LondonMetric Property Plc has expanded its portfolio with the £89 million acquisition of nine Premier Inn hotels from Whitbread.
The portfolio includes 955 bedrooms across hotels in Southampton Airport, Kings Langley, Milton Keynes, Poole, Colchester, Fareham, Waltham Abbey, Chipping Norton and Warwick.
The sale-and-leaseback portfolio is secured on new 30-year leases and produces annual rental income of £5 million.
Following this acquisition, LondonMetric owns 22 Premier Inn hotels, with Whitbread becoming its fourth-largest occupier, contributing £11.3 million in annual rental income.
In September 2025, the UK-based REIT completed the acquisition of five Premier Inn hotels for £44 million.
The announcement comes alongside Whitbread’s third-quarter results for the 13-week period ending 27 November 2025. Total group sales increased by 2% to £781 million, supported by positive accommodation sales in Premier Inn UK and Germany, while UK revenue per available room rose 3%.
Meanwhile, UK food and beverage sales performed “in line with expectations,” reflecting the impact of the group’s Accelerating Growth Plan, which is transforming lower-returning branded restaurants into hotel extensions.
According to Whitbread, 90% of the relevant planning applications have been submitted, 65% approved, and 35% completed and in operation on-site.
Chief executive at Whitbread, Dominic Paul, said: “We delivered a strong performance in the third quarter, with positive momentum across the business. We remain highly disciplined regarding our strategic actions and by focusing on what we can control, we have continued to make great progress against our key initiatives and will deliver a higher level of efficiencies in FY26 than previously expected.
“Looking forward, we now expect the cost impact from the proposed changes in business rates included in the recent UK Budget to be c.£35m in FY27, which is lower than our preliminary estimate of £40m-£50m. We continue to believe the proposed changes to business rates are damaging for the overall sector and will impact future investment and job creation and we, along with the wider hospitality industry, continue to press the UK government for changes.”
Whitbread runs more than 900 hotels in the UK and abroad, mostly under the Premier Inn brand.
