Premier Inn grows in Reading town centre
Whitbread announces deal ahead of double openings in Winnersh and Wokingham.
Whitbread, Premier Inn’s parent company, working with development partner Moorgarth Group, has secured a new 101-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and Bar + Block Steakhouse restaurant on Hosier Street in Reading town centre.
The new hotel is part of the proposed redevelopment of the southern section of the Broad Street Shopping Mall in Reading town centre. It will be a stone’s throw from the renowned Hexagon Theatre and the popular Oracle Shopping Centre and will play an important role in Reading Borough Council’s ambitions to improve the quality of Hosier Street.
The new acquisition comes in the wake of a flurry of new Premier Inn openings in the area. In Winnersh, to the south east of the town, a new 102-bedroom Premier Inn and Bar + Block Steakhouse restaurant will start welcoming guests from 16th August, while Wokingham’s new 95-bedroom Premier Inn and Thyme restaurant is due to begin trading in the autumn.
Stuart Rose, Acquisition Manager, North East, Midlands, East and Northern Ireland at Premier Inn said: “Securing Hosier Street for a new Premier Inn is very exciting for the business. This deal, along with the two new sites which will begin welcoming customers by the autumn, reflects the strong demand for Premier Inn bedrooms from our customers, who want to stay in and around Reading for business or leisure trips throughout the year.
“Reading is an important commercial centre in the Thames Valley and south of England, and this is only set to increase with the arrival of Crossrail providing a direct link into central London from its terminus at Reading Station. With direct connections to other UK cities, such as Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle, Reading is becoming a major transport hub and we’re proud to be investing in the city’s continued growth.”
Planning consent for the Hosier Street Premier Inn was secured from Reading Borough Council in July. Between 70 and 80 new team members are expected to work at the new Premier Inn and Bar + Block Steakhouse on opening, taking the number of Whitbread employees working in the Reading area to more than 250 once the Premier Inn hotels at Winnersh and Wokingham open for business.
Gary Lewis, Managing Director of Moorgarth Limited, said: “Premier Inn and Bar + Block are two exciting brands that will significantly boost our leisure offer and broaden the range of occupiers at Broad Street Mall. They will enhance Hosier Street and provide a fillip to the town.“
The new openings at Winnersh and Wokingham will complement the company’s four existing Premier Inn hotels currently operating in Reading – Reading Central, Caversham Bridge, Basingstoke Road and Reading South – and are part of Premier Inn’s continued growth as Whitbread works to expand the business from 76,000 Premier Inn bedrooms today to 110,000 UK and Ireland rooms.
For more information, please contact:
- James Anderson, Property Communications Manager at Whitbread on 07850 944 798 / James.Anderson@whitbread.com
- Sofia Westaby / Richard Pia at Camargue on 020 7637 7366 / whitbread@camargue.uk
Notes to editors
About Premier Inn
Premier Inn was named the UK’s top-rated hotel chain for 2018 according to Which? With almost 800 hotels and more than 75,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland, Premier Inn guests are never far from a great night’s sleep at fantastic value rates. Premier Inn hotels are in more locations than any other UK hotel brand for the ease and convenience of leisure and business travellers alike.
All Premier Inn bedrooms feature en-suite bathrooms, a luxurious Hypnos® bed, a choice of pillows, TV with Freeview and free Wi-Fi. A bar and restaurant is situated either on-site or next door to each hotel, offering a wide range of food and drink including a delicious all-you-can-eat breakfast.
Across the estate, the average Trip Advisor score for Premier Inn hotels is 4.2. Premier Inn has been awarded the Best UK Family Hotel in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, Best UK Hotel Group in the Silver Travel Awards and the Business In The Community Environmental Leadership Award. In 2018 Premier Inn was also named the UK’s top-rated hotel chain for the fourth year in a row by Which?
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is the National Charity partner of Premier Inn and to date team members, guests and suppliers have reached the milestone of £10 million, which formed part of the funding towards the Premier Inn Clinical Building, officially opened by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge in January 2018.
Outside of the UK, Premier Inn’s expansion plans are focused on Germany. Premier Inn opened its first hotel in Frankfurt in 2016 and has more than 6,000 Premier Inn bedrooms in its secured pipeline in Germany.
