Premier Inn owner to return £2.5bn to investors and slash costs

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has unveiled plans to return another £2 bn (€2.28bn) to investors following its Costa Coffee sale and slash costs by a further £220m (€251m).

Whitbread said it also saw potential to double the Premier Inn hotel chain to more than 170,000 rooms, including at least 110,000 in the UK, as part of a strategy update to investors.