other uses see whitbread disambiguation . whitbread plc type public limited company traded as lse wtb industry leisure hospitality founded 1742 ; 274 years ago 1742 london founder samuel whitbread and thomas shewell headquarters houghton regis united kingdom area served china dubai europe india republic of ireland russia united kingdom key people richard baker chairman alison brittain ceo revenue 2 921.8 million 2016 1 operating income 528.1 million 2016 1 net income 387.3 million 2016 1 number of employees 50 000 2016 1 divisions beefeater grill brewers fayre costa coffee premier inn table table taybarns 2008 2016 website www.whitbread.co.uk whitbread plc is a multinational hotel coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in houghton regis united kingdom . its largest division is premier inn which is the largest hotel brand in the uk with around 650 hotels and over 50 000 rooms . its costa coffee chain has 3 080 shops across 30 countries as of may 2014 and is the world s second largest international coffee shop chain . 2 its other brands include the restaurant chains beefeater grill brewers fayre table table and taybarns . 3 whitbread is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 100 index . contents 1 history 1.1 february 2013 horse meat scandal 2 current operations 2.1 premier inn 2.2 costa coffee 2.3 table table 2.4 beefeater 2.5 brewers fayre 2.6 whitbread inns 3 former operations 4 references 5 external links history edit the chiswell street brewery in 1792 . in 1742 samuel whitbread formed a partnership with godfrey and thomas shewell and they acquired a small brewery at the junction of old street and upper whitecross street and another brewhouse for pale and amber beers in brick lane spitalfields . 4 godfrey shewell withdrew from the partnership as thomas shewell and samuel whitbread bought the large site of the derelict king s head brewery in chiswell street in 1750 . 4 the new brewery was for the production of porter and was renamed the hind brewery after the whitbread family coat of arms . 4 from the outset whitbread was the leading financial partner and solely responsible for management and in 1761 whitbread acquired shewell s share of the business for 30 000 . 4 it was the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s . 5 in 1796 the company produced 202 000 barrels of porter . 4 the firm struggled after the death of samuel whitbread sr and saw ownership transfer to his son also called samuel whitbread . 5 the company adopted the name whitbread & co ltd in 1799 . 6 the company was first listed on the london stock exchange in 1948 . 5 between 1961 and 1971 whitbread s output increased from 2.1 to 7.4 million hectolitres and it became britain s third largest brewer by output . 7 in 1972 whitbread became the initiating sponsor of the whitbread round the world race now called the volvo ocean race a sailing yacht race around the world held every three years . whitbread sponsored the race until 2001 . whitbread acquired a 20 % stake in tvs for 6.5 m from european ferries in april 1984 . 8 whitbread group plc decided in 2001 to sell all its breweries and brewing interests whitbread beer company to interbrew now known as inbev . 6 whitbread branded alcoholic beverages are still available in the uk such as canned whitbread bitter but these are not produced by inbev merely produced under licence by other producers . inbev controls the use of the whitbread brand and the hind s head logo for use on beverages . in 2002 whitbread sold its pub estate known as the laurel pub company to enterprise inns . 9 the whitbread & co brewery building at 52 chiswell street in london still survives although beer ceased to be brewed there in 1976 5 and it is now a conference and events venue . still named the brewery it is now part of the earls court and olympia group as the site itself was sold to an investment firm in 2005 . 10 in 2005 it moved its core operations from citypoint in central london to oakley house in luton 11 and then in 2006 to larger offices at whitbread court in dunstable previously used by the now defunct whitbread restaurants company in a bid to reduce costs . in 2006 it went on to sell 239 of its 271 beefeater sites to mitchells & butlers . 12 in january 2010 whitbread introduced a new corporate logo and replaced the tagline welcome with a smile with eat sleep and drink . 13 february 2013 horse meat scandal edit in 2013 as part of the 2013 meat adulteration scandal dna tests revealed that horsemeat was present in some meat products sold in outlets owned by whitbread . 14 ready packed meal firm findus compass group was the world s biggest catering firm at the time and whitbread which was at the time britain s biggest hotel group was indicted for illegally selling concealed horse meat in food products . 15 in a public letter later that day 11 firms including tesco and asda said they shared shoppers anger and outrage . 16 whitbread vowed to remedy the unacceptable situation on 26 february 2013 . 17 the food standards agency s fsa chief executive catherine brown also said it is unlikely we will ever know how many unwittingly ate horsemeat . 18 current operations edit whitbread s principal current operations are premier inn edit a premier inn in basingstoke a branch of costa in sutton greater london brewer s fayre royal quay north shields main article premier inn premier inn is the uk s largest budget hotel chain with over 700 hotels . 