THE Whitbread group is investing a further £7million on its sustainability programme in a bid to meet its targets of a 26 per cent reduction in energy consumption and a 20 per cent reduction in water usage by 2020.
The company, whose brands include budget hotel group Premier Inn, Brewers Fayre and Costa Coffee, will spend £2.6million on low-energy LED light bulbs and install 20,000 low-flow shower-heads, moves it says will save 6,200 tonnes of carbon each year and a volume of water equivalent to 88 Olympic swimming pools by 2012.
This autumn also sees the opening of Premier Inn’s second green hotel and its first low-carbon restaurant, in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, following the opening of a pilot hotel in Tamworth, Staffordshire, in 2008.
Chris George, Whitbread's head of energy and environment, says, ”This significant green investment is a major step forward for Whitbread
as we continue to drive down our carbon emissions and reduce water consumption as part of our 'Good Together' commitments.”
He continues, ”What's really exciting about our programme is its scale. We have the largest portfolio of hotels, restaurants and coffee shops in the UK. That means we have a real opportunity to make a difference and there is considerable scope for us to be innovative and bold.”
