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Whitbread has announced plans to build a second hotel in Chichester as part of its long-term Premier Inn expansion strategy in the south of England.
The company has acquired a site on Bognor Road, close to the A27 and A259 junction, where it intends to develop an 82-bedroom Premier Inn. The freehold site was purchased from Hanbury Properties.
The proposed hotel would complement Premier Inn’s existing site at Gate Leisure Park, south west of the city centre. Once open, the two hotels would provide a combined 165 bedrooms across the Chichester catchment, completing Whitbread’s network plan for the city.
Hanbury Properties carried out enabling works on the site before the sale, including remediation of a former Second World War fuel depot, construction of a new slip lane and traffic light junction off the A259, and installation of estate roads and services to support future development.
Louise Woodruff, acquisitions manager at Whitbread, said: “This consistent demand has underpinned our search for a suitable second Premier Inn location in Chichester, which we are pleased to have acquired from Hanbury Properties, who have provided us with a fully serviced site, ready for development in the spring.”
James Belbin, director of Hanbury Properties, added: “It’s an excellent location for a new hotel and will help to underpin the next phase of development at Cathedral Business Park.”
The Chichester acquisition is Whitbread’s latest investment in Sussex and the south coast, where the company is seeking further growth for Premier Inn. Later this year it expects to operate 23 hotels across West and East Sussex following the opening of a new site on Bognor Regis seafront in April.
Construction is also due to start in February on Premier Inn’s first hotel in Littlehampton town centre, following the demolition of a former supermarket on the site. Whitbread is also seeking a location for a future Premier Inn in Rye.
Across the UK and Ireland, Premier Inn currently operates more than 840 hotels with close to 86,000 bedrooms. Whitbread has said it sees long-term potential to expand the brand to around 125,000 rooms across the two markets.
