DUNSTABLE, ENGLAND—Since April 1, all Whitbread brands, including Costa Coffee and Premier Inn, have been sourcing their purchased electricity in the United Kingdom from renewable sources. The decision means that the energy used to power 68,000 Premier Inn rooms and 2,200 Costa Coffee stores across the United Kingdom, is now coming from 100 percent renewable sources.
“As the U.K.’s largest hospitality brand, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to drive change within the industry which is why we have made this decision for the business,” said James Pitcher, Director of Sustainability for Whitbread. “Whitbread is committed to minimizing its environmental impact and operating in a way that respects people and the planet and we hope this will be a landmark step in helping to set the industry standard.”
Whitbread PLC is the owner of the U.K.’s favorite hotel chain, Premier Inn and the U.K.’s favorite coffee shop, Costa, as well as restaurant brands Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table.
Company’s U.K. Reach is Significant
Whitbread is ranked no. 8 in the Sunday Times Best Big Companies to Work For list and employs around 50,000 people in over 2,200 outlets across the United Kingdom, serving over 28 million customers every month.
Whitbread has ambitious growth plans to increase the number of Premier Inn U.K. rooms to around 85,000 and to achieve global system sales of around £2.5bn for Costa by 2020.
“At Whitbread we are committed to being a force for good in the communities in which we operate,” Pitcher said. “Our CR program, ‘Good Together’, is focused on three pillars of Team & Communities, Customer Wellbeing and Energy & Environment.
