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.

Signs that the UK economy is half way to an unprecedented triple dip recession failed to reverse this week’s bullish mood on world markets.

Hopes that European leaders had made genuine progress towards stemming the eurozone debt crisis lifted investors’ spirits after yesterday’s banking sector bloodbath.

World markets slumped today as fears of a global recession were reignited by a gloomy outlook from America’s central bank.