19 costa coffee edit main article costa coffee costa coffee was founded in london in 1971 by the brothers sergio and bruno costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist italian coffee shops . acquired by whitbread in 1995 it has since grown to over 2 861 stores across 30 countries . 20 by the end of 2010 the company had overtaken starbucks in the uk reaching a 37.6 % market share measured by revenues . 21 the business has 1 755 uk restaurants over 5 000 costa express vending facilities and a further 1 106 outlets overseas . 2 table table edit main article table table table table is a uk restaurant brand . they started as converted brewers fayre restaurants . the brand was originally set up in 2006 unnamed and the name table table was launched in may 2008 . there are around 105 sites in the uk . 22 beefeater edit main article beefeater grill beefeater was launched in 1974 . the chain underwent a huge revamp in the early 2000s . it then proceeded to change its name to beefeater grill for a period but in 2015 reverted to just beefeater . beefeater has 140 houses across the uk . 23 brewers fayre edit main article brewers fayre brewers fayre is a pub restaurant brand which was created in 1979 . the pubs are designed to look and feel like traditional local pubs but with a particularly strong family presence . there are around 145 pubs across the country . 24 whitbread inns edit the whitbread inns brand of restaurants was created by whitbread in 2014 . in january 2016 there were 13 pubs all of which were table table across central and southern england including the treacle mine in polegate and the roundstone in littlehampton . 25 former operations edit whitbread s former operations include taybarns main article taybarns taybarns was an all you can eat american buffet style restaurant . there were six sites in england and one the very first site at swansea in wales . 26 britvic a large uk manufacturer of soft drinks producing brands such as j2o robinson s and tango as well as pepsi in the uk and ireland . 27 marriott hotels and clubs in the uk sold to brand owner marriott corporation . 28 tgi friday s whitbread originally held the uk franchise rights to the american restaurant chain tgi friday s. the restaurants are known for their over the top american style and are popular with teenagers for birthday parties . it is also noted for its cocktails including a top selling long island iced tea . on 17 january 2007 whitbread announced that the franchise rights for tgi friday s were being sold to a joint venture between carlson restaurants worldwide inc and abn amro capital for 70.4 m. 29 pizza hut uk sold to brand owner yum . 30 david lloyd leisure whitbread ran more than 50 david lloyd leisure dll clubs in the uk and ireland with a further number in spain the netherlands and belgium . dll is britain s biggest tennis operator and manages more than 500 tennis courts . on 4 july 2007 whitbread announced that it had conditionally agreed to sell the david lloyd leisure chain to versailles bidco limited for 925 million . whitbread will initially use the proceeds from its sale to pay off debt . 31 hogshead a group of town centre pubs similar to wetherspoons became part of the laurel pub company in 2001 . 32 threshers a chain of off licences . 33 germany churasco owned since 1990 and maredo owned since 1994 ; in 1999 the churasco restaurants had been transformed into maredo branded ones ; maredo was sold in 2005 34 references edit a b c d annual report 2016 pdf . whitbread plc. retrieved 27 march 2016 . a b annual report 2014 pdf . retrieved 31 january 2015 . about us . whitbread plc. retrieved 1 july 2013 . a b c d e whitbread samuel . oxford dictionary of national biography . retrieved 31 january 2015 . a b c d jack s. blocker ; david m. fahey ; ian r. tyrrell 2003 . alcohol and temperance in modern history an international encyclopedia . abc clio . pp. 656 657 . isbn 978 1 57607 833 4 . a b history of whitbread . whitbread.co.uk . retrieved 2014 04 11 . alcohol and temperance in modern history . google.com . retrieved 1 february 2015 . whitbread buys 6m tvs stake . by derek harris commercial editor . the times thursday apr 12 1984 ; pg . 18 enterprise inns buys 1 860 pubs to become uk s top landlord dead link whitbread sells historic brewery archived 12 june 2011 at the wayback machine . whitbread market intelligence . ukbusinesspark.co.uk . retrieved 2014 04 11 . business beefeater sites bought by m & b . bbc news . 2006 07 21 . retrieved 2014 04 11 . whitbread case study pdf . bbc news horsemeat scandal supermarkets share anger and outrage . bbc.co.uk . 2013 02 15 . retrieved 2014 04 11 . reuters 15 february 2013 . compass and whitbread caught up in horse meat scandal . telegraph.co.uk . retrieved 1 february 2015 . bbc news horsemeat scandal supermarkets share anger and outrage . bbc news . retrieved 1 february 2015 . whitbread makes food pledge after horsemeat scandal . the guardian . retrieved 1 february 2015 . bbc news horsemeat compass and whitbread find horse dna in products . bbc news . retrieved 1 february 2015 . premier inn opens 600th uk hotel . retrieved 31 january 2015 . catering & hospitality news . retrieved 1 february 2015 . caterer and hotelkeeper 14 january 2011 table table . retrieved 31 january 2015 . beefeater . retrieved 31 january 2015 . brewers fayre . retrieved 31 january 2015 . whitbread inns . retrieved 16 january 2016 . taybarns . retrieved 31 january 2015 . britvic ipo to value drinks group at up to 537m . ft.com . 25 november 2005 . retrieved 31 january 2015