WHITBREAD CALLS TIME FOR 6,000 WORKERS

PREMIER Inn owner Whitbread is to axe up to 6,000 jobs or 18 per cent of its workforce.

Whitbread, which hopes a “significant proportion” will be by voluntary redundancy, saw its sales plunge by almost 80 per cent during the first half its financial year.

Although demand has risen since hospitality reopened in July, the Beefeater owner expects levels to be lower than before the pandemic.

Whitbread boss Alison Brittain said: “With demand for travel remaining subdued, we are now having to make some very difficult decisions.”

Meanwhile, pub chain JD Wetherspoon warned that up to 450 people at Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports could be made redundant.

Boss John Hutson said the move was due to “the large reduction in passenger numbers”.

Many nationwide are likely to be at risk as furlough winds down.