Whitbread boss Andy Harrison shrugs off sales growth slowdown

Departing Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison has dismissed talk of a slowdown at the Costa Coffee-to-Premier Inns leisure giant despite the fact that the rise in sales from shops and hotels open for at least a year fell to 4.3% in the first quarter from 6.5% the year before.

“Looking at total sales which are up 14% at Premier and 17% at Costa, this is continuation of the very strong momentum we saw last year, said Harrison.

“Looking at quarterly blips is not where the story lies.”

He said a 0.1% fall in like-for-like Premier Inns in London masked the fact that it had opened a further 800 to 900 rooms in the capital and retained 86% occupancy.

“That means new hotels we are opening in London are selling and filling up immediately.”