Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Driving long-term value

Image: Premier Inn Birmingham NEC

Driving long-term value

We own Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel brand, with over 86,000 rooms across c.850 hotels and we also have a growing presence in Germany, with 65 hotels open. Our scale and commitment to operational excellence mean we can deliver a fantastic experience for our guests, rewarding employment for our teams whilst driving long-term returns for our shareholders.

1 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Total shareholder dividends paid and share buy-backs completed in 2025/26.
† See pages 227 to 233 for definitions of alternative performance measures. This footnote is referenced throughout the report.

Throughout this report and unless stated otherwise, all percentage growth comparisons are made comparing the latest year (2025/26) performance with that of the prior year (2024/25).

Strategic report

2 Purpose and strategy
3 Brands and locations
8 Business model
10 Why invest?
12 Chair’s statement
14 Chief Executive’s review
18 New Five-Year Plan
20 Strategy and KPIs
24 Strategy in action: UK
26 UK market drivers
28 UK strategy
30 UK performance
32 Strategy in action: Germany
34 German market drivers
36 German strategy
38 German performance
40 Q&A with Mark Smith Chief Technology Officer
42 Long-term growth strategy
44 Chief Financial Officer’s review
48 Stakeholder engagement
54 Chief People Officer’s review
60 Sustainability
64 Risk management
66 Principal risks and uncertainties
72 Viability statement
73 Non-financial and sustainability information statement
74 Climate-related financial disclosures

Governance

88 Corporate governance at a glance
90 Chair’s governance report
91 Corporate governance statement
93 Board leadership and company purpose
95 Division of responsibilities
96 Board of directors
100 Executive Committee
101 Composition, succession and evaluation
104 Nomination Committee report
109 Audit Committee report
116 Remuneration Committee report
120 Remuneration at a glance
124 Annual report on remuneration
137 Directors’ report
143 Directors’ responsibility statement
144 Independent limited assurance report

Consolidated accounts 2025/26

148 Independent auditor’s report
157 Consolidated income statement
157 Earnings per share
158 Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
159 Consolidated statement of changes in equity
160 Consolidated balance sheet
161 Consolidated cash flow statement
162 Notes to the consolidated financial statements

Whitbread PLC Company accounts 2025/26

213 Company balance sheet
214 Company statement of changes in equity
215 Notes to the Company financial statements

Other information

226 Glossary
227 Alternative performance measures
234 Shareholder services

Financial highlights

Item	2025/26	2024/25
Statutory revenue	£2,920m	£2,922m
Adjusted profit before tax†	£483m	£483m
Statutory profit before tax	£298m	£368m
Adjusted operating cash flow†	£713m	£723m
Total shareholder returns*	£419m	£442m
Adjusted basic earnings per share†	208.5p	194.6p
Statutory basic earnings per share	123.3p	141.5p
Lease-adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDAR†	3.3x	3.0x
Dividend per share	97.0p	97.0p

STRATEGIC REPORT 2 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

PURPOSE AND STRATEGY

What sets us apart?

Force for Good Opportunity See page 60
Community See page 60
Responsibility See page 61

Underpinned by our Values

Our strategic pillars

Grow and innovate in the UK See page 24
Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany See page 32
Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth See page 42

Our purpose

To provide high-quality, affordable hotel rooms to our guests, to help them to live and work well and to positively impact the world around us. With no barriers to entry or limits to ambition, we will provide meaningful work, skills and career development opportunities for our teams.

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Where we operate

BRANDS AND LOCATIONS

Premier Inn is the largest hotel brand in the UK and has a growing presence in Germany. Our proposition is synonymous with providing high-quality and great value hotel rooms for our guests. We aim to reach 96,000 open rooms in the UK and Ireland and 18,000 open rooms in Germany by 2030/31; thereafter, we still have a long runway for growth.

Food and beverage (F&B), especially a hot breakfast, is a key part of the guest experience at Premier Inn. In 2026/27, we plan to move to a single, integrated F&B offer, which is tailored specifically for the needs of the Premier Inn guest, across all of our sites as we exit all of our remaining branded restaurants. These changes are subject to carrying out the required consultation with our employees.

Our ambition is to be the world’s best budget hotel brand

Region	Open rooms	Committed pipeline	Long-term room potential
United Kingdom and Ireland	>86,000	c.9,000	125,000
Germany	>11,000	c.7,500	-

1 As at 26 February 2026, there are also 11 Premier Inns across the Middle East operated as part of a joint venture.
2 Includes six sites in Ireland, one site in each of Guernsey and the Isle of Man and two sites in Jersey.
3 Includes one site in Austria.
4 As at 26 February 2026, sites where the Group has a legal interest in a property with the intention of opening a hotel in the future. UK committed pipeline includes Accelerating Growth Plan extension rooms with planning and Board approval to progress.

United Kingdom and Ireland
Our largest and most profitable market is driven by high volumes of domestic travel, supplemented by inbound international travel. With a significant decline in the independent sector and limited new room growth from other branded operators, a favourable supply backdrop is expected to remain in place for the next few years.

Germany
The German hotel rooms market is c.40% larger than that in the UK and shares a number of the attractive structural characteristics that helped drive Premier Inn’s success in the UK. Having grown rapidly and reached a key profitability milestone in 2025/26, we are now focusing on accelerating cashflow and returns by 2030/31.

‘hub by Premier Inn’ offers a more compact, digitally advanced in-room experience at a great price in prime city locations. With 19 hub hotels already open across London and Edinburgh, we have a committed pipeline to open more sites over the next few years.

Our hotel brands
Our food and beverage offer
Find out more online www.whitbread.co.uk/about-us/our-brands/

STRATEGIC REPORT
YouGov ‘Best Value Hotel Chain’ ranking No.1 in the UK 1
1 YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value scores as at 26 February 2026 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.

4 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

National network
With c.850 hotels open in the UK and Ireland and 65 hotels in Germany across most major towns and cities, we are well placed to meet our guests’ needs, wherever they might want to stay.

Quality and comfort
We believe that choosing a budget hotel brand shouldn’t mean our guests have to compromise on quality and comfort.Our hotel rooms offer a ‘home away from home’ experience for our guests, ensuring a great night’s sleep at a great price. Consistent experience By investing in our product whilst maintaining tight cost control, we’re able to offer a consistent proposition, ensuring every hotel room meets the high brand standards that our guests expect. This includes our food and beverage offer, especially a hot breakfast, which is a key part of the overall guest experience at Premier Inn. Warm and welcoming We are passionate about delivering a great service for our guests, and our teams are at the heart of this, reflected by high guest scores across both the UK and Germany. Values in action Market-leading guest proposition Premier Inn is the largest hotel brand in the UK with a 12% market share, and also has a growing national presence in Germany. Our consistent guest proposition is synonymous with providing high-quality and great value hotel rooms.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT? – PREMIER INN

Image: Premier Inn ID5 room

STRATEGIC REPORT 5 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Prime locations at a great price ‘hub by Premier Inn’ was developed to open up access to additional prime city-centre locations. With high levels of occupancy, the more compact, digitally-advanced in-room experience at a great price, is proving popular with guests and we are excited about the brand’s momentum and longer-term potential.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT? – HUB BY PREMIER INN

Location-centric guests With 19 open hotels across London and Edinburgh, ‘hub by Premier Inn’ allows us to target a distinct part of the market, attracting both business and leisure guests who value prime city-centre locations. Modern and compact The rooms feature a sleek, modern design with integrated technology. While smaller than a typical Premier Inn room, they offer everything that our guests need for a great stay. Digital-led The guest journey is increasingly digital-led, reflecting its importance as our primary distribution channel. Our ‘hub by Premier Inn’ sites include features such as the option to self-check in at all sites and interactive in-room technology. Lean operating model We are driving high occupancy levels at a great price point for our guests. With a higher density of rooms per square foot and a leaner operating model with a more tailored F&B offering than a traditional Premier Inn, we are able to deliver attractive returns from these locations. Clear line of sight to 5,000 rooms in the UK and Ireland Values in action Image: hub by Premier Inn room

STRATEGIC REPORT 6 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2024 Launch of Five-Year Plan to deliver a step change in profit margins and returns

OUR TRANSFORMATION

Adapting and innovating For over 280 years, generations of customers have relied on us, and our heritage reflects a commitment to quality that continues to guide everything we do today.

1742 Founded Samuel Whitbread founds the Company, partnered with Godfrey and Thomas Sewell
1868 Whitbread introduces bottling of beer to become a national brand
1968 Recognised as the top UK brewer, holding a significant share of the UK lager market
1987 Launch of the first Travel Inn hotel expanding into budget accommodation
1995 Acquisition of Costa Coffee which had 39 coffee shops at the time
2001 Sale of the brewery business to focus on hotels and restaurants
2004-7 Focus on budget hotels Exited David Lloyd, Marriott, Pizza Hut and TGI Fridays
2007 Creation of Premier Inn Premier Lodge was acquired in 2004 and merged with Travel Inn to create Premier Travel Inn. Rebranded to Premier Inn in 2007
2007 Establishing presence in Ireland Opens first Premier Inn outside the UK in Dublin, Ireland
2014 Launch of ‘hub’ Opens first ‘hub by Premier Inn’ hotel in London
2016 Establishing presence in Germany Opens first Premier Inn hotel in Germany
2019 Sale of Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn
2023 Building national presence in Germany Opens 50th Premier Inn hotel in Germany

STRATEGIC REPORT 7 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Hotel of the future

Over the last few years, we have transformed our core technology platforms to ensure they are resilient, scalable, and fit for long-term growth. Having already introduced the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in some areas of the business, we are excited by the potential it can bring to our operations, support functions and business performance.

1 million Fewer calls to our hotels supported by AI bots

Looking ahead 2030/31 results of New Five-Year Plan

Metric	Goal
Increase in Group ROCE versus 2025/26	500bps
Generate £2 billion available for shareholder returns	See page 19

1 Versus 2025/26, assuming UK like-for-like sales and cost efficiencies offset non-business rates inflation and finance costs over the life of the New Five-Year Plan.

2025/26 Launch of New Five-Year Plan
Key objectives:
* Drive profitable growth
* Increase margins and returns
* Accelerate Germany returns
* Increase cash returns for shareholders
* Maintain resilience through the cycle

Our New Five-Year Plan harnesses the core strengths of our business model, competitive position and strong balance sheet. Find out more online www.whitbread.co.uk/ about-us/our-history/

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BUSINESS MODEL

Our capital allocation framework is designed to support profitable growth and attractive returns over time. Through this model, we sustain and operate our estate at scale, convert operating performance into cash flow and recycle capital across reinvestment in our business, future growth and cash returns for shareholders. This approach helps to strengthen our market-leading position and create attractive shareholder returns over the medium and long-term.

Our market-leading guest proposition and operational control, combined with disciplined capital allocation, delivers significant competitive advantage. Our owner-operator model gives us the flexibility to invest and maintain consistent brand standards while our strong balance sheet provides resilience and capacity for growth through the cycle.

Our model drives growth and returns Executing our strategy Our strategy focuses on expanding our UK network, growing in Germany and continuing to invest in future growth. Our business model translates these strategic priorities into medium and long-term returns.

THE FOUNDATIONS THAT SUSTAIN OUR MODEL

SUSTAIN We sustain and strengthen our scaled, hard-to-replicate asset base
ALLOCATE We deploy capital to drive future growth and reward stakeholders
OPERATE We operate efficiently while delivering a consistent, high quality guest experience
CONVERT We turn strong operational performance into cash flow

OUTCOME Resilient and attractive returns, benefiting all stakeholders

Our operating model Translating operational strength into shareholder returns

THE FOUNDATIONS THAT UNDERPIN OUR MODEL

Our integrated model is underpinned by three core foundations:
* A guest-focused culture
* Responsible growth
* Governance and financial discipline

These foundations support how we operate day-to-day, helping us deliver consistently for guests, grow responsibly and allocate capital with discipline. Together, they strengthen resilience through the cycle and support sustainable long-term value creation.

STRATEGIC REPORT 9 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

How our operating model works

Through disciplined execution of our model, we generate strong cash flows and attractive returns on capital through the cycle. This supports consistent delivery for guests, sustainable returns for shareholders, ongoing employment for our teams and dependable outcomes for debt providers.

Guests: Delivering a consistent “Budget & Brilliant” experience builds trust, loyalty and allows us to command a RevPAR premium versus our competitors.
Colleagues: A supportive culture and clear operating model help our teams perform at their best and build rewarding careers.
Shareholders: Disciplined capital allocation and strong cash generation support sustainable returns and long-term value.
Communities and partners: Responsible growth and strong local relationships support the communities in which we operate and strengthen long-term resilience.

OUTCOME: Resilient and attractive returns, benefiting all stakeholders

We sustain a high-quality asset base built over decades, including our brands, estate, locations, teams, reputation, systems and deep operational know-how. By continuing to reinvest, we maintain, enhance and strengthen these tangible and intangible assets over time, reinforcing our competitive advantage and supporting consistent guest delivery, strong cash generation and long-term growth.

Our capital allocation framework strikes the right balance between sustaining our current business, reinvesting to grow, and delivering cash returns to shareholders. Guided by risk-adjusted returns, our decisions support resilience and future growth.

We operate our estate at scale through a disciplined, guest-focused owner-operator model. Our vertically integrated approach gives us total control across the guest proposition, helping us deliver a consistent, high-quality experience, while generating attractive returns over the medium and long-term.

Our vertically integrated business model and focus on operational excellence and tight cost control, translates strong operational execution into robust cash flow. This creates key operating benefits

We OPERATE using our disciplined, guest-focused owner operator model that creates operating advantages. These strengthen performance and help CONVERT strong operational performance into cash flow that we then ALLOCATE to drive long-term value and SUSTAIN our business.

Operational excellence
Commercial strength
Network growth opportunities
Strong balance sheet

OPERATE: We operate efficiently while delivering a consistent, high quality guest experience.2 ALLOCATE: We deploy capital with discipline and flexibility
SUSTAIN: We sustain and strengthen our scaled, hard-to-replicate asset base
4 CONVERT: We turn strong operational performance into cash flow
3 1 STRATEGIC REPORT 10 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Our market-leading position in the UK has been founded on our consistent delivery of both quality and value for our guests. The same approach has seen us establish a meaningful presence in Germany. The Group employs c.31,500 people and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

WHY INVEST? Investment case

1. Long-term growth opportunity in the UK

Whilst we are already the clear market leader, we have significant growth potential to reach up to 125,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland. With a material reduction in independent supply following the pandemic and a subdued pipeline of new build hotels, we do not expect UK supply to recover to 2019 levels until at least 2028. Our flexible approach to property ownership means we are well placed to take advantage of this significant market opportunity by adding rooms at attractive rates of return through both new sites and extensions, as demonstrated by our Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP).

2. Unlocking value in Germany

Germany is a large and exciting market with significant volumes of leisure and business travel. The independent sector is larger than in the UK and has also been in decline. However, there is no clear leader in the branded budget segment, creating opportunity for Premier Inn. Having grown rapidly through a combination of acquisitions, conversions and new builds, we have 65 open hotels and with our committed pipeline are set to become one of the largest operators in Germany with a clear focus on accelerating returns by 2030/31.

As at 26 February 2026. Germany includes one hotel in Austria.

Germany – number of rooms
Our room ambition
Open rooms*	>86,000
2030/31 open rooms target	96,000
Long-term potential rooms	125,000
Open rooms*	>11,000
2030/31 open rooms target	18,000

Find out more online www.whitbread.co.uk/investors/why-invest/

STRATEGIC REPORT 11 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

New Five-Year Plan

Differentiated model underpins a market-leading proposition

Our operating model is a key source of competitive advantage. Being in control of all aspects of our operations ensures the delivery of a consistent, high-quality product, whilst our scale and financial discipline mean we can continue to offer great value for our guests and attractive returns for our shareholders.

A centralised approach to revenue management allows us to maximise revenue whilst managing our cost of sales by integrating our digital marketing and customer relationship management activity into our trading strategy. Our food and beverage offer is a key part of our proposition, especially a hot breakfast, and helps us to drive incremental revenue per available room (RevPAR). Our Force for Good sustainability programme ensures we are contributing positively to the communities where we operate and helps mitigate potential climate-related risks.

Asset-backed balance sheet provides stability and enables growth

Retaining a flexible approach to property ownership and a strong balance sheet have allowed us to keep financing costs low whilst also providing significant commercial benefits, in the form of a strong financial covenant and being able to maximise site returns through our value creation cycle.

In response to a series of unexpected fiscal and macroeconomic headwinds, we undertook a detailed business review and have announced a New Five-Year Plan to 2030/31. This will extend our market-leading position in the UK, accelerate cash flow and returns in Germany and deliver long-term value creation for shareholders. With a reduced level of capital intensity, a reduction in the amount of freehold property held by the Group and the expected increase in profitability over the life of the plan, our New Five-Year Plan is designed to maximise shareholder returns over the medium and long term.

Group freehold:leasehold mix

Whilst the Group will continue to benefit from owning a substantial amount of freehold real estate, we will reduce the proportion held from c.50% in 2025/26 to 30% - 40% over time. We will recycle £1.5bn of our freehold property via sale and leasebacks and other disposals, to fund future growth and increasingly look to grow on a leasehold basis over the life of our New Five-Year Plan.

	2025/26	Over time
Freehold	c.50%	30% to 40%
Leasehold	c.50%	60% to 70%

UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value

1 UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value scores as at 26 February 2026 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.

STRATEGIC REPORT 12 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Focused on value creation

CHAIR’S STATEMENT

I have long been an admirer of the UK’s largest hospitality business, and so I was delighted to join the Whitbread Board as Chair in September 2025. The Group has an ambitious business strategy and an impressive management team, led by Dominic Paul. Having spent time with my fellow Board members and the Executive team, I believe that we have a significant opportunity to generate substantial value for shareholders. Through a combination of operational excellence, smart capital allocation and by remaining adaptable to an ever-changing external environment, I am confident that we will achieve this objective.

