Irish shares fell sharply as investors took fright as British prime minister Boris Johnson said he would seek an election if MPs fail to back his new Brexit deal in the coming days.

Irish shares fell sharply as investors took fright as Boris Johnson said he would seek an election if MPs fail to back his new Brexit deal in the coming days.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread said it has completed a programme to return £2.5bn (€2.8bn) to shareholders after it sold its Costa Coffee chain to Coca-Cola last year.

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.

Ched Evans feels “no anger or bitterness” about his time spent in prison after being accused of rape in 2011.

A woman who was caught up in the Grenfell Tower fire at three months pregnant has revealed she gave birth to possibly the disaster's youngest survivor.

A dog breeder in England who made more than £100,000 by trafficking women onto a "sexual conveyor belt" across England and Wales has been jailed for four years.

Whitbread, Britain’s biggest hotel and coffee shop operator, reported a sharp slowdown in revenue growth at its Premier Inn business, helping knock its shares which had risen sharply the past month.

Hundreds of people are still desperately trying to trace loved ones in the aftermath of the terror attack at Manchester Arena which left 22 dead and at least 59 injured.

Anthony Joshua can still recall the culture shock of walking into the GB Boxing gym for the first time as an impressionable amateur ill-equipped to begin a journey which would sweep him to the top of his sport.

A woman arrived at a friend's house in a hysterical state hours after allegedly being raped by footballer Ched Evans, a court has heard.

The woman allegedly raped by footballer Ched Evans said she woke up naked in a hotel room alone and could not remember how she had got there, a court has heard.

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.

Threesomes involving Premier league footballers have been tabloid fodder for years. But a new book looks at how the macho, cossetted professional sports environment has created a horrific world where rape is a form of male bonding, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

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.

A Galway-based construction firm showed plenty of vision to shrug off the recession and expand in the UK, writes Trish Dromey.

Rose Martin looks at a new book on the life’s work of the self-taught and New Zealand-born creator of the boutique hotel concept.

NAMA is expected to pick up the pace of Irish hotel sales in the coming 18 months — so far, it has sold just 19 of the 136 in its control, and so has 117 left to sell, a conference organised by the Irish Hotel Federation heard this week.

Britain’s burgeoning coffee shop culture has helped Costa grow annual profits by more than a fifth as sales and store numbers surged.

Penguins given ‘happy pills’ in soaking Britain

The world’s first ad break made entirely from Lego is to be screened by UTV on Sunday.

Profits at coffee shop chain Costa have risen by a fifth after more strong sales and a surge in the size of its UK estate to more than 1,600 stores.

Hopes of an international compromise on the Syrian crisis fuelled gains on the FTSE 100 Index as oil prices also eased back from recent highs.

Justin Timberlake snubbed a five-star hotel to stay in a Premier Inn, going for the standard option instead.

Whitbread unveiled a compact version of its Premier Inn hotel brand today in an effort to attract city centre visitors who favour price over space.

A number of leading hotels in Cork and Limerick have more than doubled their room prices for the night the cities play host to Bruce Springsteen next summer.

Hotel chain Travelodge was thrown a lifeline today as landlords and creditors backed a controversial rescue deal.

One of the UK and Ireland's biggest budget hotel operators is set to walk away from 49 of its hotels and write off £700m (€892m) of its debts under a controversial rescue deal.

One of Britain’s biggest budget hotel operators was today considering walking away from up to 50 of its sites to help tackle its £500m (€638m) debt mountain.

The rapid growth of Premier Inn and coffee chain Costa continued today after their owner Whitbread reported better-than-expected sales figures.

Worrying economic data in the US and Europe overshadowed encouraging corporate results today and halted the recent recovery in world markets.

Sheffield United and Wales’ striker Ched Evans was jailed for five years today after being convicted of raping a woman who was “too drunk to consent” to sex.

A jury in Britain has begun deliberations in the trial of two footballers accused of raping a woman who was “too drunk to consent” to sex.

Two British footballers “procured” a drunk teenage girl and raped her as two of their friends watched and filmed, a Welsh court has heard.

The squeeze on consumer spending is failing to deter coffee lovers after the owner of Costa today reported a surge in half-year sales.

Leisure group Whitbread said the casual dining market in the UK had become “more difficult” as it reported a slowdown in sales growth today.