Premier Inn owner Whitbread, which is now focused on the hotel business after the sale of its Costa Coffee chain, reported lower-room revenue over the past three months as companies cut back on business travel.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has revealed a sharp drop in UK sales as Brexit uncertainty continues to take its toll on business travel.

Strong demand for Coca-Cola’s low-sugar Coke Zero, new orange-vanilla cola, and flavoured waters pushed the beverage maker’s quarterly sales and profit well above Wall Street estimates, sending its shares up almost 2%.

Today, the seasons change and this gives us a chance to spring clean our own finances.

Fashion and homeware retailer Laura Ashley is to leave its long-held Cork city centre shop on St Patrick’s Street, after 30 years trading there at the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre: it is moving instead to suburban retail park.

Coca-Cola has agreed to buy coffee chain Costa for £3.9bn (€4.4bn) to extend its push into healthier drinks and take on the likes of Starbucks and Nestle in the booming global coffee market.

Lone Star Funds is considering an initial public offering of UK gas-station operator MRH GB that could value the business at about £1.5bn (€1.67bn) amid a revival of stock sales in Europe, according to sources.

After years of searching and tinkering by Pete McGrath, Peter Withnell proved the final piece in the puzzle that brought Down to the 1991 All-Ireland football title.

Fuel forecourt retailer Applegreen has said its pipeline of petrol filling stations is strong as it outlined expansion plans in Ireland, the UK and the US.

Ireland’s biggest fuel forecourt supplier Topaz has moved to cement its position as market share leader by announcing plans to open a 24-hour motorway service station on the Cork to Dublin motorway.

With most of Cork’s suburban retail parks now at or close to full occupancy, the arrival of UK homewares chain The Range as the anchor tenant at Eastgate Retail Park sees another c 60,000 sq ft taken up, and a new brand name enter the recovering Munster retail fray, with a product range spanning 65,000 items.

Whitbread said underlying sales at its Costa Coffee chain recovered over the last three months and its Premier Inn hotel brand continued to grow, sending shares in the company 3% higher.

Whitbread, an operator of hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops, stood by its expansion plans in the UK and international markets, after posting a near 12% rise in full-year profit.

Irish Euromillions winner Dolores McNamara is in the running to buy a massive retail park in her native Limerick.

Cafe goers need to “check nutritional advice” as a report reveals up to 25 teaspoons of sugar in some hot drinks. British campaign group, Action on Sugar, analysed 131 hot drinks sold by big brand coffee shops and revealed one-in-three contain nine teaspoons of sugar or more, making them as sugary as Coca Cola.

Whitbread one of Britain’s biggest employers, plans cost savings and will raise some of its prices to counter the substantial impact of enforced wage increases at its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee businesses.

STARBUCKS and Nando’s are coming to Cork City’s Emmet Place — and, now, an investment property linked to long-time developer/investor, Robin Power, and which is let to two food operators, is for sale there, priced at €1.2m.

Applegreen, the Irish forecourt fuel supplier, plans to benefit from the “grim” reputation of motorway service stations in Britain as it announced a €70m placing of shares and detailed its expansion plans.

The battle for the hearts and minds of Limerick shoppers began in earnest back in 2011, when the local authority devised a scheme to entice new retailers into the city centre

More outlets are opening on the country’s prime shopping streets, writes Peter O’Dwyer

The number of retail premises lying vacant fell considerably in the opening months of the year as a slight pick-up in sales growth enticed retailers back onto the country’s main streets.

TWO prime Waterford City investments worth €13.5m — one next to where Wetherspoons have acquired a 4,000 sq ft city footprint for a new bar — are new to market for a local family of investor/owners.

Irish-owned wifi company Bitbuzz has seen revenues break the €1m mark in the first half of the year, on the back of strong growth in the last 12 months.

A Cork town has vowed to fight realignment of county-wide commercial rates.

Little Chef could disappear from Britain’s roadsides after more than 50 years after fast food bidders tabled offers for the restaurant chain.

The company which owns the Costa Coffee chain says it expects to create 12,000 jobs in the UK over the next five years.

Catherine Fulvio, Ballyknocken Cookery School

WiFi network operator Bitbuzz Ireland has today that it now has in excess of one million registered users.

Shoppers in a Cork city suburb got a bit of a surprise yesterday when an elephant decided to wander around a retail carpark before charging up to a traffic junction.

Irish wireless broadband company Bitbuzz has reported a 26% year-on- year revenue increase — to just under €1.5m — for 2011, with its subscriber numbers up by 43%.

IRISH Wi-Fi (wireless broadband) network operator Bitbuzz saw an 18.54% year-on-year increase in turnover during the first half of this year.

Polling and research firm YouGov today reported its first profits fall in eight years as the firm felt the brunt of recession.

The London market was virtually unmoved today as an attempted rally from Monday's declines fell flat.

Stock markets rallied strongly today as investors looked to a fresh set of measures to help the ailing global economy.

The FTSE 100 Index gained more than 1% today amid rising hopes that policymakers will hold off from tackling inflation with interest rate hikes.

Investors held their nerve today after inflation hit 3.3% and Bank of England governor Mervyn King warned the figure could rise above 4%.

Whitbread today reassured over its “resilience” in the consumer downturn after the leisure group posted a 7.1% rise in first quarter comparable sales.