A Whitbread First: Premier Inn Opens in Swindon with an Electric-Only Hotel

It’s pretty cool to see in the news that one of the #UK’s leading #hospitality groups, Whitbread, has built a site which is a fully functioning all-electric #hotel, without any connection to a mains gas supply whatsoever!

Opened in Swindon, Wiltshire, the Premier Inn property has 195 guest rooms and has been certified as #BREEM ‘Excellent.’ Whitbread has stated that all new-build Premier Inn hotels from 2026 onward will be all-electric, without reliance on #fossilfuels.

This is a meaningful pledge albeit fair to say that new builds are, by all accounts, much simpler to grapple with than are conversions of older buildings in #realestate. 

It’s therefore arguably even more exciting to see that Whitbread’s #leadership already has underway a concerted effort retrofitting to electric-only #energy in a small number of other sites! And, further, that leveraging the learning experiences from these ‘pilots’ there is commitment to convert the entire estate portfolio over time…to meet #netzero targets.

As Whitbread UK & Ireland Head of #Construction Richard Aldread confirmed, the company has stated its intention to bring “operational #emissions to net zero by 2040." While there are ambitious plans “to expand the number of Premier Inn bedrooms…this should not happen at the expense of net zero commitments.”

Innovative, commercial and good for the planet. #betterbusiness