The surprising history of Whitbread

The British hotel company, Whitbread, was first founded as a brewery in 1742 when Samuel Whitbread formed a partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell. They acquired a small brewery at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street, as well as another brewhouse for pale and amber beers in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread bought the large rise of the then-derelict King’s Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750. The new brewery was for the specific production of porter, and was renamed the Hind Brewery after the Whitbread family coat of arms. While not the first to discover Porter production, Whitbread has been credited with being the first to exploit it commercially on a large scale. By 1758, production at Chiswell Street was 65,000 barrels and the firm had become the largest firm of Porter brewers in the UK. From the outset, Whitbread was the leading financial partner, and solely responsible for management, and in 1761, Whitbread acquired Shewell's share of the business for £30k. By the 1780s, Whitbread (as we know it today) is thought to have become the largest brewery in the world, and in 1796, the company produced 202,000 barrels of porter. However, the company struggled after the death of Samuel Whitbread Sr, and saw ownership transfer to his son, also called Samuel Whitbread. The company officially adopted the name Whitbread and Co Ltd in 1799. By the 1810s, Samuel Whitbread Jr had brought in several new investment partners, including his cousin Jacob Whitbread and the master brewer John Martineau. In 1812, the company merged with the Martineau Brewery Holdings, and by 1816, leadership was shared between Samuel Whitbread Jr’s son, William Henry Whitbread, and John Martineau, who died in an industrial accident in a yeast vat in the brewery in 1834. By 1870, the company had begun producing bottled beers for sale and continued to expand production. On 24 July 1889, the company became a registered limited liability company. By 1905, the Chiswell Street brewery reached its largest extent and annual production throughout the company breweries had reached almost 700,000 barrels. However, production did decrease during WWI, as Whitbread only brewed slightly over 575,000 barrels in 1917. In the 1920s and 1930s, the company bought out several other brewers, including the Forest Hill Brewery and its pubs, and later the Kent Brewery Frederick Leney and Sons, with 130 of its pubs. The company was also reorganised under the leadership of Sir Sydney Neville and introduced new ales, including Double Brown ale. Whitbread ended regular production of porter in 1940 due to its declining popularity and a need to rationalise its product range following WWII damage to its brewery sites. Some 565 Whitbread pubs were also extensively damaged in the war, primarily during the Blitz. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1948 following a decision by the principal owners to take the company public under the direction of Bill Whitbread. The next three decades saw Whitbread merge with over a dozen other regional breweries, including Tennant Brothers of Sheffield in 1961 and Brickwoods in 1971. Between 1961 and 1971, Whitbread's output increased from 46 to 160 million imperial gallons, and it became Britain's third-largest brewer by output. In 1973, the company purchased Long John International, a Scottish distiller whose brands included Laphroaig whisky and Plymouth gin. Later spirit acquisitions also included the distiller James Burrough and the brand Beefeater Gin, which was later sold. By 1982, the company’s turnover had exceeded £1bn for the first time, and in 1984, Samuel Charles Whitbread became chairman and a reorganisation of the company took place into separate divisions. The group’s spirits arm, which included Laphroaig, was sold to Allied Distillers in 1989. Whitbread’s Premier Inn chain first started trading in 1987 as ‘Travel Inn’ when the first hotel opened next to “the Watermill” Beefeater restaurant in Basildon. The company diversified into other hospitality holdings and invested in new ventures in the 1980s and 1990s, including Beefeater, Pizza Hut, Berni Inns, Heineken Steak Bars and TGI Fridays. However, in the early 1990s, Whitbread was required to sell almost 2,500 pubs, as a result of the 1992 Supply of Beer orders. In July 1996, Whitbread purchased the Pelican Group, which was made up of 110 restaurants under the Dôme, Mamma Amalfi, and primarily, Café Rouge brands for £133m. Later in November 1996, Whitbread acquired the restaurant group BrightReasons – owner of brands including Bella Pasta and Pizzaland – for £46m. In 2001, Whitbread made the decision to sell all of its breweries and brewing interests to Iterbrew, now known as InBev. In 2002, the company also sold its pub estate, known as the Laurel Pub Company, to Enterprise Inns, as well as its Pelican and BrightReasons restaurant groups for £25m to Tragus Holdings – later renamed Casual Dining Group. The Whitbread and Co brewery building at 52 Chiswell Street in London still survives. Although beer ceased to be brewed there in 1976, it is now a conference and events venue. It was subsequently sold to a private investor. In July 2004, Whitbread acquired another hotel chain, Premier Lodge, for £536m. This added 141 hotels to the portfolio, and prompted Whitbread to rename every hotel ‘Premier Travel Inn. In 2005, Whitbread moved its core operations from CityPoint in Central London, to Oakley House in Luton, then again in 2006 to larger offices at Whitbread Court in Dunstable. In 2006, it went on to sell 239 of its 271 Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites to Mitchells and Butlers, who rebranded them into Harvester, Toby Carvery and a selection of other brands. Also In 2005, Premier Travel Inn opened its 500th hotel in Hemel Hempstead. In early 2006, Premier Travel Inn purchased 11 Holiday Inn Hotels in England and Wales. This hotel group began to launch a new bedroom design during this year to move away from the differences of ‘Travel Inn’ and ‘Premier Lodge’. Until then, rooms had remained as they had been before and new hotels were designed as ‘Travel Inns’. In September 2007, Whitbread acquired Golden Tulip UK including six hotels trading in the UK under the Tulip Inn and Golden Tulip brands. Whitbread soon shortened the name to Premier Inn on 2 October 2007. In April 2008, Whitbread announced a £100m expansion of Premier Inn in London over the following three years. By 2009, the business accounted for more than 70% of Whitbread’s earnings. In the present day, Whitbread is best known for its largest division, Premier Inn, which has a large footprint in the UK consisting of more than 840 hotels and in excess of 83,500 rooms. Until January 2019, it also owned Costa Coffee until Whitbread sold it to The Coca-Cola Company.