I have also had the opportunity to meet many of our team members during visits to our operations across the UK and Ireland, as well as what is now a significant presence in Germany. The consistency of the Premier Inn product – whether in Dunstable, Dublin or Dusseldorf – is shared with another key attribute: the passion of our team members to deliver the very best experience for our guests. It is clear that our values: to be ‘Warm and Welcoming’, ‘Passionate and Proud’ and ‘Budget and Brilliant’ are really lived across the business. The strength of the Premier Inn brand is a testament to these values that contribute to the Group’s market leading position in the UK and Ireland and have been instrumental in growing our presence in Germany.

Financial performance and dividend for 2025/26

Over the past year, the Group delivered a positive financial performance with total revenue of £2,920m, adjusted EBITDAR of £1,074m and operating cash flow of £713m. We have continued to strike an appropriate balance between investing in delivering for our guests, securing attractive future growth opportunities and driving cash returns for shareholders. During the year, we completed a £250m share buyback and, as a result, have returned over £1.6bn to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks since April 2023.

Reflecting the strength of our financial performance and balance sheet, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 60.6p per share, resulting in a total dividend of 97.0p per share (2024/25: 97.0p). The final dividend will be paid on 3 July 2026 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22 May 2026. The Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) will continue to operate and details of how to participate can be found on the Company’s website.

Strategic progress

Since re-joining Whitbread as Chief Executive in 2023, Dominic, with the support of the wider executive team, has instituted significant change across the Group, with the clear goal of driving margins and returns. Our business model and strategy, together with the commitment of our teams, have enabled us to make strong progress during the year against both our strategic priorities and the Five-Year Plan.

Faced with a number of unexpected headwinds over the past year, including macroeconomic and fiscal pressures following budgetary decisions by the UK Government, the Board initiated an extensive business review in order to increase cash flow and deliver sustainable, long-term returns for shareholders. The Board also wanted to address the valuation gap between the Group’s market capitalisation and the inherent value of our business. Supported by our independent advisers, we have challenged the merits of our business model versus other alternatives and have also reassessed our original Five-Year Plan.

“We have a fantastic business in the UK and Ireland and are continuing to make great progress in Germany. Our New Five-Year Plan will deliver a material increase in margins and returns.”

Christine Hodgson
Chair

STRATEGIC REPORT 13 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

The Chief Executive’s Review, on pages 14 to 17, summarises the outcome of our review, including our conclusion that our strategy should not change fundamentally, but should instead evolve. That evolution is being led through a more focused capital expenditure programme, one that prioritises our highest returning growth projects and reduces our capital intensity to accelerate cash flow and deliver stronger returns on capital. As well as reallocating capital spend and recycling more of our freehold property to fund future growth, we are also proposing to extend our Accelerating Growth Plan to include all branded restaurants as we move to become a pure-play budget hotel business.

The Board is mindful that such changes are material for the Group and, if implemented, will affect a number of our team members and other stakeholders. However, faced with the changes to our external environment, they are necessary in order to maximise total shareholder returns whilst ensuring we continue to deliver an excellent service for our guests. Adjusting our plans and realigning our priorities is nothing new for Whitbread.Throughout our 284-year history, we have proven our ability to embrace change by adapting our business and strategy for the long-term benefit of our shareholders. Further details on the New Five-Year Plan can be found on pages 18 and 19.

Force for Good

As set out on pages 60 to 63, we are continuing to make excellent progress across each of the three pillars of our sustainability programme: Opportunity, Responsibility and Community. Our disclosures this year are focused on the most significant items for the Group that include climate change, water, circular economy, supply chain, equal treatment and opportunities for all, product safety and quality, as well as corporate culture. In line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), we expect to publish our latest Climate Transition Plan in 2026/27, setting out clear targets and milestones, our governance framework, detailed actions for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 and how we are engaging with key stakeholders. Further details on our Force for Good progress can be found on pages 60 to 63.

The Board

On behalf of the Board, I wish to thank Adam Crozier, my predecessor as Chairman, for his outstanding service to Whitbread. Adam joined the Board in April 2017 as a non-executive director and became Chairman in February 2018. He went on to steer the Group through a period of significant change as well as considerable challenge. This included the successful sale of Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn in 2019 and the COVID pandemic, a period that required strong leadership and fortitude. Having overseen the smooth transition to a new executive leadership team and the announcement of the Group’s Five-Year Plan, Adam stepped down from the Board on 1 September 2025. In addition to recognising his enormous contribution to the Group, I would also like to add my personal thanks for the support he gave to me during our handover period, and on behalf of the Board, I wish him every success for the future.

I was delighted to welcome Jonathan Howell to the Board as a non-executive director in January 2026. Jonathan brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles as finance director at a number of FTSE companies, most recently at Sage PLC, as well as being an experienced Audit Committee Chair. He succeeds Horst Baier as Chair of the Audit Committee and, on behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Horst for his dedication and skill in fulfilling his responsibilities as Interim Chair of the Audit Committee since June 2025.

Annual general meeting

The AGM will take place at 2.30pm on 18 June 2026 at our head office in Dunstable and full details of the meeting are set out in the Notice of Meeting. Reflecting the low numbers of shareholders using the service previously, we will not be providing either a live video stream or an audio-only webcast of our AGM this year. Shareholders who are unable to attend the meeting in person are welcome to submit questions by email in advance to [email protected]. Any questions should be submitted by 5pm on 17 June 2026. Votes can be submitted in person at the meeting or in advance via a proxy card or the online proxy voting system, but it will not be possible to vote online during the meeting.

Outlook

As you will read throughout this Annual Report, we have a market-leading business in the UK and Ireland and are continuing to make great progress in Germany. While the macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook remains uncertain, having completed an extensive review, we have a clear plan to deliver significant value over the medium and longer term and are excited about the Group’s future prospects. For those able to attend, I do hope that I might be able to meet some of you in person at our forthcoming AGM in June.

Christine Hodgson
Chair
29 April 2026

Image: hub by Premier Inn Farringdon (Old Bailey)
STRATEGIC REPORT 14 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Accelerating our strategy to grow returns

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW

This has been a year of continued strategic progress for Whitbread in both the UK and Germany. In the UK, Premier Inn again outperformed the wider market, supported by the strength of our customer offer and the benefits of our commercial programme. We also delivered our first annual profit in Germany where the quality and value of our customer offer is driving high guest scores and our increasing brand awareness underpins our strong outperformance versus the rest of the market. I’d like to thank our colleagues across the Group for their hard work in delivering this performance.

Against a challenging consumer and macroeconomic backdrop, we continue to deliver material cost savings and plan to drive more in 2026/27, while delivering a fantastic service for our guests.

For over 280 years, Whitbread has continued to evolve to meet the needs of our guests. Today our business is built around a world-class brand in Premier Inn, which has an unrivalled market position in the UK and a hugely exciting opportunity in Germany, and is synonymous with great quality and value.

Faced with a series of unexpected, external headwinds, and following a comprehensive business review, our New Five-Year Plan capitalises on Whitbread’s unique strengths to deliver a significant acceleration of our strategy, creating a stronger, higher-returning business that delivers for our guests, teams and shareholders.

Reducing our capital intensity and refocusing investment on projects which deliver the highest returns for our business will deliver strong cash flow and fund increased returns to shareholders. By making our assets work harder through the recycling of more of our freehold property into high returning growth projects, we can take advantage of a more challenged supply environment and sustain our market leading position without compromising our long-term growth prospects or our strong balance sheet.

The execution of our new plan will mean we become a pure-play hotel business, driven by Premier Inn. We plan to replace all of our remaining branded restaurants with a more efficient, integrated offering that is preferred by our guests as well as higher returning extension rooms. In Germany, having reached profitability in 2025/26, we will shift our focus to formats and locations which we know deliver the best returns, further accelerating our financial performance.

2025/26 Financial performance

The Group delivered a positive performance in 2025/26, outperforming the midscale and economy (M&E) market in both the UK and Germany on total accommodation sales and revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth. Group statutory revenue was flat year-on-year at £2,920m (2024/25: £2,922m) reflecting a recovery in UK accommodation sales in the second half and positive momentum in Germany, offset by lower food and beverage (F&B) revenues as a result of the Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP).

We have an excellent track record of responding to inflationary headwinds and in 2025/26 we delivered better than expected cost efficiencies of £83m (2024/25: £75m), mitigating significant cost pressures, including above inflationary increases in national living wage, national insurance and food and beverage costs. These savings, combined with the impact of our shift towards a more efficient F&B model as part of the AGP, resulted in a 2% reduction in adjusted operating costs, driving a 4% increase in adjusted EBITDAR to £1,074m (2024/25: £1,030m). This performance was despite a challenging market backdrop and reflects the power of our vertically integrated model, the strength of our brand and the impact of many of our commercial initiatives, highlighting the quality and resilience of our business.

Net finance income (excluding lease liability interest) reduced to £11m (2024/25: £20m) reflecting lower interest receivable on the Group’s cash balances. Higher lease liabilities and rent reviews increased both lease interest and right of use asset depreciation to £177m (2024/25: £167m) and £209m (2024/25: £194m) respectively, resulting in adjusted profit before tax (PBT)† of £483m (2024/25: £483m).

Adjusting items totalled £185m (2024/25: £116m), driven by £130m of impairment charges associated with the AGP and other non-cash and net impairment charges of £32m, resulting in statutory profit before tax of £298m (2024/25: £368m). A tax charge of £86m (2024/25: £114m) meant that statutory profit after tax was £213m (2024/25: £254m).

Adjusted basic earnings per share† increased by 7% to 208.5p (2024/25: 194.6p) reflecting the reduced weighted average number of shares following share buy-backs over the last twelve months. Statutory basic earnings per share decreased by 13% to 123.3p (2024/25: 141.5p).

During the year, the Group completed £313m of property-related disposals, including £282m of sale and leasebacks at an average net initial yield of 5.4%.

UK – Continued market outperformance

Premier Inn UK accommodation sales increased by 1%, reflecting a strong recovery from the second quarter, outperforming the wider M&E market. We ended the year +0.3pp ahead of the market on total accommodation sales growth and +1.1pp ahead on RevPAR growth, maintaining a healthy RevPAR premium of £5.88. Total average room rate (ARR) increased by 3% to £81.95 (2024/25: £79.52) and occupancy remained high at 79.1% (2024/25: 81.0%), with the result that RevPAR was up 1%. In London, increased leisure demand, supported by a positive events calendar and a strong festive period, contributed to both higher ARR and accommodation sales, up 3% and 4% respectively.

“Our New Five-Year Plan capitalises on Whitbread’s unique strengths to create a stronger, higher returning business, driving increased margins and returns.”
Dominic Paul
Chief Executive

STR data, standard basis, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026, UK and Germany M&E market excluding Premier Inn.
STRATEGIC REPORT 15 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26In the Regions, a 3% increase in ARR was broadly offset by slightly lower occupancy of 79.0% (2024/25: 81.1%), with the result that total accommodation sales were flat year-on-year. Total UK F&B revenue reduced by 8%, as we transition a number of our lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient, integrated F&B offering. Although F&B performance was slightly better than expected due to the timing of branded restaurant disposals, total UK statutory revenue was down 1% year-on-year. Several external and internal factors were important drivers for our UK business over the past year including: UK market demand; muted hotel supply growth; the optimisation of F&B at a number of our sites as part of the AGP; our continued network expansion; and the impact of several initiatives as part of our ongoing commercial programme. Cost efficiencies of £83m 2 , meant that despite significant inflationary pressures including higher national living wage, national insurance and food and beverage costs, operating costs reduced by 3%. Lower UK revenue and increases in both right of use asset depreciation and lease liability interest, driven mainly by the impact of rent reviews (accounting for the majority of these increases), as well as sale and leaseback transactions, meant that UK segment adjusted PBT† declined 2% year-on-year to £499m (2024/25: £507m). UK segment adjusted pre-tax margins† were flat year-on-year at 18.8% (2024/25: 18.8%), while UK ROCE† was 12.7% (2024/25: 12.9%). During the year, £103m (2024/25: £43m) of impairment and £28m (2024/25: £1m) of accelerated depreciation was recognised in the UK, arising from site extensions and conversions in relation to the AGP. In addition, £15m of impairments (2024/25: £10m) were recognised on other assets.

Germany – Delivering profitability

Reaching profitability in Germany for the first time represents an important milestone for the Group, with segment adjusted PBT† of £2m (2024/25: £11m loss), reflecting strong momentum and the continued progress we are making in this large and exciting market. Despite softer market demand in the second quarter, reflecting a lower events profile than the prior year, the continued growth of our estate, the increasing maturity of our hotels and brand, and our commercial initiatives meant we delivered 12% growth in total accommodation sales and RevPAR growth of 6%, with both occupancy and ARR ahead of last year. Drawing upon our growing pool of guest data, we have continued to refine and improve our commercial strategy that is contributing to positive RevPAR momentum. Key initiatives included improvements to our trading strategies; broadening our distribution using third-party platforms; increasing our brand awareness; and enhancing our property strategy. As a result of these initiatives and with the increasing maturity of our estate and brand, RevPAR grew by 4% in local currency which was significantly ahead of the M&E market 4 . This strong performance was supported by our cohort of 17 more established hotels 5 , that is continuing to mature, as evidenced by its 6% RevPAR growth. This cohort of sites delivered aggregate site-level profit 6 of £20m (2024/25: £16m), providing a useful indicator of the future profit potential of our estate as a whole. During the year, £17m of impairment (FY25: £23m) was recognised in Germany at a small number of sites.

Footnote	Description
2	Total cost efficiencies delivered in 2025/26, after the removal of non-recurring structural savings
3	STR data, standard basis, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026, UK M&E market excluding Premier Inn.
4	Local currency based on STR data, standard basis, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026, Germany M&E market excluding Premier Inn.
5	Cohort of 17 more established German hotels that were open and trading under the Premier Inn brand for 12 consecutive months as at 4 March 2022.
6	In aggregate, adjusted profit before tax† excluding non-site related administration and overhead costs.

STRATEGIC REPORT 16 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW CONTINUED

Our teams

Our team members are central to the guest experience and, underpinned by Whitbread’s core values of ‘Warm and Welcoming’, ‘Passionate and Proud’ and ‘Budget and Brilliant’, they continue to deliver a consistent, high quality and great value service for our guests. Their commitment is key to our strong operational and financial performance, underpinning our position as the UK’s number one hotel brand and a growing challenger in Germany.

Financial strength

Our strong balance sheet means we can strike an appropriate balance between investing in high-returning, long-term growth opportunities and rewarding shareholders through dividends and earnings-enhancing share buy-backs. The Group remains highly cash generative and after total capital investment of £697m (2024/25: £500m) and £419m of share buy-backs and dividends (2024/25: £442m), our ratio of adjusted EBITDAR to lease-adjusted net debt was 3.3x (2024/25: 3.0x), which is below our internal threshold of 3.5x 1 .

Clear strategy

Our ambition is to become the world’s best budget hotel brand, delivering a fantastic experience for our guests, rewarding employment for our teams and long-term, sustainable returns for our shareholders whilst also driving positive change through our Force for Good sustainability programme. To achieve our objective, we are executing the following three pillars of our business strategy:
* continuing to grow and innovate in the UK;
* focusing on our strengths to grow in Germany; and
* enhancing our capabilities to support long-term growth.

Each pillar is embedded within our New Five-Year Plan that is set to drive increased margins, cash flow and returns.

New Five-Year Plan

Since announcing our previous Five-Year Plan in October 2024, the Group has faced two key challenges. First, unexpected changes to the prevailing fiscal and trading environment, including higher than expected UK wage and other cost inflation and significant increases in UK business rates. Second, the Group’s market value has remained at a significant discount to the inherent value of our business. Against this backdrop, the Board announced that it was undertaking a comprehensive business review in order to address these challenges by developing a plan to deliver value creation for shareholders over the medium and long-term. Working with our world class advisers, the Board reassessed how capital was being allocated across the Group; reviewed the Group’s current capital structure and also 8.000 new rooms, of which c.66% will be freehold, but we will also exit c.1,500 lower returning rooms and generate incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £110m by 2030/31.

UK: Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP)

We are now two years into our plan to optimise the delivery of F&B at a number of our sites by converting some of our lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient, integrated F&B offering, whilst at the same time unlocking higher returning new extension rooms. Given the positive early results from sites that are now complete and having concluded the sale of 51 branded restaurants for £50m, with a further 60 sites where we have agreed terms of sale subject to conditions, we are now proposing to reallocate capital and extend the previous plan to include all of the Group’s remaining 197 branded restaurants. In 2025/26, these sites generated F&B revenue of £284m but incurred a site level adjusted loss before tax of £13m, after associated central overheads of £10m. With the removal of all of the Group’s remaining branded restaurants expected during the second half of 2026/27, the shift to a more streamlined operating model and the addition of higher returning extension rooms, it is expected that, compared with 2025/26, the extended AGP will generate incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £100m by 2030/31, when the last of the additional new extension rooms will be open and operating at maturity.

Image: New F&B experience: The Social challenged the merits of the Group’s current business model versus other, alternative models. By 2030/31, and compared with 2025/26, the new plan will:
* Increase margins, driven by incremental annual adjusted PBT† contribution of £275m, including incremental adjusted PBT† contribution from Germany of £65m, that becomes cash flow positive in 2028/29
* Reduce gross capex by £1bn and net capex by more than £1bn, with growth capex to be funded through recycling freehold real estate;
* Increase Group return on capital employed 2 by 500bps; and
* Generate £2bn of free cash flow 2 available for cash returns to shareholders via dividends and share buy-backs

The key elements of our plan are as follows:

UK: Network expansion

We have reappraised all of our projects to ensure we are allocating and prioritising capital spend optimally in order to maximise returns. Planned actions include the proposed exit from a small number of sub-optimal sites in our open portfolio as well as stepping away from sites in our pipeline where, following the changes to UK business rates, the potential returns are no longer attractive. The new plan reduces our previously planned rate of UK room growth which reduces expansionary capex, increases free cashflow and drives higher returns on capital. Our new plan will see us add

1 This measure aligns to the Fitch methodology, with the leverage threshold set at 3.5x lease-adjusted net debt : adjusted EBITDAR for BBB- and 3.0x for BBB, both of which are within investment grade.
2 Versus 2025/26, assuming UK like-for-like sales and cost efficiencies offset non-business rates inflation and finance costs over the life of the New Five-Year Plan.

