Premier Inn owner rolls out pay rise to attract staff

To combat mounting staff shortages, Premier Inn owner Whitbread has shared that it will pay millions in wage rises and bonuses to attract and retain staff.

Following industry-wide labour shortages, the chain has said that the shortages of labour meant a “material number of vacancies” remained unfulfilled.

According to BBC, the hike in pay will cost Whitbread £12m-£13m, while retention bonuses will cost the firm around £10m.

Recent data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the hospitality sector has experienced some of the highest labour shortages, as it stated that vacancies reached 1.1m between July and September.

In order to tackle this, Whitbread announced a pay increase for its UK-based hourly-paid staff.

But to cope with demand, the firm still needs to add 2,000 employees to its current workforce of 30,000 individuals, including housekeeping, reception and kitchen staff.

Commenting on this, Alison Brittain, chief executive of the business, said: “Whitbread traded significantly ahead of the market in the UK during the first half of the year.

“The operating environment during the summer and into autumn has been challenging largely as a result of our very high occupancy levels, market-wide supply chain issues and a tighter labour supply in the hospitality sector.”

Whitbread also shared concerns regards the energy crisis, pointing out that it was experiencing rising utility costs.

Despite this, the company stated that its recovery had been better than expected since coming out of lockdown restrictions.

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