sales driven by the impact of AGP and a softer level of UK hotel market demand than last

year. Total accommodation sales were in line with last year and +0.7pp ahead of the wider

M&E market, with a 2% decline in RevPAR offset by net room growth. Despite the softer

demand environment, Premier Inn maintained a healthy RevPAR premium versus the

M&Emarket of £5.49, underpinned by our scale, brand strength, commercial expertise,

operational excellence and vertically integrated operating model.

UK performance vs M&E market

£m

FY25

FY25 FY25

PI accommodation sales performance (vs FY24)

+0.5pp +0.9pp +0.7pp

PI occupancy performance (vs FY24)

(1.3)pp (0.8)pp (1.0)pp

PI ARR performance (vs FY24)

+0.7pp +1.2pp +1.0pp

PI RevPAR performance (absolute)

+£5.89 +£5.10 +£5.49

PI market share

8.4% 8.1% 8.3%

PI market share gains pp (vs FY24)

(0.3)pp (0.3)pp (0.3)pp

4 STR data, standard basis, Premier Inn accommodation revenue, occupancy, ARR and RevPAR,

1March2024 to 27 February 2025; M&E market excludes Premier Inn.

5 STR data, revenue share of total UK market, 1 March 2024 to 27 February 2025.

The impact of transitioning some of our lower-returning branded restaurants to a more

efficient, integrated format as part of AGP, was in line with our expectations. While mitigated

in part by strong breakfast sales in our integrated restaurants, total F&B revenues were 11%

lower than last year.

Operating costs reduced to £1,696m (2023/24: £1,722m). While inflation across a number

ofcost lines and further estate growth increased cost pressures, these were more than offset

by the removal of F&B costs associated with AGP and an increased level of cost efficiencies.

As expected, the reduction in F&B revenues from AGP was not fully matched by a reduction

in costs, prompting a reduction in adjusted EBITDAR† to £997m (2023/24: £1,048m).

Right-of-use asset depreciation in the period increased by 6% to £153m and lease liability

interest increased by 8% to £145m reflecting recent growth in our leasehold estate and the

impact of rent reviews completed during the period. We opened a total of 1,075 hotel

rooms during the year and closed 534 lower-returning rooms as we seek to optimise the

portfolio to drive higher returns. As at 27 February 2025, we had 85,984 rooms across 852

hotels that were open for business with a further 7,192 new rooms committed

, the majority

of which are freehold, plus an additional 1,030 AGP extension rooms that are also committed

UK adjusted profit before tax† fell by 14% to £507m (FY24: £588m) reflecting the impact of

AGP, softer hotel market demand and cost inflation. As a result, UK adjusted pre-tax margins†

reduced to 18.8% (2023/24: 21.2%) and UK ROCE† was 12.9% (2023/24: 15.5%).

6 UK and Ireland committed pipeline excluding extension rooms from Accelerating Growth Plan.

7 Planning approval received for Accelerating Growth Plan extension rooms.

The Social at Premier Inn Cardiff North

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

28 STRATEGIC REPORT

in Germany

tobecome the

No.1 hotelbrand

ExpandingExpanding

STRATEGY IN ACTION: FOCUS ON OUR STRENGTHS TO GROW IN GERMANY

“ I’m really pleased with our progress

in Germany and with 100 hotels in our

open and committed pipeline, we are

confident of reaching 20,000 open

rooms by 2029/30, taking us closer to

our ambition of becoming the number

one hotel brand.”

Erik Friemuth

Chief Executive Officer, Premier Inn Germany

Five-Year Plan: Germany: Continuing momentum

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Progress towards

maturity

As a new, relatively unknown brand in

Germany, our view is that it is likely to

take four to five years for a hotel to

mature. With some delay due to the

impact of the pandemic, none of our

62 open hotels are yet mature, as

evidenced by the fact that their

RevPARs are continuing to increase

ahead of the market.

We therefore expect our estate will

continue to mature over the next few

years through further network expansion,

increasing brand awareness through

broadening our distribution channels

and new brand marketing campaigns.

As set out in our Five-Year Plan,

weexpect our current open estate

of11,000 rooms will reach maturity

and be delivering double-digit returns

on capital by 2029/30. As our remaining

hotels and brand continue to grow

and mature beyond this date, we

expect our German business will

deliver even higher profits, margins

and returns.

Five-Year Plan

Germany: Continuing momentum

onpage 15

Number of open hotel rooms

11,000

Number of open rooms by 2029/30

20,000

How we’re growing our potential in Germany

Ambition to have a

presence in the

top major cities

We have grown rapidly over the last few

years and now have 11,000 open rooms.