STRATEGIC REPORT 17 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

We recognise that the changes we are proposing to make to our F&B offering will be unsettling for our teams and are committed to working hard to support all those affected.# Commercial and efficiencies

Our vertically integrated model is a key source of competitive advantage, meaning that even relatively modest increases in UK like-for-like sales† can generate significant profit growth. Underpinned by technology-related programmes, our broad commercial programme and initiatives will drive positive like-for-like† sales momentum and help sustain our outperformance versus the rest of the UK M&E market over the life of the plan. We are proud of our reputation as a low-cost, high value for money operator. With ongoing inflationary pressures, we continue to look for ways to optimise and reduce our UK cost base. Having already accelerated savings into both 2025/26 and 2026/27, we have again reviewed all of our initiatives and have extended our programme to deliver £250m of savings between 2026/27 and 2030/31. These additional savings are across a large number of initiatives including increased use of technology, unlocking operational savings through greater automation and AI, further procurement savings and optimised F&B operations, all of which have been carefully planned to ensure that there is no material impact on the overall guest experience.

Germany: Accelerating returns

Having reached profitability in 2025/26 and with an established national network, we are shifting our growth focus significantly to accelerate free cash flow and return on capital. We have reduced and reprioritised our capital spend in Germany towards those formats which have proved most successful, and we plan to optimise our current open estate. While this will reduce the pace of room and profit growth to 2030/31, it will reduce our overall capital intensity, increase cash flow and accelerate our returns on capital. Another significant shift is that all future growth in Germany will now be funded through either the recycling of existing freeholds or through new leaseholds. Our new plan will see Germany reach 18,000 open rooms by 2030/31, becoming one of Germany’s largest budget hotel brands. More rooms and continued RevPAR growth will deliver an incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £65m by 2030/31. As a result of the steps we are taking, including the reduction in growth capex, it is expected that Germany will turn cash flow positive³ in 2028/29 and our open estate will generate double digit returns on capital by 2030/31.

Capital allocation

Whilst there is no change to our capital allocation framework, we are making some significant changes to our previous capital expenditure programmes and asset mix. We will reduce gross capex by £1bn and recycle £1.5bn of our freehold property to fund new growth and will increasingly look to grow on a leasehold basis, resulting in net capex of £200 – £250m per year, equating to a reduction of more than £1bn versus the previous Five-Year Plan. Whilst the Group will continue to benefit from owning a substantial amount of freehold real estate, we expect to reduce the proportion held from c.50% today to 30% – 40% over time.

2030/31 outcomes

The plan will in aggregate deliver incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £275m by 2030/31, driving a 500bps increase in our Group return on capital employed².

2026/27 outlook and guidance

Our forward booked position is ahead of last year and we continue to see positive trading momentum. While we have limited visibility of short-term market demand and inflation, including the potential impact of the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, our vertically integrated model means we have significant self-help levers to drive positive like-for-like† sales momentum whilst also reducing our costs. By focusing on what we can control, we are confident that we will extend our market-leading position in the UK, accelerate returns in Germany and deliver long-term value creation for shareholders.

Our guidance for 2027/28 includes:
* UK: open c.1,000 new rooms and 750 AGP extension rooms with the majority of all new rooms opening in the second half of the year
* UK: extended AGP to include all remaining 197 branded restaurants⁴ will result in a reduction in sales of between £140m and £160m as we transition to our new integrated format and exit those sites marketed for sale;
* UK: extended AGP adjusted PBT† reduction of £40m as we transition the remaining branded restaurants, which will more than offset positive progress from our original AGP, resulting in a net adjusted PBT† £10m reduction.
* Germany: open c.2,300 new rooms and deliver an adjusted PBT† increase of c.£10m⁵ versus 2025/26, before one-off costs of c.£10m primarily in relation to new openings in 2026/27 associated with recent additions to our portfolio
* Group: £5m reduction in adjusted PBT† as a result of the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East on the hotels operated by our Joint Venture
* Group: net capital expenditure of £200m - £300m with gross capital expenditure of between £700m–£750m including AGP (£200m – £250m) and network expansion; receipts from property-related transactions of £450m – £500m including sale and leasebacks and disposals

Driving increased margins, cashflow and returns: We’ve already made great progress in the transformation of Whitbread, and with our New Five-Year Plan, I’m excited by what’s coming next. We’re going to go further and faster to deliver not just a great experience for our guests, but also high-quality growth and returns for our shareholders.

Dominic Paul, Chief Executive, 29 April 2026

³ Free cash flow less capex, net of disposals.
⁴ In aggregate adjusted profit/loss before tax excluding non-site related administration and overhead costs. In FY26, 197 sites to be converted: revenue £283m and adjusted loss before tax £(13)m.
⁵ Using a GBP: EUR exchange rate of 1.15.

This will generate £2bn of free cash flow available for shareholder returns through a combination of dividends and share buy-backs (noting that the investment in extending AGP means we will pause share buy-backs in 2026/27). Further details of our Five-Year Plan are set out on pages 18 and 19.

NEW FIVE-YEAR PLAN

"Our New Five-Year Plan will transform Whitbread into a higher margin, higher returning, pure-play hotel business." — Dominic Paul, Chief Executive

UK: Network expansion (STRATEGIC REPORT 18)

Category	Details
Overview	We still see significant potential to grow our market share in the UK. However, reflecting recent changes to employment costs as well as business rates, we have reappraised all of our projects to ensure we are allocating and prioritising capital spend optimally in order to maximise returns.
Performance in 2025/26	c.600 new rooms opened; c.600 lower returning rooms closed
New Five-Year Plan actions	Reappraised all projects to ensure we are allocating capex optimally; Reallocating capex to highest returning growth opportunities; Pipeline of 8,000 higher returning rooms; Exit approximately 1,500 lower returning rooms
2030/31 outcomes vs 2025/26	Incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £110m; 96,000 open rooms in the UK and Ireland, including AGP

UK: Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP) (STRATEGIC REPORT 19)

Category	Details
Overview	We are now two years into our plan to optimise the delivery of F&B at our sites by converting some of our lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient, integrated F&B offering, whilst at the same time unlocking higher returning new extension rooms. Following positive early results, we are proposing to extend the plan to include all of our remaining branded restaurants.
Performance in 2025/26	c.600 extension rooms opened; 51 branded restaurants sold for £50m, with agreed terms of sale, subject to conditions, on a further 60 sites
New Five-Year Plan actions	Extending plan to replace all of our lower returning branded restaurants with a more efficient, integrated F&B offer; Proposed exit from remaining branded restaurants; Adding more new extension rooms
2030/31 outcomes vs 2025/26	Incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £100m; 3,000 higher returning extension rooms

Capital Allocation

Category	Details
Overview	Retaining a flexible approach to property ownership and maintaining investment grade have allowed us to keep financing costs low whilst also providing commercial benefits. Whilst there is no change to our previously announced capital allocation framework, we are making some significant changes to our previous capital expenditure programmes and asset mix.
Performance in 2025/26	£313m of property-related proceeds; £419m of shareholder returns via share buy-backs and dividends
New Five-Year Plan actions	Reprioritising capex to drive high-returning growth; Recycle £1.5bn of property to fund growth
2030/31 outcomes vs 2025/26	Reducing gross capex spend by £1bn and net capex by more than £1bn; Reduce Group freehold mix from 50% to between 30% and 40% over time; Lease-adjusted leverage† will remain below threshold of 3.5x

Germany

Category	Details
Overview	We have made great progress in Germany and have grown substantially. While our journey to profitability has taken longer than expected, we now have a clear path to drive double-digit returns.
Performance in 2025/26	>600 new rooms opened; £2m adjusted PBT† delivered
New Five-Year Plan actions	Refining property growth strategy, optimisation of low returning sites; Reducing committed pipeline, focusing on proven formats; Accelerating cashflow and returns
2030/31 outcomes vs 2025/26	Incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £65m; 18,000 open rooms; Double-digit returns on capital on our open estate

Commercial and efficiencies

Overview: Our vertically integrated model allows us to develop a powerful commercial programme which is a key source of competitive advantage.The result is that even relatively modest increases in like-for-like sales† can generate significant profit growth.
• We are proud of our reputation as a low-cost, high value for money operator and have again reviewed all of our initiatives.

Performance in 2025/26

• Return to RevPAR growth in the UK, outperforming the M&E market.
• £83m of cost efficiencies.

New Five-Year Plan actions

• Delivery of strong commercial programme.
• Increasing use of technology and AI to drive revenue.
• Increasing delivery of cost efficiencies to help to mitigate inflationary pressures.

2030/31 outcomes vs 2025/26

• Confidence in driving like-for-like sales momentum and sustaining market outperformance.
• £250m of efficiencies in aggregate between 2026/27 and 2030/31.

Commercial and efficiencies	Germany: Accelerating returns	Capital allocation
Versus 2025/26, assuming UK like-for-like sales and cost efficiencies offset non-business rates inflation and finance costs over the life of the New Five-Year Plan	Total cost efficiencies delivered in FY26, after the removal of non-recurring structural savings	2030/31 outcomes 1
		500 bps increase in Group ROCE
		Generating free cashflow of £2bn available for shareholder returns

STRATEGIC REPORT 20
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

STRATEGY AND KPIS

Well-positioned to deliver growth

Our strategic pillars
* Grow and innovate in the UK: Strategy in action Read more on page 26
* Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany: Strategy in action Read more on page 34
* Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth: Strategy in action Read more on page 42

Force for Good
Our sustainability programme is embedded within the three pillars of our strategy. The following pages include some case studies of our programme in action.
Force for Good Read more on pages 60 to 63
Find out more about Force for Good in our ESG report 2025/26: www.whitbread.co.uk/

We made excellent progress against each of our strategic pillars in 2025/26.

STRATEGIC REPORT 21
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Data-led sustainability supports revenue growth

Sustainability credentials are now a core sourcing requirement for travel management companies, corporates and government customers across the UK, Ireland and Germany. In 2025/26, we developed a site level dataset covering carbon, water and waste intensity across all hotels, aligned with World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance methodologies. This enables credible RFP responses, supports integration with booking platforms, protects existing revenue and underpins future growth.

Environmental footprint of a UK&I occupied room per night
* Carbon 4 : 3.4kgCO2e
* Water 5 : 211L

Grow and innovate in the UK

2025/26 highlights	Key 2025/26 outcomes	Future plans
Strong market position	Maintained a healthy RevPAR premium of +£5.88 versus the M&E market 1	Extend our market-leading position as the UK’s number one hotel brand and reach at least 96,000 open rooms by 2030/31
Long-term growth in profits and returns	Executed our Accelerating Growth Plan and mitigated UK cost inflation through increased efficiencies. AGP: new extension rooms opened c.600	Proposed extension of AGP to remove all branded restaurants and deliver at least £100m incremental adjusted PBT† contribution by 2030/31, increasing margins and returns
Expand guest choice	Launched the option to check-in online via the Premier Inn app across our entire UK and Ireland estate, including trial of mobile room keys. % of total direct accommodation sales via Premier Inn app 12%	Broaden our distribution channels and add more features to enhance our digital guest journey
Maintain excellent guest scores	Maintained our ‘Best Value Hotel Chain’ ranking from YouGov, reflecting our focus on high quality and great value. YouGov ‘Best Value Hotel Chain’ ranking 3: No.1	Invest in our proposition, including the continued roll-out of ID5, Premier Plus and twin rooms across our estate

STR data, standard basis, Premier Inn RevPAR, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026, M&E market excluding Premier Inn.
UK and Ireland committed pipeline as at 26 February 2026, including extension rooms approved as part of AGP, which have planning permissions and Board approval to progress.
UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value scores as at 26 February 2026 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.
Market-based. Reported in accordance with the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) standard, version 2.0.
Reported in accordance with the Hotel Water Measurement Initiative (HWMI) standard, version 2.0.

Responsibility
STRATEGIC REPORT 22
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany

STRATEGY AND KPIS CONTINUED

2025/26 highlights	Key 2025/26 outcomes	Future plans
Continue to build a national network	65 open hotels across key locations, with 3 new sites opened during the year	Refine our property portfolio strategy to accelerate returns by 2030/31. Reach 18,000 rooms by 2030/31
Build brand awareness	Through broadened distribution and our commercial initiatives, we have increased our brand awareness and guest volumes. YouGov brand awareness 2: 19%	Further broaden our reach to accelerate brand awareness and RevPAR growth
Refine our proposition for the German guest	Expanded guest choice including new room types and product add-ons. Guest satisfaction 3: 4.18	Continue to improve our operating model, unlocking new opportunities to drive efficiencies across our estate and enhance the guest experience
Pathway to long-term, sustainable returns	Delivery of profitability through positive RevPAR growth and a clear focus on our cost base. Germany adjusted PBT† £2m	Deliver incremental adjusted PBT† contribution of £65m of by 2030/31 4

As at 26 February 2026.
Germany YouGov Brand Awareness: 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026.
Germany Yext scores: 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026.
Versus 2025/26.

Community
Accessibility certification for German hotels
Accessible tourism is a growing market with significant economic potential. In Germany, accessibility is indispensable for around 10% of the population and beneficial for a further 40%. New Premier Inn hotels in Germany are designed to meet DIN 18040 standards, with existing buildings upgraded where feasible. As a result, around a third of our German estate is externally certified under Reisen für Alle (‘Tourism for All’), enabling guests and team members with visual, hearing or mobility impairments to access comfort and workplaces with confidence.
* Number of Premier Inn hotels certified under Reisen für Alle: 20

STRATEGIC REPORT 23
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth

2025/26 highlights	Key 2025/26 outcomes	Future plans
Use our strong balance sheet to fund growth and returns	Significant operating cash flow helped to fund our investment programme and ongoing returns to shareholders. Shareholder cash returns 1: £419m	£2bn 2 of free cash flow available for share buy-backs and dividends between 2026/27 and 2030/31
Retention and engagement of teams	Launched our digital recognition platform ‘Wonderfully Whitbread’, which further underpins our culture, and supports continued engagement of our teams. % of UK team members with >1 year’s service: 77%	Drive retention and engagement through our continued investment in pay, training, career development and wellbeing
Improve technology capability	Increased digital capabilities and new commercial opportunities unlocked by our new reservation system and utilisation of technology and AI. % of UK hotels with new, upgraded kiosks: >20%	Explore product and service enhancements, including the use of AI, which will further improve the guest experience, generate additional revenue streams and reduce costs
Build on our efficiency programme	Increased cost efficiencies versus target due to acceleration of existing initiatives plus further savings. Delivery of cost efficiencies 3: £83m	Deliver £250m of cost efficiencies between 2026/27 and 2030/31

Dividends paid and share buy-backs completed during 2025/26.
Versus 2025/26, assuming UK like-for-like sales and cost efficiencies offset non-business rates inflation and finance costs over the life of the New Five-Year Plan.
Total cost efficiencies delivered in 2025/26, after the removal of non-recurring structural savings.

Efficiency improvements lower costs and environmental impact
The installation of lower-flow showerheads and taps across our estate delivers both environmental and financial benefits. Now installed in 65% of hotels in the UK and Ireland, the programme has reduced water use by 18% per guest in 2025/26 compared with a 2019/20 baseline, keeping us on track to achieve our 20% reduction target by 2030. Once fully deployed, it is expected to deliver almost £4m in annual operating cost savings and improve the resilience of our estate to increasingly frequent dry summers whilst not impacting guest experience.
* Annual operating cost savings from water reduction measures: c.£4m

Responsibility
STRATEGIC REPORT
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

STRATEGY IN ACTION: UK

Known for our consistent, high quality and great value guest proposition, our new integrated ‘You Know What You’re Getting’ campaign reinforces this consistency. With the strength of our proposition, we expect to continue to outperform the wider market.

You Know What You’re Getting
Watch our new brand campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgocSGQ7okU

Brand awareness 1: >90%
FY26 RevPAR premium versus M&E market 2: £5.88

Image: Brand Campaign ‘You Know What You’re Getting’

UK YouGov Brand Awareness as at 26 February 2026 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.
STR data, standard basis, Premier Inn RevPAR, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026, M&E market excluding Premier Inn.# STRATEGIC REPORT

24 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Unrivalled market position

With strong brand awareness among consumers, we are the clear market leader in the UK. Our high-quality, great value proposition underpins our ability to continue to outperform and command a healthy RevPAR premium versus the wider M&E market.

Consistency is key

To maintain our edge in an increasingly competitive trading environment, we have launched a new brand campaign which puts ‘consistency’ at the heart of all our messaging, reinforcing how consumers see us.

Brand refresh

With our new strapline, ‘You Know What You’re Getting’, a refined logo, evolved brand colours and even new uniforms for team members, Premier Inn has a fresh and modern new look.

25 STRATEGIC REPORT

26 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

UK MARKET DRIVERS

Grow and innovate in the UK

A key pillar of our strategy is to protect and extend our position as the UK’s leading branded budget hotel chain, delivering excellent service for our guests, rewarding employment for our teams and attractive returns for our shareholders.

Market overview

70m population
12% Premier Inn market share of UK rooms
198m room nights booked in the UK market
2028 Supply not back to 2019 levels until at least 2028
735,000 total market hotel rooms
11% independent decline since 2019

1 Company data 2025. UK market

The UK is a large and mature hotel market with over 195 million rooms booked each year and a total supply of approximately 735,000 rooms. Since the pandemic, the hotel industry has had to navigate material shifts in the shape of both domestic and inbound demand, as well as significant cost inflation, at the same time as political instability and economic pressures that have altered travel behaviour and market conditions.

