Premier Inn celebrates double success

The Premier Inn hotel chain has celebrated multiple milestones recently, in announcing the opening of its new hotel at London’s Gatwick Airport.

As well as opening the 630-bedroom hotel, the chain has also recorded opening its 50,000th room, marking a double achievement for the budget hotel group.

Opened by Whitbread managing director Patrick Dempsey, the investment in the latest London hotel has created 77 new jobs for people in the local area, as well as amounting to £60 million’s worth of regeneration of the area.

Premier Inn London Gatwick Airport followed the recent opening of the high-profile Premier Inn site on Leicester Square, and is one of nine hotels to be opened in Greater London by the end of 2013 as part of a major expansion drive for the chain.

Managing director Dempsey said that reaching 50,000 rooms across the portfolio was “a great achievement”.

“Our growth across Greater London is particularly exciting as it means we can offer even more people a great night’s sleep in the best locations and we look forward to opening many more over the next few years.”

Minister for employment Mark Hoban said it was great to see “companies like Premier Inn continuing to expand and being passionate about getting young people and the long-term unemployed back into jobs.”

He added: “Tackling youth unemployment is a priority for the Government, and that’s why we launched the Youth Contract offering nearly 500,000 opportunities for young people to pick up the skills and experience they need to find work,” he added.

Jon Walters, general manager at Premier Inn London Gatwick Airport, surmised: ‘”We are delighted to be opening our biggest Premier Inn hotel allowing people who are travelling to and from Gatwick Airport to have a great night’s sleep.”

The news comes days after the chain announced they were trialing noise sensors to ensure a good night’s sleep.