These hotels are predominantly in

prime, city centre locations which

appeal to both business and leisure

guests, allowing us to maximise

occupancy levels.

Open rooms

in 2018/19

Open rooms

in 2021/22

400

6,000

11,000

Open rooms

in 2024/25

Open: 11,000 Open and committed: 18,000

Target: 20,000

Number of

open and

committed hotels

100

We are building a business of real

scale and our focus is to continue

to expand and develop our

network, through a combination

of organic growth and

bolt-on M&A in our

targetlocations.

Key:

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

30 STRATEGIC REPORT

GERMAN MARKET DRIVERS

Focus on our strengths

togrow in Germany

Germany is a large and exciting

market for the Group. Having opened

our first hotel in 2016, we are building

a business of scale and remain on

track to replicate our UK success and

become the number one hotel brand.

Market overview

83m

population

996,000

total market hotel rooms

225m

rooms booked in the

German market

c.40%

larger than the UK hotel market

c.68%

of the German market held

by independents

c.5pp

decline in independent

supply since2019

German market

With significant volumes of

business and leisure travel, we

believe that Germany represents

a significant opportunity to

create substantial value. The

German hotel market today is

very similar to where the UK

was 15 to 20 years ago: it is

highly fragmented, with a large

independent hotel sector and a

relatively small branded budget

hotel segment, and there is no

clear market leader.

Market structure

While the German hotel market is

approximately 40% larger than the UK

interms of room supply, it is much more

fragmented and we believe that the share

held by independent hotels was approximately

68% of the total in 2023. As in the UK,

having declined gradually for several years,

the share held by the independent hotel

sector fell by approximately 5pp between

2019 and 2022 as a result of the pandemic.

While the share of independents has since

stabilised, we do expect a return to the

steady, gradual decline seen previously due

to continued cost pressures and through

conversions to branded operators. Having

reopened later than many other international

hotel markets after the pandemic, led by a

strong recovery in both business and leisure

demand, the M&E market in Germany is still

recovering back to pre-pandemic levels.

1 Company data 2023.

Premier Inn Cologne City Centre

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

Geography drives short-stay

domestic travel

Germany is more regionally dispersed than

the UK, with a federalised political and

industrial structure. This greater geographic

spread, together with a larger population

and a greater number of large cities and

towns, drives high demand for short-stay

domestic travel. The market has high levels

of both domestic leisure and business

demand, with a number of sizeable trade

fairs and conferences which continue to

drive volumes and attract millions of

visitorseach year.

Structural advantage

forowner-operators

The branded budget sector has grown

strongly over the past few years, driven by

owner-operators such as Premier Inn, that

are well-placed to acquire, lease, convert or

build new hotels and so have been able to

expand at a faster rate than the rest of the

market. The absence of a less well-developed

real estate investment trust sector and the

fragmented nature of the market have meant

that signing large blocks of hotels by branded

franchised and managed operators may have

been more challenging than in other markets.

No clear leader in the

budgetsector

No brand commands more than a 2% share

of the market in Germany; this compares

with the UK where Premier Inn has a 12%

market share. With the gradual decline of

the independent hotel sector, the branded

budget sector has continued to grow and

now occupies approximately 12% of the

German hotel market. This is led by

owner-operators such as Premier Inn, and

we have opened nearly 10,000 rooms since

February 2020, growing at almost twice the

rate of the next fastest-growing brand.

Attractive RevPAR outlook

The M&E market in Germany has attractive

levels of RevPAR, albeit there is intra-period

volatility depending upon the phasing of

business and leisure events that are an

important driver of overall demand in

Germany. Prior to the pandemic, branded

budget RevPAR in Germany grew at a

compound annual growth rate of 2.9%

between 2015 and 2019. M&E RevPAR

inGermany has now recovered to above

pre-pandemic levels.

Further opportunities

fornetwork expansion

The rise in interest rates and construction

costs over the last three years has led to

areduction in hotel pipelines. We have,

however, started to see more opportunities

to acquire individual assets and complete

bolt-on M&A transactions at attractive

long-term returns. By using our balance

sheet strength and property expertise,

wesee significant opportunity to continue

to grow ahead of the competition, and we

remain confident in our ambition to become

the No.1 hotel brand.

12%

47%

68%

25%

20%

16%

11%

720k

996k

Total Germany hotel supply: number of rooms

UK Germany

Premier Inn

Branded budget (excluding Premier Inn)

Branded non-budget

Independents

STRATEGIC REPORT