However, Premier Inn has continued to perform well, maintaining a healthy RevPAR premium versus the wider M&E market. Given the strength of our brand and operating model, coupled with a favourable supply backdrop, we are confident in being able to grow market share. We see a compelling opportunity to continue to invest in new capacity and drive attractive, long-term returns for our shareholders.

Image: hub by Premier Inn Farringdon (Old Bailey)

27 STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Outlook for UK hotel supply

Based on our most recent proprietary analysis completed in 2025, we still expect UK hotel room supply (including Premier Inn) to remain below pre-pandemic levels until at least 2028. Thereafter, we expect total supply to grow broadly in line with previous trends and we remain confident that we can continue to take market share from smaller and less well-capitalised competitors.

Accelerated decline of independents

We believe that total UK hotel supply contracted by approximately 2.5% between 2019 and 2025, led by an accelerated decline in the independent sector that reduced by 11%. This represented a marked increase versus the steady decline seen over previous years as customers migrated from independents towards branded budget hotels, including Premier Inn. Over half of the independents that closed during this time period had less than 25 hotel rooms, highlighting the ongoing challenges facing smaller establishments, where competition, lack of scale and changing consumer preferences are making it increasingly difficult for them to match the offer provided by larger, branded operators. We believe that the independent sector is likely to continue to contract as a result of sustained high inflationary pressures and an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Structural advantages of the budget hotel market

The UK branded budget hotel sector is a highly attractive market, with large volumes of domestic short-stay travel for both business and leisure. The sector, including Premier Inn, has continued to grow, even during the pandemic, driven by the secular decline of the independent sector and the increasing appeal of trusted brands. However, over the next few years, the supply of branded budget hotel rooms is expected to grow at a slower rate than the long-term average, as operators gradually rebuild their pipelines that have been impacted by a material slowdown in construction and higher interest rates.

Premier Inn has grown significantly over the past 15 years, increasing its market share of all UK rooms from 6% in 2010 to 12% in 2025. With our strong balance sheet and flexible approach to property ownership, we are confident that we can continue to grow our pipeline at attractive rates of return, increasing our market share at a time when many others cannot.

Proven resilience during periods of macro uncertainty

Hotel room demand is strongly correlated with economic growth and RevPAR typically grows in line with GDP. Whilst current macroeconomic forecasts predict relatively low GDP growth in 2026/27, it remains positive and also needs to be viewed in the context of what has been a marked decline in total hotel supply. The branded budget hotel sector has proven resilient during previous consumer and economic downturns, as guests tend to trade down to lower-cost alternatives that provide great value.

Total UK hotel supply: number of rooms	2019	2025
Premier Inn	10%	12%
UK branded budget (excluding Premier Inn)	17%	16%
UK branded non-budget	26%	24%
Independent	46%	50%
Total Rooms	750k	735k

Image: Premier Inn twin room

28 STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

UK STRATEGY

“During 2025/26, after a period of softer demand, the UK market returned to growth. We made great strategic progress and with the benefit of our strong commercial programme, we delivered a positive sales performance and a healthy RevPAR premium versus our competitors.”

Joe Garrood
Chief Commercial Officer

2030/31 outcomes

96,000 open rooms (including AGP extension rooms)
£110m incremental adjusted PBT† contribution from network expansion versus 2026/26
£100m incremental adjusted PBT† contribution from AGP versus 2025/26

Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP)

Food and beverage (F&B) is a key part of our proposition and a hot breakfast is particularly important to our hotel guests, helping to drive occupancy and RevPAR. We have already begun the process to transform the delivery of F&B at c.200 sites by converting our lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient, integrated F&B offering built inside the hotel and unlocking new, higher returning extension rooms.

Given the positive early results from sites that are now complete and having concluded the sale of 51 branded restaurants for £50m, with a further 60 sites where we have agreed terms of sale subject to conditions we are proposing to extend our plan to replace all of the Group’s remaining branded restaurants with a more efficient integrated restaurant. This will enable the removal of 197 lower returning branded restaurants and the addition of more higher returning extension rooms. The extended plan will unlock a total of 3,000 new extension rooms and as our highest returning growth opportunity, will deliver a step change in margins and returns for the UK business for 2026/27 to 2030/31. These changes are subject to carrying out the required consultation with our impacted employees.

(Map image showing locations of Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn across the UK and Ireland)

29 STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

In addition to AGP, we are continuing to roll out our new integrated ground floor concept across our estate that is driving positive guest feedback and increased F&B revenues.

New Five-Year Plan: AGP on page 18

Network expansion

With c.850 open hotels across the UK and Ireland, Premier Inn is the UK’s largest hotel chain. Despite our extensive coverage, we still have opportunities to increase our market share and deliver attractive returns on capital over the medium and longer term. Having identified catchments where we do not currently have a presence, or where we can add more rooms without cannibalising our existing estate, we have significant growth potential. Assuming sites can be secured at the right price, over the longer term, we have the potential to reach 125,000 open rooms, which is 45% more than we have open today.

Drawing upon our suite of development options including new builds, conversions, extensions and single-site acquisitions, the pace and extent of our expansion will be driven by the availability of appropriate sites that can meet our target levels of return. While we continue to optimise our estate, by opening our committed pipeline of c.8,000 rooms, we are on course to reach 96,000 open rooms by 2030/31.

New Five-Year Plan: Network expansion on page 18

Commercial programme

With the strength of our vertically integrated model, we are able to deploy a broad range of commercial initiatives that are focused on driving like-for-like† sales momentum to support and extend our market-leading position in the UK. Our commercial strategy remains focused on those drivers that are within our control and include:

Refining marketing strategies

With brand awareness of over 90% and market-leading quality and value scores, while we are well-positioned versus our competitors, we are not complacent. Through a continuous programme of both brand and digital campaigns that are focused on driving cost-effective customer acquisition, we will ensure that we remain at the forefront of customers’ minds when making their hotel choice. Continuing to attract new guests, wherever they choose to search, is essential as we seek to extend our leadership and grow market share; we are exploring greater use of social media marketing channels such as YouTube and TikTok, as well as third-party digital platforms, to help broaden our reach.Expanding our distribution channels Business guests are an attractive customer segment because they tend to drive higher RevPARs and travel more frequently than leisure guests. During 2025/26, we launched ‘Premier Inn Business’, combining our previous Business Booker and Business Account programmes into a single offering for the benefit of users and to drive further revenue growth. At the same time, we have strengthened our relationships with several travel management companies (TMCs), and together these channels represented approximately 22% of total accommodation sales in 2025/26 (2024/25: 21%). Whilst our direct channels remain a core strength and contribute significantly to our low-cost distribution, with evolving market and distribution dynamics it is important for us to ensure that we adapt our strategies to maintain market leadership and attract new guests. In 2025/26, we began to use online travel agents (OTAs), limited to inbound customer traffic only, which has been positive and has been a helpful addition to drive incremental international demand. We will continue to explore how we can optimise this channel, broaden our reach even further and drive incremental profits. During the year we have continued to update our online collateral so as to ensure that the online experience for consumers choosing to search using AI tools is optimised.

Maximising revenue

At the core of our vertically integrated business model is our proprietary automated trading engine (ATE) that enables us to maximise revenue for any given volume of demand and outperform the competition. Whilst we will continue to seek improvements, it is clear that ATE remains a source of significant competitive advantage for the Group. We continuously evolve our trading strategies and through our new cloud-based reservation system, we plan to further improve our trading performance by trialling and introducing a number of initiatives that will both improve the digital guest journey and increase ancillary revenues.

Enhancing digital experience

New opportunities to increase our digital capabilities remain significant. By continuing to optimise our website and increase our app functionality, we are driving guest volumes and conversion and have seen an increase in app revenues and channel share versus last year. We are also improving the digital guest experience and have now launched online check-in across our UK estate, which is resulting in positive guest feedback.

Increasing guest engagement

We are driving higher guest engagement through our CRM database and enhanced promotional capabilities that have in turn helped us drive more revenue growth. With increased connectivity with our guests through our Premier Inn app and by leveraging our access to significant volumes of proprietary customer data, we plan to further increase revenue through more effective engagement, as well as reduce costs through improved analytics to drive higher margins.

Investing in best-in-class operations

Our significant and ongoing investment in our estate includes the roll-out of our new room format, ID5, and our extensive refurbishment and repairs and maintenance programmes. Together, these ensure that we maintain a high level of consistency across our estate. In addition, by adding more twin and Premier Plus rooms, we will broaden our appeal and can charge a premium to our standard room rate. With further process improvements and the introduction of new technologies, we plan to drive positive guest scores whilst maintaining a tight control over our costs.

UK RevPAR premium versus M&E market 3 £5.88

1 Excluding extension rooms from Accelerating Growth Plan.
2 UK YouGov Brand Consideration: 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026.
3 STR data, standard basis, Premier Inn RevPAR, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026; M&E market excluding Premier Inn.

STRATEGIC REPORT 30 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

UK PERFORMANCE

Premier Inn UK	FY26	FY25	vs FY25
Statutory revenue	2,659	2,691	(1)%
Other income (excl rental income)	2	1	67%
Operating costs before depreciation, amortisation and rent	(1,642)	(1,696)	(3)%
Adjusted EBITDAR†	1,019	997	2%
Net turnover rent and rental income	1	1	(33)%
Depreciation: right-of-use asset	(165)	(153)	(8)%
Depreciation and amortisation: other	(201)	(193)	(4)%
Adjusted operating profit†	653	652	0%
Interest: lease liability	(154)	(145)	(6)%
Adjusted profit before tax†	499	507	(2)%
ROCE†	12.7%	12.9%	(20)bps
PBT margins†	18.8%	18.8%	(7)bps

Premier Inn UK 1 KPIs	FY26	FY25	vs FY25
Number of hotels	846	852	(1)%
Number of rooms	86,582	85,984	1%
Committed pipeline (rooms) 2,3	7,906	7,210	10%
Committed pipeline (AGP extension rooms) 3,4	1,163	1,012	13%
Occupancy	79.1%	81.0%	(190)bps
Average room rate†	£81.95	£79.52	3%
Revenue per available room†	£64.81	£64.42	1%
Sales growth: Accommodation			1%
Sales growth: Food and beverage 5			(8)%
Sales growth: Other			21%
Total			(1)%
Like-for-like sales† growth: Accommodation			0%
Like-for-like sales† growth: Food and beverage 5			1%
Like-for-like sales† growth: Other			21%
Total			0%

1 Includes one site in each of: Guernsey and the Isle of Man, two sites in Jersey and six sites in Ireland.
2 UK and Ireland committed pipeline excluding extension rooms from Accelerating Growth Plan.
3 FY25: 18 rooms reclassified from committed pipeline (AGP extension rooms) to committed pipeline (new rooms).
4 Planning approval received for the AGP extension rooms, with Board approval to progress.
5 Food and beverage revenue includes £6m of other restaurant revenues (FY25: £7m).

Image: hub by Premier Inn Farringdon (Old Bailey)
STRATEGIC REPORT 31 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

UK performance vs M&E market	H1 FY26	H2 FY26	FY26
PI accommodation sales performance (vs FY25) 6	+1.0pp	(0.6)pp	+0.3pp
PI occupancy performance (vs FY25) 6	(1.3)pp	(1.5)pp	(1.4)pp
PI ARR performance (vs FY25) 6	+2.9pp	+(2.8)pp	+2.9pp
PI RevPAR growth performance (vs FY25) 6	+1.4pp	+0.8pp	+1.1pp
PI RevPAR performance (absolute) 6	+£6.39	+£5.34	+£5.88
PI market share 7	8.3%	8.0%	8.2%
PI market share gains pp (vs FY25) 7	(0.1)pp	(0.1)pp	(0.1)pp

6 STR data, standard basis, Premier Inn accommodation revenue, occupancy, ARR and RevPAR, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026; M&E market excluding Premier Inn.
7 STR data, revenue share of total UK market, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026.

Despite significant inflationary pressures, operating costs reduced by 3% to £1,642m (2024/25: £1,696m) reflecting the exit and conversion of lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient F&B offering, together with accelerated cost efficiencies. As a result, adjusted EBITDAR† was up 2% at £1,019m (2024/25: £997m). Right-of-use asset depreciation in the period increased by 8% to £165m (2024/25: £153m) and lease liability interest increased by 6% to £154m (2024/25: £145m) driven by the impact of rent reviews, which accounted for the majority of this increase, as well as sale and leaseback transactions completed during the period. Our continued focus of investing in our core estate, alongside estate growth, meant other depreciation and amortisation charges increased by 4% to £201m (2024/25: £193m). As a result, UK segment adjusted profit before tax† declined 2% to £499m (2024/25: £507m). UK segment adjusted pre-tax margins† were flat year-on-year at 18.8% (2024/25: 18.8%), while UK ROCE† was 12.7% (2024/25: 12.9%). We opened 1,190 new rooms, including extension rooms as part of the AGP. We closed 592 rooms, including both lower returning rooms, as well as those impacted by the AGP, as we seek to optimise the portfolio to drive higher returns. As at 26 February 2026, we had 846 hotels open and trading with a total of 86,582 rooms, with a further 7,906 new rooms committed 2 , of which the majority are freehold, plus an additional 1,141 committed AGP extension rooms 4 .

Image: Premier Inn Cardiff North

Premier Inn UK accommodation sales increased 1%, reflecting a strong recovery from the second quarter and outperformed the wider M&E market. Other sales increased by 21% driven by growth in ancillary revenues from optional guest add-ons including high-speed Wi-Fi and car parking. Total UK F&B revenues fell by 8%, as we continue the transition of a number of our lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient, integrated F&B offering. Although F&B performance was slightly better than expected, due to the timing of branded restaurant disposals, total UK statutory revenue was down 1%. Reflecting the strength of our brand, guest proposition and commercial initiatives, we were +0.3pp ahead of the market on total accommodation sales growth and +1.1pp ahead on RevPAR growth, maintaining a healthy RevPAR premium of £5.88.

STRATEGIC REPORT 32 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

STRATEGY IN ACTION: GERMANY

New Five-Year Plan
Germany: Accelerating cash flow and returns
Executing a multi-channel strategy

Image: Premier Inn Plus Room, Stuttgart

Our strategy in Germany is designed to firmly establish our brand presence and elevate our market positioning within the German hospitality sector. We are continuing to focus on raising our profile with an average brand awareness in 2025/26 of 19% 1 .

1 Germany YouGov Brand Awareness as at 26 February 2026 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average.
STRATEGIC REPORT 33 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Growing the brand

With a unique market position focused on a great night’s sleep, we are increasing our brand awareness with a digital first approach, prioritising online channels to build relevance and strengthen engagement.

Best experience by booking direct

Guests who book directly with us get the best experience. With online check-in now available and the roll-out of mobile room keys in 2026/27, the continued development of the Premier Inn app, will accelerate customer acquisition and build brand loyalty.Broadening our reach OTAs remain an important and value-accretive channel in the German market, driving incremental domestic and international demand and strengthening brand awareness. STRATEGIC REPORT 34 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 GERMAN MARKET DRIVERS Market overview 83m population c.40% larger than the UK hotel market 996,000 total market hotel rooms c.68% of the German market held by independents 229m rooms booked in the German market c.5pp decline in independent supply since 2019 Focusing on our strengths to grow Germany continues to be a highly attractive and exciting market for the Group. Since opening our first hotel in 2016, we have grown quickly to become a business of real scale. Now profitable, we are shifting our focus to accelerate cash flow and returns. 1 Company data 2025. German market 1 With strong business and leisure travel demand, Germany offers a major opportunity to create substantial value. The market today mirrors where the UK was 15 to 20 years ago: highly fragmented, with a large number of independent operators, with a relatively small branded budget segment and no clear market leader. Market structure Although the German hotel market is materially larger than the UK in terms of room supply, it remains significantly more fragmented, with independent hotels accounting for the majority of total rooms. As in the UK, while the independent sector stabilised following a sharp pandemic-related decline, we expect it to gradually decline, driven by the secular trend of consumers gravitating towards recognised and trusted brands, ongoing cost pressures and increased conversions to branded players. Having reopened later than many other international hotel markets in the post pandemic period, Germany has since seen a rebound in both business and leisure demand, with the M&E market returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2025. Image: Premier Inn Duisburg STRATEGIC REPORT 35 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 Image: Premier Inn Stuttgart Regional dispersion drives short-stay domestic travel As well as being larger than the UK, Germany is more regionally dispersed, with a federalised political and industrial structure. This geographic spread, a larger population and a greater number of large cities and towns, drives demand for short-stay domestic travel. Germany has high levels of both domestic leisure as well as business travellers, supported by a number of large trade fairs and conferences which continue to drive volumes and attract millions of visitors each year. Structural advantage for owner-operators The branded budget sector has grown strongly in recent years, led by owner-operators such as Premier Inn, that are well-placed to acquire, lease, convert or build new hotels enabling expansion at a faster rate than the rest of the market. The ability of asset light operators to sign large blocks of hotels over the last few years may have been constrained by the structure of the German property market, as the absence of a well developed real estate investment trust sector and the highly fragmented ownership landscape have made it more difficult to secure sizeable portfolios. No clear leader in the budget sector Compared with the UK, where Premier Inn has a 12% share of the market, Germany has no clear market leader and no brand holds more than a 3% share. Supported by the gradual decline of the independent hotel sector, the branded budget segment (including Premier Inn) continues to grow and now makes up approximately 13% of the German hotel market. This is led by owner-operators including Premier Inn, and since February 2020 we have opened c.11,000 rooms. Attractive RevPAR outlook The M&E market in Germany has attractive levels of RevPAR, albeit there is intra-period volatility depending upon the phasing of business and leisure events that are an important driver of overall demand in Germany. Prior to the pandemic, branded budget RevPAR in Germany grew at a compound annual growth rate of 2.9% between 2015 and 2019. M&E RevPAR in Germany has now recovered to above pre-pandemic levels.

