Premier Inn announces 8,000 new jobs over the next five years

Published on : Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Premier-InnPremier Inn, the UK’s leading hotel chain, today announced that it will create 8,000 new jobs over the next five years due its rapid expansion plans. Premier Inn opens a new hotel every 10 days.

The announcement was made at the official opening of Premier Inn’s latest hotel, London City (Monument), by Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants Managing Director, Patrick Dempsey and the Minister for Employment Esther McVey MP.

From the 8,000 jobs being created, which equates to over four jobs a day, Premier Inn has targeted 50% of them to long term unemployed people aged 16-24. Premier Inn has also pledged an additional 2,000 Apprenticeships and 4,500 work placements for young people in the UK by 2018.

Within the M25 Premier Inn is targeting to have 20,000 rooms by 2018 and will be creating around 2,500 new jobs over the next five years.

Premier Inn has already created 1,100 jobs in the past year and the new 184 bedroom Premier Inn at Monument has provided 20 new jobs, all of which have gone to the long term unemployed.

In the past three years, Premier Inn and Whitbread’s restaurants have helped team members achieve over 6,500 qualifications through its Apprenticeships. A total of 415 apprenticeships were successfully completed in Whitbread in 2012, a number which is set to increase considerably under the new programme.

Patrick Dempsey, Managing Director of Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, said “We’re committed to doing what we can to offer opportunities to unemployed people to get their first job or to get back into work. We have a target of recruiting half of our new team members from the long-term unemployed, and we offer a robust and structured qualification pathway. We especially want young people to know that hospitality is a career path that is open to them and its one they could excel in. The ‘Big Hospitality Conversation’ is a key pillar of activity for the British Hospitality Association and as an industry it has already pledged over 32,000 jobs, apprenticeships and work placements and that number could double by 2014. Our employees can learn on and off the job with plans to introduce qualifications to Level 7. To help the hospitality industry identify young people who may want to work in our sector I am delighted that we are now working in partnership with ‘Believe in Young People’, a Charity working closely with schools to develop and support young people with their transition into the workplace including the hospitality industry.”

Esther McVey, Minister for Employment said “I was delighted to hear that Premier Inn will be creating 8,000 new jobs over the next five years. This Government has been clear about its commitment to promote private sector job creation and this is a stellar example. Their commitment to offer half of these new jobs to long term unemployed young people is particularly welcome, and is an example that I hope other businesses will follow.”

Tanja Kuveljic, CEO of ‘Believe in Young People’ said “We are delighted and privileged to receive the support from Whitbread and Premier Inn. This partnership is making a huge difference to thousands of young people in Secondary Education and helps them to make an effective transition into relevant employment. Together we have developed a ground breaking programme to connect Employers to Schools at a local level and provide a quality pipeline, which meets future workforce requirements. Our shared values and vision combined with amazing people has made this possible to help communities across the country.”

Ufi Ibrahim CEO of the British Hospitality Association said “The Hospitality industry is the UK plc’s brightest star. Not only did it account for one third of all new jobs created in Britain between 2010 and 2012, but it is focused on delivering its potential to create a further 300,000 jobs by 2020, which would take the industry to over 3 million employees across all regions of the UK. This growth will move Hospitality up into the top three biggest employers in Britain. Hospitality stands out for the scale of jobs it represents, especially for young entrants, and for the pace and extent of career development offered across our industry. There are few industries that can match hospitality’s power to propel individuals from entry level to boardrooms across Britain. The BHA applauds Premier Inn for their outstanding achievements in creating jobs, driving professionalism, advancing careers and nurturing tomorrow’s leaders.”

Premier Inn Monument new team member Matthew Costa (21) started work at the site on October 22; Matthew said “I’d been looking for a full time role for over 8 months and I was doing some agency work, which included delivering some beds to the Monument site. I met some of the new team members and I heard that there were some full time roles available. I applied for a job as a Kitchen Assistant and got it so I’m delighted to be working with a really good team of people in an environment where I can progress and learn new skills on and off the job.”

Source:- BHA

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