Premier Inn secures seven new sites and seeks more

Hotel chain Premier Inn plans to add 520 bedrooms to its North West estate after identifying seven target sites across the region.

The hotels will either be new-build or refurbishments within existing buildings, some in conjunction with developers.

Premier Inn, part of the Whitbread Group of companies, will not put an overall value on the investment, part of its drive to secure 20,000 new bedrooms by 2018.

Further sites are being sought across the country, including the North West.

The seven new sites, subject to planning permission, are:

• Aberystwyth: The former Bay hotel on Aberystwyth seafront will be renovated into a new 62-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant. The developer is Opus Land North.
• Barrow: An 80-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and 150-cover Brewers Fayre restaurant will be built on North Road, next to the Dock Museum. The developer is Premier Inn.
• Blackburn: A 60-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant located in the Cathedral Quarter. The developer is Maple Grove.
• Leek: A new 60-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant on Ashbourne Road, which will improve the important environment around the Nicholson War Memorial. The developer is Premier Inn.
• Hanley: A 100-bedroom freehold self-build Premier Inn hotel and 190-cover Brewers Fayre restaurant on Etruria Road. The developer is Premier Inn.
• Wigan: An 83-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant, which has BPRA backing. The developer is Downing.
• Wrexham: An 83-bedroom Premier Inn hotel and restaurant on Regent Street, near the town centre. The developer is Worthington Properties.

Premier Inn was represented by WSB property consultants.

John Bates, head of acquisitions UK and Ireland for Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants, said: "Premier Inn is one of the UK's top brands and most successful businesses and we are expanding across the country on the back of increasing customer demand.

"Last year the business sold 14m Premier Inn bedrooms and opened more than 4,200 new rooms – impressive performance in a difficult economy.

"Given this success, we recently set a new milestone – to grow Premier Inn in the UK by 45% to around 75,000 bedrooms by 2018.

"We are continually on the look-out for top quality sites to add to our existing network and we're investing in projects right across the North West.

"These new locations are great examples of the flexibility and adaptability Premier Inn can bring to secure the right site.

"With our Whitbread covenant and are ability to attract guests into an area, Premier Inn is the perfect partner for regeneration projects and to boost local economies – as shown by the BPRA support for our development in Wigan."

Premier Inn has 250 target locations for new hotels across the country, including the North West towns of Abergavenny, Ambleside, Betws-y-Coed, Blackpool, Buxton, Carlisle, Keswick, Lancaster, Llandudno, Manchester, Salford Quays and Sandbach.