	735k	996k
Total Germany hotel supply: number of rooms

Category	UK	Germany
Premier Inn	12%	1%
Branded budget (excluding Premier Inn)	20%	12%
Branded non-budget	46%	17%
Independents	22%	68%

STRATEGIC REPORT 36 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

GERMAN STRATEGY

New Five-Year Plan: Building momentum in Germany

Continued network growth We have over 11,000 rooms open across 65 hotels, with a presence in most major German towns and cities. Our hotel product is popular with guests, we are increasing share and several of our more established sites are already highly profitable and delivering double-digit returns. While there is no ‘one size fits all’ formula for success, we have reduced and reprioritised our capital spend towards those formats which have proved most successful. With our open and committed pipeline, we are on track to reach 18,000 open rooms by 2030/31, positioning Premier Inn among the top budget brands.

Strengthening brand presence Our strategy is designed to firmly establish our brand presence and elevate our market positioning within the German hospitality sector. Having become a business of scale, we continue to focus on raising our profile and have increased our brand awareness to 19% 1 . Whilst this is behind key competitors, the quality of our product and resulting high guest scores mean Premier Inn has delivered the strongest year-on-year brand awareness growth among our competitors. We are on course to close the gap further, adopting a digital first approach, prioritising online channels to build relevance and strengthen engagement, whilst also continuing to assess how additional distribution channels, including OTAs and aggregators, can support stronger RevPAR growth and profitability.

Lübeck Hamburg Berlin Wolfsburg Hannover Dusseldorf Essen Wuppertal Duisburg Cologne Frankfurt Wiesbaden Würzburg Mannheim Darmstadt Nuremberg Regensburg Passau Rosenheim Munich Freiburg Stuttgart Heidelberg Karlsruhe Saarbrücken Heilbronn Leipzig Dresden Braunschweig Lindau Key: Open hotels

“We are now clear on what works in Germany and have a clear path to reach double-digit returns.”
Erik Friemuth
Chief Executive Officer, Premier Inn Germany

2030/31 outcomes

18,000 total open rooms
€83 network RevPAR
£65m adjusted incremental PBT† contribution versus 2025/26
1 Germany YouGov Brand Awareness as at 26 February 2026 based on a nationally representative 52-week moving average

STRATEGIC REPORT 37 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Premier Inn Germany room growth 1

Key: Premier Inn: open rooms | Premier Inn: committed rooms | Competitors: open rooms

	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26
Premier Inn: open rooms	425	1,085	4,880	5,875	9,042	10,506	10,965	11,598
Premier Inn: committed rooms								18,000
Ibis								c.18,500
Motel One								c.19,000
B&B Hotels								c.24,000

As our customer base grows, we are also exploring ways to boost the number of returning guests through enhanced CRM capabilities and other loyalty-driven tools.

Refining commercial strategy Drawing on our growing pool of trading data and the enhanced capabilities provided by our cloud-based reservation system, we are further strengthening our commercial approach across the estate, including the ability to dynamically price certain product enhancements to increase yield in line with demand. We are also continuing to optimise performance on key event nights, which can account for over 20% of revenues in Germany and are a significant driver of profitability.

Balancing distribution Providing room availability through the right mix of channels ensures we can continue to attract high volumes of domestic and international demand. OTAs remain an important and value-accretive channel in the German market, driving incremental demand and strengthening brand awareness. Central to enhancing our direct proposition is the continued development of the Premier Inn app, supporting more seamless service delivery, accelerating customer acquisition and building loyalty.

Enhancing appeal to business guests A balanced mix of business and leisure guests helps to maximise occupancy throughout the cycle, with business guests typically staying more frequently and driving higher ARRs. Germany’s significant trade fair market adds to domestic business travel volumes, reinforcing the need for a platform that is intuitive and equipped with the core features guests expect. The launch of ‘Premier Inn Business’ in 2025/26 is central to our corporate proposition, offering flexible booking, exclusive discounts and simplified payment options to enable centralised travel management and broadening our reach into the SME market. In parallel, we will continue to leverage selective indirect channels, further strengthening our travel management company (TMC) relationships to expand our distribution and increase our addressable customer base.

Improving product and offer Our proposition continues to deliver strong guest scores, supporting growing volumes across our hotels. By offering several optional extras during the booking journey, we are enhancing the overall guest experience while also driving incremental revenues. Alongside the roll-out of additional Premier Plus rooms, we are expanding our ancillary offer through both digital and on site add-ons, such as early check-in, late check-out, parking and in-hotel self-service options. As we continue to scale, ongoing optimisation of our operating model, including improved labour scheduling and procurement, will unlock further efficiencies across the estate.

Optimising property strategy We continue to optimise our property conversion and development strategy, strengthening partnerships with key stakeholders to drive further cost efficiencies. This focus has enabled us to both minimise disruption and reduce timelines as well as improve the financial performance of sites that are being refurbished.Our future growth will come from a balanced mix of new builds, smaller portfolio deals and targeted going concerns, funded by recycling existing freeholds and/or through leases. Pathway to attractive long-term, sustainable returns Having achieved a major milestone of profitability in 2025/26, we are confident that the initiatives outlined above and in our New Five-Year Plan will reduce our overall capital intensity, increase cash flow and accelerate returns on capital in Germany by 2030/31. 1 Premier Inn: company data, competitors: STR data. STRATEGIC REPORT 38 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 GERMAN PERFORMANCE Premier Inn Germany 1

£m	FY26	FY25	vs FY25	vs FY25 CC2
Statutory revenue	261	231	13%	11%
Operating costs before depreciation, amortisation and rent	(177)	(165)	(7)%	(5)%
Adjusted EBITDAR†	85	66	28%	26%
Net turnover rent and rental income	0	0	33%	25%
Depreciation: right-of-use asset	(44)	(42)	(5)%	(3)%
Depreciation and amortisation: other	(16)	(15)	(12)%	(9)%
Adjusted operating profit/(loss)†	25	10	>100%	>100%
Interest: lease liability	(23)	(21)	(8)%	(5)%
Adjusted profit/(loss) before tax†	2	(11)	>100%	>100%

Premier Inn Germany 1 KPIs

£m	FY26	FY25	vs FY25	vs FY25 CC2
Number of hotels	65	62	5%	—
Number of rooms	11,598	10,965	6%	—
Committed pipeline (rooms)	7,584	7,265	4%	—
Occupancy	69.0%	67.8%	120bps	—
Average room rate†	£78.53	£75.08	5%	2%
Revenue per available room†	£54.19	£50.90	6%	4%
Sales growth:
Accommodation	12%	9%
Food and beverage	22%	19%
Other	19%	16%
Total	13%	11%
Like-for-like sales† growth:
Accommodation	7%	5%
Food and beverage	14%	12%
Other	14%	11%
Total	8%	6%

1 Includes one site in Austria.
2 On a constant currency basis, EUR. Image: Premier Inn Würzburg STRATEGIC REPORT 39 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 Germany performance vs M&E market

€m	H1 FY26	H2 FY26	FY26
Germany M&E RevPAR performance 3	€58	€55	€56
PI more established hotels RevPAR performance 4	€69	€73	€71
PI total RevPAR performance 4	€62	€64	€63

Total statutory revenue in Germany increased by 11% in local currency, reflecting: the growth in our estate; the increasing maturity of our hotels; enhancements to our trading strategies; broader distribution across channels such as OTAs; and further progress in building our brand awareness. Total estate RevPAR increased by 4% to €63 and RevPAR for our cohort of 17 more established hotels 4 increased by 6% to €71, both of which outperformed the wider M&E market 3 . Operating costs in the period increased by 7% to £177m (2024/25: £165m) reflecting the continued growth of our estate and cost inflation. As a budget hotel operator, we maintain a strong focus on cost control and margin growth, alongside delivering a consistently high-quality guest experience. We have continued to refine our operating model, evolving our use of technology and streamlining our management structures to ensure we remain efficient and agile. Both right-of-use asset depreciation and lease liability costs increased slightly to £44m (2024/25: £42m) and £23m (2024/25: £21m) respectively, consistent with the size of our leasehold estate. Other depreciation and amortisation charges increased slightly to £16m (2024/25: £15m). As at 26 February 2026, we had 65 open hotels and 11,598 open rooms and a further 8,713 rooms in our committed pipeline. Since the period end, we have opened a further 6 hotels and 1,225 rooms from our committed pipeline. Our focus on cost efficiencies, the progressive maturity of our estate and our ongoing commercial initiatives continue to raise our brand awareness and drive customer volumes. These factors contributed to the achievement of profit before tax† of £2m (2024/25: £11m loss).

3 STR data, standard methodology basis, 28 February 2025 to 26 February 2026; M&E excluding Premier Inn.
4 Premier Inn more established hotels: open and trading under the Premier Inn brand for 12 consecutive months as at 4 March 2022: 17 hotels and Premier Inn total: 63 hotels as at 26 February 2026. Image: Premier Inn Köln City Centre STRATEGIC REPORT Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Q&A with Mark Smith, Chief Technology Officer

Q How has Whitbread’s refresh of its core hospitality platforms – particularly through the adoption of modern hospitality solutions – strengthened the resilience, scalability, and cost effectiveness of our technology estate, and how does this underpin long term value creation across our hotel network?

Over the last few years, we have fundamentally refreshed Whitbread’s core technology platforms to ensure they are resilient, scalable, and fit for long term growth. By adopting modern hospitality platforms from our partners, we have significantly reduced reliance on legacy systems and created a common, standardised foundation across our estate. This has improved platform availability, strengthened security, and materially reduced the cost and risk of change. Importantly, it allows us to innovate faster – whether launching new guest services, enabling new operating models, or supporting expansion – while maintaining tight control over technology spend. This disciplined approach ensures our technology investment directly supports sustainable value creation. This puts us in a prime position to fully exploit the opportunities AI presents hospitality, both from the perspective of guest experience and operational excellence.

Q How have investments in modern networks, kiosks and smart room access technologies improved the reliability, security, and day to day operation of our hotels, while enabling simpler guest journeys and supporting Whitbread’s cost leadership model?

Reliable, secure connectivity is now critical to the day to day running of our hotels. Our investment in modern network infrastructure, check in kiosks and smart room access technologies has materially improved operational resilience while simplifying the guest experience. These foundations enable faster deployment of new digital services, reduce on site disruption, and support a more flexible operating model. For guests, this means smoother check in, improved Wi-Fi connectivity and more dependable in stay experiences; for Whitbread, it delivers greater operational consistency at scale and supports our cost efficiency programme. Our Hotel of the Future program is a key part of this, trialling how we can deploy emerging technologies such as robotics, AI and automation to drive our future operating model.

Q How have our modern technology platforms enabled Whitbread to develop market leading mobile applications, and how do these digital experiences directly improve guest satisfaction, drive repeat stays, and strengthen Premier Inn’s brand leadership across Europe?

Our refreshed technology platforms have enabled us to develop market leading mobile experiences that enhance the guest journey from booking through to check out. These digital experiences reduce friction, give guests greater control, and allow us to engage with them in more personalised and relevant experiences. For example, Check In Online is now live across all UK and Germany hotels, driving higher app adoption and creating a strong digital foundation for further innovation. Building on this momentum, we have introduced enhanced app incentives and successfully rolled out Apple Digital Keys to seven UK hotels and two hotels in Germany. This programme will scale rapidly, with plans to extend our successful Digital Keys pilot across the wider estate, supported by a secure, enterprise grade approach to digital key provisioning and the introduction of Android experience. In parallel, we have begun reshaping our arrivals experience to give guests genuine choice and control, combining Check In Online, Digital Keys and kiosks into a more seamless, self service journey. Expanding the App experience to include more in-stay features and services is a key part of our future thinking. Q&A WITH MARK SMITH, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER 40 STRATEGIC REPORT Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Crucially, this is not technology for its own sake. These mobile and self service capabilities are designed to reduce friction, give guests greater flexibility, and enable more personalised and relevant engagement at key moments in their stay. At the same time, they support more efficient hotel operations and a smoother front of house experience. Together, these initiatives are driving higher guest satisfaction, strengthening brand loyalty, and acting as a clear differentiator as we continue to reinforce Premier Inn’s position as Europe’s leading budget hotel brand.

Q How does data and analytics create competitive advantage in the business today, and how are you using it to drive both growth and efficiency?

One of our biggest strategic assets is the richness of the data we hold across the end to end hospitality journey – from customer intent and booking behaviour, through stay experience and operations, to post stay feedback and loyalty signals. From a customer perspective, we use data to be far more targeted and relevant. We understand who is travelling, why they are travelling, and how far in advance they book. That allows us to tailor offers, pricing, and messaging in a way that improves conversion, reduces wasted marketing spend, and strengthens direct relationships rather than over reliance on third party channels. From a decision support perspective, we’ve moved beyond retrospective reporting to insight-led decision making. Leaders and hotel teams have timely, trusted views of performance – occupancy, revenue, labour efficiency and service quality – enabling them to make faster and better trade offs. Data is no longer something reviewed after the fact; it actively shapes daily and weekly decisions. Critically, data also drives efficiency. By combining demand signals with operational data, we optimise how hotels are staffed, how rooms are turned around, how we order laundry, as well as how energy and maintenance are managed.Small improvements at the individual hotel level scale into significant cost and productivity benefits across the estate. The key mindset shift is that data isn’t owned by technology – it’s embedded into the way the business operates. Ultimately, the competitive advantage comes from using data to make better decisions at scale – faster than our competitors, and closer to the customer and the front line.

Q How has our investment in employee technology improved productivity, decision making, and engagement for colleagues on site, and how does this ensure our teams are better supported to deliver consistent, high quality service for guests?

Our colleagues are central to the Premier Inn experience, and our technology strategy is firmly focused on supporting them. By investing in modern employee tools, we have made it easier for teams on site to access information, manage tasks, and make better decisions in real time. This reduces administrative burden, improves productivity, and allows colleagues to spend more time delivering great service to guests. Technology is not replacing human interaction; it is enabling our people to perform at their best, every day. In addition, the rich data that we get from these solutions allow us to optimise our deployment of labour by improved forecasting and scheduling of our teams.

Q Looking ahead, how is Whitbread planning to deploy AI to support our wider business plan—across areas such as demand forecasting, operations, and customer insight— while ensuring AI complements our teams, strengthens decision making, and reinforces our ambition to be the best budget hotel chain in Europe?

We see artificial intelligence as a powerful enabler of better decision making across Whitbread. Our focus is on practical applications – such as improving demand forecasting, optimising operations, and generating deeper customer insight and rewarding experiences – where AI can enhance accuracy, speed, and consistency. This is a key part of our Hotel of the Future programme, which has seen a number of experiments already trialled with our guests and teams on the ground. Just as importantly, we are clear that AI is there to complement our teams, not replace them. We are taking a responsible, well-governed approach that ensures transparency, security, and ethical use. By combining AI driven insight with human judgement and service excellence, we are strengthening our ability to deliver the best budget hotel experience in Europe.

41 STRATEGIC REPORT
42 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

LONG-TERM GROWTH STRATEGY

Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth

Our vertically integrated model is underpinned by our strong, asset-backed balance sheet and a disciplined multi-year programme of investment. This keeps us ahead of our competitors and drives long-term growth.

KPIs
2026/27 cost efficiencies guidance	£60m
Total new rooms to open 1 in 2026/27	c.4,000
2025/26 UK return on capital employed†	12.7%
Group freehold:leasehold mix 2	49%:51%
Fitch rating 3	BBB
Average net capital expenditure per annum to 2030/31	£200m -£250m

Our strong balance sheet is a key source of competitive advantage

Funding: Investment grade status ensures access to debt markets at attractive rates. Recycling of property via sale and leasebacks can raise additional funding at competitive rates, if required.
Strength of covenant: We are a highly attractive and trusted partner. Strong advantage in competitive transactions. Helps us to secure more favourable lease terms.
Strategic and financial flexibility: Proven resilience during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty. Ability to execute quickly whilst maximising returns by location. Our scale and property expertise can unlock value-enhancing opportunities. Control over network planning and customer proposition. Ability to invest in our efficiency programme.

1 Across the UK, Ireland and Germany.
2 Group open and committed pipeline.
3 Fitch Ratings, February 2026.

STRATEGIC REPORT 43
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Investing to maximise return on capital

Our ongoing programme of investment is focused on sustaining our market-leading position in the UK and on increasing our return on capital, both in the UK and Germany. Extending and optimising our hotel network, improving our guest proposition and infrastructure, as well as continuing to drive our Force for Good sustainability programme are all central to our long-term success. Each of these initiatives is described in more detail below.

Estate growth and optimisation

We see significant long-term growth potential in the UK and Ireland and are focused on reaching double-digit returns in Germany by 2030/31. With a flexible approach to property ownership, we are able to maximise our ability to secure the best sites. With a large freehold portfolio, we are also able to optimise our estate, realise development profits and recycle capital into higher-returning investments. This includes exiting smaller, less profitable sites and reinvesting the proceeds in more efficient, larger sites as well as new extensions as part of AGP. By maintaining a lower, but still significant level of freehold, the Group can continue to benefit from the advantages outlined above, whilst reducing capital intensity and remaining investment grade.
Read more on page 29

Guest proposition

Continuing to deliver for our guests with a consistent, high-quality offer is a key driver behind our market-leading position. During 2025/26, we continued the roll-out of our new standard room format, ID5, as well as more of our Premier Plus and twin rooms that command a healthy RevPAR premium versus a standard room in the same hotel. With c.£200m invested in non-expansionary capex during the year, we continue to seek ways to meet our high standards whilst also controlling our costs. This includes the development of new products, services and features that will further enhance the guest experience and ensure Premier Inn is their first choice whenever they are staying away from home.
Read more on page 29

Technology

Most of our guests’ purchase decisions take place online, resulting in the majority of our revenues being generated via digital channels. The performance and reliability of our technology infrastructure are therefore central to our ongoing success. Having upgraded our reservation system and associated technology stack in March 2024, we are now seeing benefits from new revenue streams and enhanced digital capabilities. Having completed the replacement of 94,000 door locks across our estate, we will soon be able to offer guests the ability to check-in using a digital room key, enhancing the customer journey and reducing operational costs. Having already introduced the use of AI in several areas of the business, including our customer contact centre and food waste, we are exploring ways that we can use it further, which together with the continued upgrade of our digital networks and systems will further improve the quality of service for our guests and unlock additional cost efficiencies.
Read the Q&A with Mark Smith, our Chief Technology Officer on page 40

Teams

Our teams are at the heart of our long-term success. Whilst well-designed training and competitive pay and rewards can encourage team stability and retention, the consistent promotion of a positive business culture and a passion for excellence ensures that our teams are engaged and remain focused on delivering for our guests. Whilst some of our team members will be impacted by the extension of the AGP (should we go ahead following consultation), we will seek to mitigate this by offering alternative opportunities across the Group wherever possible and by providing dedicated support to our teams.
Read more on page 54

Force for Good

Our sustainability programme is fully embedded into our business strategy and across all areas of our business. Our vertically integrated model means we are able to effect change that many other operators cannot, and our programme holds us accountable for the changes we are seeking to make. As referenced throughout this report and in our ESG report, driving positive change for our people, our communities and the wider environment ensures that our business is sustainable for the long term, and is one that all of our stakeholders continue to value and support.
Read more on page 60

Lean and agile cost model

By capturing the vast majority of the value chain, we are able to exercise considerable control over our cost base. While the breadth of our business means that inflationary pressures are always present, our strong business culture means we are continuously seeking ways we can improve and adopt new, more efficient ways of working. Whilst inflationary pressures remained higher than anticipated in 2025/26, to help mitigate the impact of inflation we are committed to delivering £250m of cost efficiencies between 2026/27 and 2030/31.
Read more on page 19

£2bn available for dividends and share buy-backs

Our New Five-Year Plan is designed to maximise shareholder returns over the medium and long term. With a reduced level of capital intensity, a reduction in the amount of freehold property held by the Group and the expected increase in profitability over the life of the plan, it is expected that the Group will deliver a 500bps uplift in ROCE 1 . At the same time, with the expected increase in margins and returns, £2bn of free cash flow 1 will be available for shareholders through a combination of dividends and share buy-backs by 2030/31.
Read more on page 18

1 Versus 2025/26, assuming UK like-for-like sales and cost efficiencies offset non-business rates inflation and finance costs over the life of the New Five-Year Plan.# STRATEGIC REPORT 44

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Delivering a step-change in performance

Statutory revenue
Statutory revenue of £2,920m (2024/25: £2,922m) was slightly lower than the prior year, reflecting a 1% increase in UK accommodation sales and positive momentum in Germany, offset by the reduction in F&B revenues as a result of the AGP.

Adjusted EBITDAR
Adjusted operating costs reduced by 2% in the period to £1,853m (2024/25: £1,898m), driven by the impact of a more efficient F&B offering and our continued progress on cost efficiencies that helped to mitigate the impact of increased levels of cost inflation. Adjusted EBITDAR† increased by 4% to £1,074m (2024/25: £1,030m).

Adjusted operating profit
Right-of-use asset depreciation increased by 7% to £209m (2024/25: £194m) reflecting the impact of rent reviews, which accounted for the majority of this increase, as well as sale and leaseback transactions completed during the period. Our estate growth, in combination with our continued focus of investing in our core estate, meant that other depreciation and amortisation charges increased by 5% to £218m (2024/25: £208m). Despite these increases, adjusted operating profit† increased by 3% to £649m (2024/25: £630m).

Financial highlights

	FY26 £m	FY25 £m	vs FY25 %
Statutory revenue	2,920	2,922	0%
Other income (excluding rental income)	2	1	90%
Operating costs before depreciation, amortisation and rent	(1,853)	(1,898)	2%
Share of profit from joint ventures	5	5	0%
Adjusted EBITDAR	1,074	1,030	4%
Net turnover rent and rental income	1	2	(20)%
Depreciation: right-of-use asset	(209)	(194)	(7)%
Depreciation and amortisation: other	(218)	(208)	(5)%
Adjusted operating profit	649	630	3%
Net finance costs (excluding lease liability interest)	11	20	(44)%
Interest: lease liability	(177)	(167)	(6)%
Adjusted profit before tax	483	483	0%
Adjusting items	(185)	(116)	(60)%
Statutory profit before tax	298	368	(19)%
Tax expense	(86)	(114)	25%
Statutory profit after tax	213	254	(16)%

“We delivered a positive financial performance in the UK, continuing to outperform the market and made strong progress in Germany, reaching profitability. As a result, we delivered Group adjusted profit before tax† of £483m.”
Hemant Patel, Chief Financial Officer

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER’S REVIEW 45

STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

As part of the Group’s strategic supply chain programme, the Group has incurred costs of £3m (2024/25: £24m) in relation to associated IT and project management costs. The move to a new supplier allows the Group to make use of a different supply model and it is expected the commercial and strategic benefit will be seen over the long-term. The Group completed the previously announced restructuring of its UK Support Centre, resulting in a charge of £2m.

Taxation
The tax charge of £123m on the profit before adjusting items (2024/25: £134m) represents an effective tax rate on the profit before adjusting items of 25.5% (2024/25: 27.8%). This is higher than the UK corporate tax rate of 25.0%, primarily due to the impact of overseas tax losses for which no deferred tax has been recognised. The statutory tax charge for the period of £86m (2024/25: £114m) represents an effective tax rate of 28.6% (2024/25: 31.0%). This is higher than the effective tax rate on the profit before adjusting items of 25.5%, primarily due to the impact of impairment of Germany property and the impact of changes to indexation allowances available on UK property.

Statutory profit after tax
Statutory profit after tax for the year was £213m, compared to a profit of £254m in 2024/25.

Earnings per share

	FY26 £m	FY25 £m	vs FY25 %
Adjusted basic earnings per share†	208.5p	194.6p	7%
Statutory basic earnings per share	123.3p	141.5p	(13)%

Adjusted basic profit per share† of 208.5p and statutory basic earnings per share of 123.3p reflect the adjusted and statutory profits reported in the period and are based on a weighted average number of shares of 173m (2024/25: 179m). The reduction in the weighted average number of shares reflects shares purchased and cancelled as part of the Group’s previously announced share buy-back programmes.

Dividend
The Board has recommended a final dividend per share of 60.6 pence (2024/25: 60.6 pence), taking the total dividend per share for the year to 97.0p (2024/25: 97.0p). The final dividend will be paid on 3 July 2026 to all shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22 May 2026. Shareholders will be offered the option to participate in a dividend re-investment plan. The Group’s dividend policy is to grow the dividend broadly in line with earnings across the cycle. Full details are set out in note 11 to the accompanying financial statements.

Central and other costs

	FY26 £m	FY25 £m	vs FY25 %
Operating costs before depreciation, amortisation and rent	(34)	(37)	9%
Share of profit from joint ventures	5	5	0%
Adjusted operating loss†	(29)	(32)	10%
Net finance income	11	20	(44)%
Adjusted profit/(loss) before tax†	(18)	(12)	(48)%

Net finance costs
Net finance income (excluding lease liability interest) reduced in the year to £11m (2024/25: £20m), reflecting lower interest receivable on cash balances following the repayment of the £450m bond in October 2025, completion of the £250m share buy-back and the impact of lower UK interest rates. Interest on lease liabilities increased by 6% driven by the impact of rent reviews, which accounted for the majority of this increase as well as sale and leaseback transactions completed during the year.

Adjusted profit before tax
Adjusted profit before tax† for the year was flat at £483m (2024/25: £483m).

Adjusting items
Total adjusting items before tax were a charge of £185m in the period, compared to a £116m charge in 2024/25. During the year, insurance settlements of £3m were received in relation to damaged inventory. Impairments of £130m (2024/25: £44m) were recognised in relation to the AGP and £32m of impairments (2024/25: £33m) were recognised on non-AGP assets. Within the £130m of impairments in relation to the AGP, the Group has recognised £28m (2024/25: £41m) of accelerated depreciation arising from site extensions and conversions in relation to the AGP to transform and exit a number of the Group’s branded restaurants. The Group recorded gains of £6m (2024/25: £40m) from property disposals, including sale and leasebacks. A provision of £1m related to historic tax positions was released, which was more than offset by a new property-related provision of £15m. The Group has incurred significant business change costs in relation to the implementation of the Group’s new hotel management system, HR & payroll system, F&B system and our strategic network programme to upgrade the IT networks across our estate. Cash costs incurred on the programmes and presented within adjusting items in the year were £8m (2024/25: £25m), with cumulative cash costs to date being £74m (2024/25: £66m). The Group has incurred legal, advisory and project management costs regarding the announced changes to facilitate the AGP. Cash costs incurred relating to the AGP and presented within adjusting items in the year were £4m (2024/25: £20m), with cumulative cash costs to date being £30m.

STRATEGIC REPORT 46

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER’S REVIEW CONTINUED

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Cash flow

	FY26 £m	FY25 £m
Adjusted EBITDAR†	1,074	1,030
Change in working capital	(10)	5
Net turnover rent and rental income	1	2
Lease viability and principal lease payments	(353)	(313)
Adjusted operating cash flow†	713	723
Interest (excluding IFRS 16)	(15)	8
Corporate taxes	(100)	(50)
Pension	(6)	(18)
Capital expenditure: non-expansionary	(176)	(247)
Capital expenditure: expansionary 1	(500)	(241)
Pre-paid property acquisition cost	(22)	(12)
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment	31	81
Proceeds from sale and leaseback of property	282	56
Other	(2)	(40)
Cash flow before shareholder returns and debt repayments	205	260
Dividend	(169)	(178)
Share buy-back	(250)	(264)
Purchase of own shares for ESOT	(11)	—
Payment of facility fees and costs of long-term borrowings	(1)	(2)
Net cash flow	(226)	(185)
Opening net debt†	(483)	(298)
Closing net debt†	(709)	(483)

1 2024/25 includes £2m payment of contingent consideration.
2 Total cost efficiencies delivered in 2025/26, after the removal of non-recurring structural savings.

Our vertically integrated model and continued focus on tight cost control meant that we were able to deliver cost efficiencies of £83m 2 which, together with the benefit from converting lower returning branded restaurants into a more efficient F&B offering, meant that operating costs reduced by 1% in the year, driving a 2% increase in adjusted EBITDAR to £1,074m (2024/25: £1,030m). Lease liability interest and lease repayments increased by £40m to £353m driven by the impact of rent reviews, which accounted for the majority of this increase, as well as the sale and leaseback transactions completed during the year. Together with a working capital outflow of £(10)m (2024/25: £5m), this meant that adjusted operating cashflow† increased to £713m (2024/25: £723m). The corporation tax net outflow in the year was £100m (2024/25: £50m). This comprises payments of £98m in the UK, £1m in Ireland and £1m in Germany. The UK payments of £98m (2024/25: £49m) are significantly higher than in the prior year due to the full utilisation of carry forward tax losses in 2024/25. Non-expansionary capital expenditure in the year of £176m partly reflects hotel refurbishments and spend incurred for the Group’s systems-related IT projects. The biggest driver of the increase in expansionary capital expenditure of £500m was related to the spend on the AGP and the continued development of our committed pipelines in both the UK and Germany.By continuing to optimise our estate and take advantage of value-enhancing opportunities, we generated proceeds from property-related disposals of £313m including £282m from sale and leaseback transactions together with other property disposals, including those related to the AGP, of £31m. The significant operating cashflow generated in the period, together with property related disposals, helped to fund our continued programme of investment, resulting in a cash inflow before shareholder returns of £205m (2024/25: £260m).

As announced with the Group’s preliminary results on 1 May 2025, the Board recommended a final dividend of 60.6 pence per share reflecting the strength of the Group’s FY25 performance and strong balance sheet. The resulting payment of £107m was paid on 4 July 2025. At the interim results in October 2025, the Board declared an interim dividend of 36.4 pence per share, resulting in a £62m dividend payment. On 30 April 2025, the Board approved a £250m share buy-back which was completed in the year. As a result, net debt† at the end of the period was £709m (2024/25: £483m).

Debt funding facilities and liquidity

Facility	Utilised	Maturity
Revolving credit facility	(740)	2029
Green Bond	(300)	2027
Green Bond	(250)	2031
Bond	(400)	2032
	(1,690)
Cash and cash equivalents	(950)
Total facilities utilised, net of cash	234
Net debt†	3	(716)
Net debt and lease liabilities†	(709)
	(5,232)

3 Excludes unamortised fees associated with the debt instrument.
4 This measure aligns to the Fitch methodology, with the leverage threshold set at 3.5x lease-adjusted net debt adjusted EBITDAR for BBB- and 3.0x for BBB, both of which are within investment grade.

STRATEGIC REPORT 47 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

The Group’s objective is to manage to investment grade metrics, maintaining a lease-adjusted leverage† ratio of less than 3.5x over the medium term 4 . In January 2026, we received confirmation from Fitch Ratings that we have maintained our investment grade status with a rating of BBB. The Group’s lease-adjusted net debt was £3,554m (2024/25: £3,082m) and the lease-adjusted leverage† ratio was 3.3x (2024/25: 3.0x).

As at 26 February 2026, £35m of the £775m Revolving Credit Facility is carved-out as an ancillary guarantee facility for the Group’s use in Germany. At 26 February 2026, guarantees issued using this facility totalled €35m (2024/25: €30m).

Capital investment

FY26 £m	FY25 £m
UK maintenance and product improvement	171
New/extended UK hotels	415
Germany and Middle East 5	112
Total	697

5 2025/26 includes £22m related to pre-paid property acquisition costs (2024/25: £12m restatement) 2024/25 includes £2m payment of contingent consideration.

UK maintenance expenditure was lower than last year at £171m, reflecting a return to more normalised levels following the completion of our bed replacement programme. UK expansionary expenditure increased significantly in the year to £415m (2024/25: £179m), reflecting our continued investment in the AGP, as well as increased construction spend for new hotels including our Old Bailey site and progression at our Strand site. In Germany and the Middle East, capital expenditure was £112m, £30m higher than the prior year, in line with our estate growth. Overall, total capital expenditure for the period was £697m (2024/25: £500m).

The balance sheet value of property, plant and equipment increased to £4.9bn (2024/25: £4.7bn) as the increased expenditure in growing and maintaining our estate was offset by transfers to assets held for sale, depreciation and impairment charges.

Property backed balance sheet

Freehold/leasehold mix	Open estate	Total estate 6
Premier Inn UK	53%:47%	54%:46%
Premier Inn Germany	24%:76%	23%:77%
Group	49%:51%	49%:51%

6 Open plus committed pipeline.

The current open UK estate is 53% freehold and 47% leasehold. However, as the existing committed pipeline is brought onstream, the mix will become slightly more weighted towards freehold. The current estate in Germany is 24% freehold and 76% leasehold reflecting the skew towards leasehold properties in city centre locations. However, with the opening of our committed pipeline, this will shift to 23% freehold and 77% leasehold.

New site openings in Germany and continued expansion in the UK resulted in right-of-use assets increasing to £3.8bn (2024/25: £3.7bn) and lease liabilities increasing to £4.5bn (2024/25: £4.2bn).

Return on capital

Returns 7	FY26	FY25
Group ROCE	11.1%	11.3%
UK ROCE	12.7%	12.9%

Group ROCE† in the period was 11.1% reflecting several factors including UK accommodation sales growth and positive momentum in Germany, offset by lower UK total revenue as a result of the impact of the AGP.

Events after the balance sheet date

The results include the announcement of the proposed extension of the Accelerating Growth Plan to optimise UK F&B to include all of the Group’s remaining branded restaurants.

Pension

The Group’s defined benefit pension scheme, the Whitbread Group Pension Fund (the ’Pension Fund’), had an IAS 19 Employee Benefits surplus of £132m at the end of the period (2024/25: £135m). The slight change in surplus was primarily driven by: asset performance being lower than the discount rate; changes to the demographic assumptions which increased the assessed value of the pension obligations; and higher than expected inflation. This was partially offset by: an increase in corporate bond yields resulting in an increase in the discount rate used to value liabilities; and a reduction in expectations for future inflation. There are currently no deficit reduction contributions being paid to the Pension Fund.

The Trustee holds security over £531m of Whitbread’s freehold property which will remain at this level until certain steps are taken in relation to the Scottish Partnership arrangements. Following that, the security held by the Trustee will be revised to the lower of: £500m; and 120% of the buy-out deficit.

Going concern

The directors have concluded that it is appropriate for the consolidated financial statements to be prepared on the going concern basis. Full details are set out on page 167.

Hemant Patel
Chief Financial Officer
29 April 2026

STRATEGIC REPORT 48 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Section 172 statement

Stakeholder engagement is central to the formulation and delivery of our strategy. As part of this process, the views and interests of various stakeholders including the views of customers, employees, shareholders and suppliers are taken into account. Equally, the impact of our strategy on the communities in which we operate, and on the environment, is also considered. That way, the strategy is developed directly with those interests in mind.

The interests of all relevant stakeholders are carefully considered by the Board and the Executive Committee as and when specific decisions are made throughout the year. In its decision-making, the Board considers what is most likely to promote the success of the Company for its stakeholders in the long term and in a sustainable manner. Our directors understand the importance of their section 172 duties to act in good faith to promote the success of the Company.

Every month, the Executive Committee considers a ‘Balanced Scorecard’ that measures performance against a range of metrics, both financial and non-financial. The non-financial metrics include guest satisfaction, team and guest safety, team retention, internal promotions, gender and ethnic diversity at leadership levels, and sustainability targets, like carbon and water reduction, as well as donations to Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. The ‘Balanced Scorecard’ also goes to the Board regularly as part of the Board pack.

The Chief Executive’s report gives details of any relevant interaction with government or regulators, and key issues with suppliers and landlords. The Chief Financial Officer’s report includes details on recent engagement with shareholders and the pension trustee discussions and qualitative feedback on specific concerns. The Chief People Officer’s report provides details of all relevant employee-related matters, including recruitment, retention, diversity and inclusion, listening, wellbeing, training and reward.

Building long-term sustainable success for everyone

“ The Board is committed to prioritising decisions that support the long-term sustainable success of the Company for the benefit of its stakeholders.”
Clare Thomas
General Counsel and Company Secretary

The General Counsel’s report contains an update on key developments on the Force for Good agenda, including work in the community, charitable fundraising, the environment, carbon and waste. It also includes best practice guidance on governance and legal regulatory updates.

Any Board discussion on possible M&A activity includes wider impact assessments, considering issues such as integration with the current business, management capabilities, the impact on team members and our supply chain. The Board also takes into consideration the long term consequences for both the Company and its stakeholders when making these decisions, making sure the Company conducts its business in a fair way, protecting its reputation and external relationships.

The Board receives regular updates on customer satisfaction, commercial performance, pricing strategy, operational activity, and investment programmes to ensure high quality guest experience and strong business execution.

Throughout the year, the Company engages extensively with investors providing clarity on strategy, performance, governance, and ESG. Each year, the Chair supported by the Investor Relations Director, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel, meets with investor stakeholders to review the Company’s performance.# STRATEGIC REPORT

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Insightful and well-considered strategic decision-making

Board information
* Forward agendas are available to allow the Board to plan ahead of time and to ensure the appropriate allocation of agenda time to each stakeholder group.
* Detailed papers are circulated a week in advance of Board meetings giving directors due time to consider them.
* An annual Board strategy day allows the Board to consider and agree key strategic priorities.
* The Board partakes in group site visits and training.

Resources available
* The Board is supported by the Company Secretary who is present at every Board meeting. The Board also has access to the advice of the Company Secretary on governance matters all year round.
* The Board has access to external advisers, should it need advice on specific matters.

Board decisions
* The Board culture fosters open discussion and constructive challenge from the non-executive directors.
* The Board benefits from the diverse skills, knowledge and experience of directors when making key strategic decisions and performing its duties under section 172.

Review
* The composition of the Board is constantly monitored to ensure the right balance of skills and experience is maintained.
* The performance of the Board is evaluated in line with the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024.
* Decisions and outcomes are reviewed to ensure intended outcomes are achieved.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT CONTINUED

Employees

What our employees tell us matters to them
* A healthy and safe working environment.
* Industry-leading training and development.
* Career development opportunities.
* Market-leading reward and incentive structures.
* Focus on team member wellbeing.
* A diverse and inclusive culture in which everyone is welcome and can be themselves.
* Open, honest and transparent management processes.

Board considerations
* ‘Our Voice’, a body made up of elected representatives across the business, represents the views of employee constituencies to senior management, including an annual session chaired by the Chief Executive. The Board receives reports of these meetings.
* Over the year the Board has focused discussions on team member pay, taking into consideration the cost of living, the impact on our hourly paid employees, and any changes in legislation likely to impact our approach to reward.
* The Chief Executive, in his Board report, outlines and makes proposals in relation to team retention and reward strategies and the Board reviews monthly KPI data regarding team retention and other employee measures as part of Whitbread’s balanced scorecard.
* The Board reviews the Speaking Out process to ensure we have the right platform for employees to raise concerns.
* The Board discusses Whitbread’s overall people strategy on an annual basis, receives a bi-annual report on overall talent health, and also receives an update on employee engagement. Our people strategy encompasses all facets of our approach to people and engagement, including diversity and inclusion.
* Diversity and inclusion is specifically considered as part of all Board appointments. This is guided by the Board diversity policy, which was updated in March 2024, and the Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2025. More detail on this can be found on our website: www.whitbread.co.uk
* Diversity and inclusion is also discussed as part of the succession planning process which includes a focus on creating a diverse pipeline at the senior management level. The Board discussed the various diversity and inclusion networks: GLOW, REACH, eNable and GEN.
* The Chief People Officer’s report regularly updates the Board on progress against all areas of the people strategy.
* The Board receives reports on health and safety management bi-annually; statistics are included in the monthly KPI pack and any serious incidents are reported immediately to the Board.

Outcomes of engagement
* Significant investment in pay and rewards for teams with an average 6% increase for hourly paid team members and 3% increase for salaried and Support Centre roles. Bonus incentives awarding over £20m to UK management.
* Further reduction of 2.5%pts in team turnover rates in the UK, building on reduction of c.5%pts in prior year, and high engagement scores from our employees across both the UK and Germany.
* We made progress on female representation in leadership to currently stand at 40.4% and ethnic representation in leadership to 7.4%; targets established for both to maintain our progress through to 2026.

Customers

What our customers tell us matters to them
* Consistent, high-quality hotels to stay in with a quality food and beverage offering, for a great price.
* Brilliant service from our teams.
* Excellent standards in our hotels and restaurants, which are clean, safe and welcoming.
* Healthy and responsibly sourced menu choices including vegan and fish items on the menu.

Board considerations
* The Board receives regular updates on customer satisfaction scores.
* The Board receives a monthly report on commercial, pricing and operational performance.
* Quarterly in-depth reviews are provided into pricing and commercial strategies in the UK and Germany.
* The Board approves the refurbishment schedule and repairs and maintenance programmes. The Board also reviews a programme of investment to ensure we maintain the high quality expected by our guests.
* The Board has visibility of and input into the investment made in our digital product and customer journey.
* The Board considers room innovations periodically, e.g. Premier Plus rooms and twin rooms.
* The Board considers brand positioning, marketing campaigns and digital strategies.
* The Remuneration Committee includes customer measures in the remuneration structures for key team members.

Outcomes of engagement
* Market outperformance and YouGov scores demonstrate the quality and value of the brand proposition and its popularity.

Investors

What our investors tell us matters to them
* Clear and well-communicated strategy.
* Evidence of strong execution against that strategy.
* Financial performance, both in absolute terms and relative to the competitive set.
* Capital structure and capital allocation.
* A proactive programme of engagement on key topics.
* Leadership, governance and remuneration.
* A progressive ESG programme.
* Identification and management of key risks.

Board considerations
* The Board receives monthly updates on changes to the share register and market expectations as well as recent engagement with shareholders and other investors.
* The Chair and General Counsel consulted with a number of shareholders during the year; key themes discussed included strategy, financial and operating performance, business culture, remuneration and ESG.
* The Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations team have conducted meetings with shareholders, prospective investors, banks and bondholders throughout the year.
* The Board receives a presentation at least once each year from its brokers on the current views of investors and on issues which may need to be addressed.
* The Board considers very carefully whether the Company is fairly valued and what steps can be taken to enhance value further.

Outcomes of engagement
* We conducted hundreds of investor meetings over the past year, not just with existing shareholders but also large numbers of other investors, both in the UK and internationally. We also maintained a regular dialogue with over 20 sell-side analysts that produce written equity research on the Company.
* We received helpful input regarding non-executive succession planning and certain ESG-related topics.

Suppliers

What our suppliers tell us matters to them
* Payment on time and in full.
* Good communication: strong and consistent levels of demand and transparent feedback on performance.
* Tackling modern slavery.
* A plan to reduce carbon through the supply chain.

Communities

What our communities tell us matters to them
* A robust health and safety programme for team members and guests.
* An ambitious environmental programme which includes Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon reduction targets in line with 1.5 °C of global warming, and targets to eliminate waste, particularly food waste, and reduce water usage.
* Ensuring that our critical commodities are sourced sustainably and responsibly.
* Supporting local communities with economic opportunities and raising funds for our chosen charities, national and local.### Board considerations
* The Board has received presentations regarding our sustainability programme, Force for Good.
* The Board receives regular updates on key developments in the Force for Good programme and provides comments and views on material issues.

Outcomes of engagement

The move to the new logistics provider delivered a 50% improvement in distribution efficiencies.
Over our 14-year-long partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), we have raised almost £29 million.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity has been reduced by 63.0%/m² from our 2016/17 baseline.
We have reduced our water consumption by 18.0% per sleeper from our 2019/20 base year.
We have cut our food waste by almost 40% from our 2018/19 base year.

Board considerations

The Board has discussed inflation in the supply chain as part of the Chief Financial Officer’s report.
The Board considers and approves a Modern Slavery Act Statement each year.
The Board approves material contracts with suppliers.
The Board has received presentations regarding our sustainability programme, Force for Good, which includes responsible sourcing.

Suppliers Communities and the environment

Image: Premier Inn Margate

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Pension scheme trustee

The Board has identified our key lenders as our syndicate of banks that participate within our revolving credit facility, and our bondholders, who hold our 2021 and 2025 issued bonds.

What our lenders tell us matters to them

Our current performance and financing strategy.
The nature and quantum of debt and level of liquidity of the Group.
Our ability to service the debt interest payments and repayment at maturity.
Our credit rating and commitment to investment grade metrics.
Our covenant and compliance certification.
The Green Bond framework.

We are committed to maintaining a positive and constructive relationship with the pension scheme trustee and to ensuring security of members’ benefits in the pension scheme.

What key aspects govern the pension scheme

Pension scheme funding and investment strategy, supported by a strong Whitbread covenant, that ensures the long-term security of members’ defined benefits.
Value for money defined contribution arrangements and engaging communications that support members in saving for retirement.

Board considerations

The Chief Financial Officer attends a meeting with the trustee annually to present, and answer questions on, the Company’s annual results and its ability to meet its obligations to the pension scheme.

Outcomes of engagement

Debt capital structure that is optimum for the Group.
A base of lenders that can support the Group’s financing and operational needs.
Robust relationships with lenders that are continually monitored, and facilitate refinancing and access to sources of finance when needed.
The support and access to product offerings that the lenders provide.

Outcomes of engagement

Strong and open relationship with the pension scheme trustee.
Well-funded pension scheme and security of defined benefits.
Ongoing engagement on defined contribution arrangements in the best interests of members.

Board considerations

Once a year the Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer meet the key lenders within the revolving credit facility to discuss the annual results and business performance.
The Group holds a fixed income call with our bondholders after the annual results presentation.
The Group Finance Director is in regular contact with our banks’ relationship teams, discussing operational and strategic financing requirements, and our Treasury team engages to manage the Group’s operational requirements.
We continue to monitor and discuss with the banks their strategy and ability to lend to the Group in the future and any changes that may impact this.
A Company representative (at the invitation of the trustee and, subject to any conflicts) attends the trustee’s Benefits Sub-Committee and Funding & Investment Sub-Committee meetings. Attendance at the latter enables an understanding of any investment changes that are planned and can provide a Company view where appropriate.
At least twice a year, a senior member of the Finance team meets with the Funding & Investment Sub-Committee and its covenant adviser to give an update on Company performance and answer any questions.
The Board receives presentations in relation to pension issues, including the funding position, triennial valuation and investment performance.
We have been actively engaging with the Trustee to conclude the triennial Actuarial Valuation for the pension scheme as at 31 March 2025. Discussions are well advanced, and we are on target to conclude by the statutory deadline of 30 June 2026.

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Whitbread has a proven track record over our 284-year history in successfully evolving to meet the challenges of tomorrow. We have a strong collegiate culture, rooted in serving guests, caring for our teams and doing the right thing. Delivering for our guests is our primary focus and we know that our people are at the heart of that delivery every day. Ensuring that our teams are engaged so that they can maintain our brilliant service levels is a key underpin in our fantastic guest satisfaction scores and the continued profitable growth of the business.

Whitbread has no barriers to entry, and no limits to ambition for our people. It is the best place for anyone to pursue a career in hospitality.

There is much to celebrate from the last year. We continue to have a highly engaged, inclusive, and capable workforce, directly supporting our business growth. Team retention climbed to a record high and employee engagement remains strong, with a score of 73% in the UK (74% in Germany). We are a diverse and inclusive business and we made good progress within our leadership group against our gender representation target, increasing to 40.4%. Ethnic minority leadership representation declined slightly to 7.4% but we have made significant progress in the last five years and are confident that we are progressively becoming a more inclusive organisation. We also made significant investment in pay and recognition, expanded our talent pipeline through training and apprenticeships, and enhanced wellbeing support for our c.31,500 team members.

Our culture, underpinned by our refreshed Whitbread Values – Warm + Welcoming, Passionate + Proud, Budget + Brilliant – fosters teamwork and service: we believe that delivering for our people enables them to deliver outstanding service for our guests. It’s important to me that we attract, develop, and retain talent from all parts of society, and social mobility is reflected both in our People Strategy and through the Opportunity pillar of our Force for Good programme. Whitbread creates jobs in hundreds of local communities, helping people build skills and careers. I am particularly proud of the work we do to unlock opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, supporting students with special educational needs and care-experienced young people into meaningful, paid work, through enhanced partnerships with both Derwen and Hereward Colleges and Barnardo’s.

In FY26, we built on last year’s progress by modernising the employee experience and streamlining people processes to support growth and efficiency. We fully deployed our new digital People system, Dayforce, across the UK and Germany, giving team members mobile access to information important to them in their roles, like payslips, schedules, and their benefits. Dayforce also unlocks richer workforce insights to management and will be a key enabler in further enhancing our scheduling and efficiency sophistication.

We are proud to pay ahead of the National Living Wage and the majority of our teams have opportunity to progress their pay rate based on skills progression. We continued our journey of simplification in our hourly pay structure, building on the work last year to reduce pay rate variations from over 150 to c.30 rates, to encourage multi-skilling and enable our teams to serve guests wherever they are. We continue to enhance agility and remove complexity, ensuring we have the right capabilities for future growth in the UK and internationally. Listening to employees remains at the heart of our approach. We partner closely with Our Voice, Whitbread’s elected employee

A highly engaged workforce

CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER’S REVIEW

“Whitbread is a special place to work and our brilliant people are fundamental to our success: warm and welcoming, passionate and proud.”

Rachel Howarth
Chief People Officer

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the employment landscape. However, we pride ourselves on the experience we deliver for our teams and guests and will continue to ensure we find the right routes to efficiency without compromising on those experiences. We will continue to be a company where our people can thrive, with no barriers to entry and no limits to ambition, which in turn underpins the sustainable value we deliver to shareholders.

Investing in our teams’ pay, reward, and benefits

In FY26 Whitbread made positive investments in pay and rewards to support our teams amid a high cost-of-living environment and to remain competitive for talent. In April 2025 we delivered a multi-million pound pay increase for hourly team members – averaging 6% – keeping all Whitbread pay rates ahead of the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage. This followed the record £40m pay uplift we gave in April 2024. Our Support Centre and site management teams in the UK received 3% pay awards. Furthermore, we paid out bonuses for FY25 performance, awarding over £20m in annual incentives to UK management, and over 2,000 hourly team members earned payouts under our “All Green” incentive scheme (c.£500k total).Our teams in Germany received c.2.5% pay awards, aligned to local market standards, and most also had a special payment above their regional Tariff agreement. In the UK and Germany Support Centres, we introduced broader work levels and refreshed reward packages, including a new bonus scheme structure that delivers a consistent framework at all levels, as well as an element linked to personal goals to ensure real focus on driving performance.

Beyond pay, we have fostered a culture of recognition and appreciation. Building on our Whitbread “Heroes” long-service awards, under which we gave over 7,000 awards this year representing a combined 25,000 years’ worth of service, we also launched a new real-time digital recognition platform in FY26. The “Wonderfully Whitbread” programme, introduced to Operational teams earlier in the year and to Support Centre colleagues in September 2025, provides a digital hub for peer-to-peer thank yous, e-cards, and award nominations. This programme has begun to ‘supercharge’ our recognition culture, making praise and thanks a daily habit and further boosting engagement.

Supporting our teams to deliver for our guests

We take pride in our teams’ delivery for our guests which is underpinned by the ongoing stability and engagement of our hotel and restaurant teams. Employee turnover improved again this year, having already seen significant improvement over the previous two years. We now have the most stable teams we have ever had which yields productivity benefits through more experienced employees better equipped to serve our guests, as well as lower hiring and training costs.

Whitbread’s employee engagement also remained strong: people choose to stay with us and tell us they enjoy working for us. Our latest Your Say survey in Autumn 2025 showed robust advocacy and pride: 2 in 3 colleagues would recommend Whitbread as a place to work, and a similar proportion feel proud to work here. Key drivers cited by employees include our focus on development opportunities, inclusive culture, and supportive management. Notably, engagement was resilient following some programmes of operational changes in the prior year, both as part of our Accelerating Growth Plan and our simplification of management structures.

We always endeavour to be transparent in our communication to our teams and support them through change with a strong focus on redeployment opportunities and signposting to our suite of wellbeing resources. Many of our team actively chose to stay with Whitbread as we implemented change and we always endeavour to retain our talent. We believe that by looking after our teams’ wellbeing, we foster the engagement and service excellence that drive our business performance.

We expanded our network of trained mental health first aiders and our teams continue to benefit from access to our “Spectrum Life” wellbeing app, delivered in partnership with Hospitality Action. This gives all employees on-demand access to wellness tools – from guided meditations and a digital fitness programme to nutrition guides and podcasts. This complements our 24/7 Employee Assistance helpline, and we continue to give employees a route to safely raising concerns via our “Speaking Out” whistleblowing service.

With inflation still impacting household budgets, we stepped up support for colleagues’ financial understanding via an ongoing financial education programme covering budgeting, debt management, and saving for retirement. During Pension Awareness Week in September, we promoted our generous Whitbread pension scheme to our teams across the UK; our scheme is open to all and we match employee contributions up to 10% of salary. We also continued to offer our popular Whitbread Sharesave scheme, giving employees a chance to share in the company’s success; the 2025 invite had strong participation, underscoring colleagues’ confidence in our future growth.

forum, through regular meetings and our annual CEO/CPO-led summit, so that frontline feedback shapes decisions. This open dialogue spurred ideas for menu improvements, recognition initiatives for our Night Team Members, and informed the roll out of better food waste communication tools, including our “Too Good To Go” app that is now available in over 90 sites. Our Voice helps us manage change in ways that matter to our teams and contributes to sustained high engagement: we moved to a composite engagement metric this year based on employee satisfaction, enthusiasm, pride, and advocacy, and our initial score via our Your Say survey was a very encouraging 73%.

The proposed extension of our Accelerated Growth Plan in the year ahead will impact roles across our branded restaurants and in some of our hotels; plans are subject to appropriate consultation with all affected team members. We recognise that this will be an unsettling period of change for our teams and supporting our people through the process will be a key priority; working with impacted colleagues to upskill, find alternative roles, and ensure that we support their wellbeing. We will work hard to create redeployment opportunities for those impacted; we propose to create new roles to serve food and beverages in our hotels in addition to the c.15,000 people we hire each year in our normal business operation.

Whitbread is a people business. Our people consistently deliver for our guests today and will be a key enabler of our strategic aspirations for growth and transformation tomorrow. We are not complacent about the external factors through FY27 that will add complexity and challenge for us. Recent budgetary and regulatory changes will be cost inflationary and the Employment Rights Act will be a significant change to STRATEGIC REPORT 56 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Diversity & Inclusion

We made solid progress on inclusion and diversity in FY26, building on momentum from the prior year. At a senior leadership level, female representation stands at 40.4%, versus 32% in 2020. Whilst we are pleased with our progress in the last five years, and a year on year improvement, we have a more ambitious internal target of 45% by the end of 2026. Ethnic minority representation in UK leadership is 7.4%, and we recognise that we have work to do to achieve our target of 10% by the end of 2026. Whitbread’s Board and Executive team closely monitor these metrics, with diversity considered in all senior appointments and succession plans.

Our four internal inclusion networks – GEN (Gender Equality), REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage), GLOW (LGBTQIA+), and enAble (Disability and Neurodiversity) – were extremely active this year, raising awareness and driving policy improvements. For example, after years of dedicated focus on menopause support and awareness, GEN achieved the Henpicked ‘Menopause Friendly Employer’ accreditation and they were also recognised when they were shortlisted for the Employee Resource Group Award at the ‘inclusion in’ awards. GLOW, was shortlisted among the UK’s top company networks (Top 15) at the 2025 British LGBT Awards and strengthened community engagement with operational team members by hosting four GLOW Community Hub events, reaching our LGBTQIA+ colleagues across the country. REACH was also shortlisted as one of the UK’s leading company networks (Top 15) at the 2025 Ethnicity Awards, and the network’s impactful activity contributed directly to Whitbread being shortlisted for the Innovation Award.

The enAble network placed a strong emphasis on education and allyship, delivering introductory training sessions in both British Sign Language and braille to build awareness and confidence. We celebrated National Inclusion Week through an intersectional lens, with each network hosting its own event or panel featuring team members and guest speakers who shared their stories. This focus on storytelling also underpinned key moments such as Black History Month, Trans Awareness Week, International Women’s Day, and other inclusion events, amplifying diverse voices and encouraging allyship.

Whitbread’s D&I efforts earned external recognition: we achieved the Leading Employer level in the Stonewall Proud Employers Accreditation (formerly the Workplace Equality Index), and made the Top 30 Index in the Investing in Ethnicity Maturity Matrix. Additionally, we were proud to receive three accolades at the ‘inclusion in’ awards, powered by WiHTL. Our Thrive Programme, which supports students with special educational needs and disabilities into meaningful employment, was awarded the Most Transformative Inclusion Initiative and the programme’s leader was honoured with the Inclusion Hero award, and our partnership with Barnardo’s to create employment opportunities for care-experienced young people received the Most Impactful Social Mobility Initiative award. These honours reinforce Whitbread’s reputation as a leader in workplace inclusion, which bolsters our employer brand and our ability to attract talent.

Importantly, our D&I commitment isn’t just about metrics – it’s about sustaining an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive through education and connection. This year we continued mandatory inclusion training for the senior leadership team in Support Centre and Operational leaders aligned to our How We Lead framework.

CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER’S REVIEW CONTINUED

Group	Gender	Ethnicity
Executive Committee	Women 2 (22.2%) / Men 7 (77.8%)	White 7 (87.5%) / Ethnic minorities 1 (12.5%)
Leadership community	Women 42 (40.4%) / Men 62 (59.6%)	White 79 (83.2%) / Ethnic minorities 7 (7.4%)
All employees	Women 19,719 (62.6%) / Men 11,783 (37.4%)	White 20,369 (69.1%) / Black 1,313 (4.5%) / Asian 3,226 (10.9%) / Other ethnicity 1,555 (5.3%)

1 We report gender identity as binary expression in line with HMRC requirements: male or female. However, we recognise all gender identities and understand that not all of our team members will identify as male or female.2 Ethnicity disclosure is not legal in Germany, consequently our reported figures represent disclosure for all on gender but only UK&I for ethnicity. Further, information provided for ethnicity in UK&I is discretionary and not all employees, including within the leadership population, have chosen to share their ethnicity with us. 3 89.8% of our employees have chosen to share their ethnicity with us and 90.6% of our leadership group.

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embedding inclusive leadership as a core expectation. We rolled out a refreshed D&I training calendar featuring a new monthly learning focus to build inclusion knowledge, capability and skills. We empower our people to bring their whole selves to work, confident that Whitbread is a place where differences are valued.

Talent Development and Internal Progression

Investing in our people’s growth is central to Whitbread’s strategy and we remain committed to offering no barriers to entry and no limits to ambition for our teams. We strongly believe that hospitality is a great place to start and build a career, and we are passionate advocates for both social mobility and providing opportunity for young people. In FY26, we have focused on skills and progression to develop key capabilities across the organisation and develop a diverse future talent pipeline – ensuring clear paths for colleagues to progress from entry-level roles to management and beyond.

Early Careers

In FY26, we launched our new “Rise & Shine” youth outreach campaign to attract young people to Whitbread and Hospitality. Our campaign videos have surpassed 1 million views and have driven strong interest, helping to bring more young talent into Whitbread. In Operations, we partner with local schools and colleges in every region to offer meaningful work experience and real jobs to young people. In Support Centre, we offer five summer internships, in partnership with the 10,000 Interns Foundation, as a pipeline for our long-standing Finance Graduate Scheme and new Data, Digital and Technology Graduate Scheme. Six graduates started on these schemes in September 2025, including one individual who joined us as a summer intern.

Mia-Rose Progressing Into First Management

23 year old Mia joined us whilst studying Travel & Tourism at university, looking for a job that could flex around her studies. Now a graduate, Mia was keen to stay after discovering the range of development opportunities available at Whitbread, like our Progressing Into First Management programme. The course helped her to build the skills, both technical and behavioural, that she needed to step into her next role, as well as creating a personal development plan to keep learning and progressing. Mia subsequently stepped through to being a Duty Manager and is now a Hotel Manager.

“I have loved the programme and everything it has opened up for me, I never thought it would be possible, but my managers were so supportive: I even thanked them in my dissertation!”

A distinctive part of our early careers offer is opening doors for those who face barriers. We expanded programmes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, focusing on those who are care-experienced or have Special Educational Needs. In FY26, our partnership with Barnardo’s – a 10-week pre-employment programme for care-experienced young people – was scaled up. After successful pilot cohorts in Glasgow and Birmingham (30 participants, 8 now employed at Premier Inn), we committed to continue to invest in the scheme and began extending the programme to new regions. We have also recently signed the Care Leavers Covenant to continue to offer more opportunities to young people who are care-experienced across our estate. Similarly, our longstanding collaborations with Derwen College and Hereward College (special educational needs institutions) reached the 10-year milestone. To date over 30 students with learning difficulties have transitioned into permanent Whitbread jobs through supported internships. We have also onboarded two additional college partners (in Lincoln and Liverpool) as part of our expanded “Thrive” programme, moving toward our goal of 100 supported interns per year across the UK. These efforts not only change lives for individual participants but also broaden our talent pool and strengthen Whitbread’s reputation as a socially conscious employer. They exemplify how we can be a Force for Good in our communities while meeting our recruitment needs, giving everyone the opportunity to grow and be their best. These efforts support our aim to be an employer of choice for the next generation entering hospitality.

Helen Apprenticeship

Helen joined us in 2018 after an unexpected career change and in that time has progressed from being a housekeeper to now managing four hotels as one of our Multi-Site Hotel Managers. Personal development is so important to Helen, and when she learned she could do an apprenticeship alongside her role at Premier Inn, she jumped at the opportunity. Apprenticeships have been a huge part of Helen’s journey with us; she even won the apprentice of the year award.

“I’m a really motivated individual who loves to learn, so being at Whitbread really suited me. If I don’t keep learning, I’ll go stale. I’m on my third apprenticeship here and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I’m so proud of everything I’ve achieved, I didn’t want to be a 53-year-old doing a job that didn’t make me proud.”

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CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER’S REVIEW CONTINUED

Sean Barnardo’s Care Experience Young People

Sean joined Premier Inn in October 2025 and has grown in confidence ever since; he is now a Housekeeper based in one of our Edinburgh hotels. He has integrated well into the wider team and everyone speaks highly of his energy, willingness to learn, and the care and attention he gives to his job. His cheerful manner was apparent right from job application and his manager believes he could progress to do more roles with us over time. His manager said: “We’re a really close team and through understanding the needs of our team and the individuals in them we can adapt and support Sean.”

Sean said: “Not many people give people like me a chance and it’s made me feel really good about myself to have the opportunity with Premier Inn. I want to keep doing better for myself and my family.”

Early Careers continued

Setting our Teams up for Success

We hire c.15,000 people every year into roles within Whitbread and, for many, it is their first experience of employment. We ensure that each new starter is equipped with the skills and confidence to perform in their role as we know that when we get the onboarding experience right, people succeed faster, and stay for longer. Our team member induction is a blend of in person time with their manager, digital training for key elements and extensive in person side-by-side training to help learners gain proficiency in their role to deliver for our guests. 86% of new starters tell us that their onboarding is either very good or good, and 89% felt confident or very confident as a result of their induction.

Management Development

Every year we also hire, develop and promote over 1,000 people into management roles within our sites – ranging from first time leadership to Multi-Site Hotel Managers. To help us ensure we maintain a strong pipeline of internal operational management talent, we have developed and launched a suite of internal development programmes in FY26 under the “Progressing Into” banner. These structured courses blend workshops, on-the-job experience, and coaching to prepare high-potential team members for the next level. The three main tiers are:

Progressing Into First Management – for Team Members stepping up to their first supervisory role (e.g. Duty Manager). Currently over 220 colleagues are enrolled across Premier Inn. Participants gain the foundational leadership and operational skills needed to move into first-line manager positions upon completion.
Progressing Into Hotel Manager – for team members aspiring to move to Hotel Manager (or equivalent). We’ve successfully launched four cohorts in 2025 with excellent feedback which gives us a great platform for the future. This programme covers the broader leadership, financial acumen, and multi-department management needed to ensure our new Hotel Managers are set up for success.
Progressing Into Multi-Site Manager – the first cohort of this programme started in early 2026 aimed at developing high potential Hotel Managers to be ready for their first multi-site role. We have 27 learners on this cohort.

Our Progressing Into Programmes are complemented by our apprenticeship offer, with Whitbread remaining as one of the UK’s leading apprenticeship employers. We currently have over 1,000 apprentices in learning across our hotels, restaurants, and Support Centre, with programmes at every level in Operations and available in all functions across our Support Centre. We were rated as a top 10 Apprenticeship employer in FY26, reflecting the quality of our programmes, experience of our learners and our improving achievement rates. These schemes not only attract and upskill early-career talent, but also develop our management pipeline in Operations and our technical skills in Support Centre. The investment in these programmes is already paying dividends. In the last 12 months, c.60% of our hotel/restaurant management positions were filled through internal promotion, with our Progressing Into courses and apprenticeships proving invaluable in setting up those promoted prior to their appointment. Developing our own people not only preserves our culture and service standards, but data shows internally promoted managers deliver stronger performance and higher loyalty than external hires.To reinforce this, we’ve established new talent principles: regularly reviewing our talent pipeline metrics, ensuring the “right people are on the right programme” through robust nomination and assessment, and holding to a “sign off to be promoted” rule, ensuring all internal promotions complete the required development and are independently assessed as role-ready before stepping up permanently. These steps will further improve success rates for newly promoted managers.

Leadership Development

Following the successful launch of our Values that helped to codify our special culture, in FY26, we took the opportunity to work with our top performing leaders to identify the characteristics that leaders at Whitbread need to deliver a high-performance culture. We ran co-creation sessions with leaders of every level from the Support Centre and Operations in the UK and Germany to create our new leadership behaviours – “How We Lead at Whitbread”.

Having defined these behaviours, between May and November 2025, we launched them to over 600 Support Centre managers and 1,000 Operations managers via highly interactive in-person workshops led by our Senior Leaders. How We Lead has been hardwired into our performance framework, as well as into our processes for assessing and developing potential talent, and informing future hires. Our commitment to developing our leaders of today and for tomorrow continues, via our ongoing partnership with Hult Ashridge Business School, with whom we have built two programmes: one programme for future Senior Leaders, and one for our highest potential Senior Leadership. Each 12-month programme has a curriculum that combines residential modules, executive coaching, mentoring from Programme Alumni or ExCo, and Whitbread masterclasses.

STRATEGIC REPORT 59 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Claire

Housekeeping Team Member, Thrive Alumni
Claire began her journey with Whitbread through the Thrive Programme after learning housekeeping skills at Derwen College’s Mini Premier Inn training facility.

Cyrus

Data, Digital & Technology Graduate
Cyrus graduated with a Chemistry BSc from the University of Nottingham in 2025 and has since found himself working in Technology. He was attracted to the Whitbread scheme because it offered the chance to explore this as a career path without requiring a Technology background or associated degree, something few other schemes he looked into provided. This, combined with the recognition Whitbread regularly receives as a UK Top Employer and Premier Inn’s exciting growth internationally, he felt it was an exciting time to join the business. So far, he has learnt how interconnected the Technology world is, with projects spanning various teams and organisations. It’s a constantly evolving environment that keeps things exciting and fresh and there is always something new to learn. “I am particularly excited to spend a month in Germany to learn more about Whitbread’s expanding operations there. Overall, I believe Whitbread is a great place to work and gives me the opportunity to work on projects with tangible impact and where the benefits can be seen directly at sites. Not many office jobs can offer that!”

Robbin

People Apprentice
Robbin joined Whitbread as a People Apprentice in October 2025, having achieved a Triple Distinction in a National Extended Diploma in Business from Central Bedfordshire College. She was attracted to Whitbread because of its genuine commitment to developing young talent, and felt it was the perfect place for her to start and grow her career. Her role gives her the opportunity to lead key projects within Talent, Development and Inclusion, gain experience across the wider People function, while studying for a L5 People Professional qualification via an Apprenticeship. “Joining Whitbread after college opened doors I never expected so early in my career. With the support of my team; who have encouraged me, offered guidance, and pushed me towards new opportunities; I’ve been able to grow, learn, and get involved in meaningful work that celebrates the achievements of people across the organisation. Starting my first apprenticeship here has been a hugely positive experience, and I’m excited to see what comes next at Whitbread.”

This investment is part of our commitment to building Whitbread’s leadership pipeline for the future. Overall, Whitbread’s learning and development investments in FY26 have strengthened our internal pipeline and reduced reliance on a challenging external labour market. We have continued to provide an entry point for young people to start an exciting career in hospitality and remain passionate about social mobility. By giving team members clear opportunities to grow – from apprenticeships to leadership programmes – we not only fill roles more effectively, we also boost engagement and retention and ensure we continue to offer no barriers to entry and no limits to ambition. Our teams have truly exhibited our Values over the last year, consistent in their passion, pride, warmth, and brilliance. We continue to invest in our people, both to enable fulfilling jobs today and to unlock their potential for the future, so that we can continue to deliver memorable experiences for our guests.

Rachel Howarth
Chief People Officer
29 April 2026

She started her first paid role in 2015 and recently celebrated her ten year work anniversary with Premier Inn. Over the past decade, she has grown in confidence and become a much loved member of the team in Berwick Upon Tweed. Hotel Manager Rosalind Bache says, “Claire is incredibly bubbly and lively. Everyone gets on well with her.” Reflecting on her journey, Claire says, “I’m so happy here in Berwick. I have so many friends and I love working at Premier Inn.”

STRATEGIC REPORT 60 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

SUSTAINABILITY

Our 2025/26 performance

As the business navigates economic, social and environmental challenges, it is clear to me that our Force for Good strategy is more critical than ever. Whether attracting, engaging and retaining the best colleagues in a market fighting for talent, reducing costs and risks to make our business more resilient, or generating revenue by meeting increasing sustainability requirements of customers, Force for Good is good for business and core to our strategy. We now have 2,300 low-carbon* hotel rooms – c.800 of which we developed this year – more than any other hotel chain in the UK&I. We remain committed to our published targets and have made progress during the year in a number of areas, some highlights of which are set out in the pages that follow. I’m proud of our cross-functional teams and leaders working hard to find innovative, commercially advantageous solutions and embed new ways of working. We continue to include ESG KPIs in our annual incentive plan for all salaried employees and executive directors to maintain focus on this important agenda.

“Our Force for Good programme is not only delivering great environmental and social results which we can all feel proud of, it also drives financial returns, reduced risk, protected reputation and operational resilience.”
Clare Thomas
General Counsel

Key performance indicator	Performance in 2025/26 (dark purple)	vs target 2024/25	Market	Link to material topic
45% female representation in our leadership population 1 in 2026	40.4%	39.5%	UK&I and Germany	5
10% ethnic minority representation in our leadership population 1 in 2026	7.4%	9.3%	UK&I	5

1 Leadership population is defined by all Head and Director roles.

Key performance indicator	Performance in 2025/26 (dark yellow)	vs target 2024/25	Market	Link to material topic
20% salt reduction in our menus from a 2017 baseline	12%	21.2%	UK&I	6
20% sugar reduction in our menus from a 2015 baseline	23.5%	24.7%	UK&I	6
20% calorie reduction in our menus from a 2017 baseline	4%	3.1%	UK&I	6
We will raise £2.7m in 2025/26 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity	£2.6m raised	£2m	UK	7

Material topic key
* Opportunity
* Community
* Climate change 1
* Circular economy 3
* Supply chain 4
* Equal treatment and opportunities for all 5
* Corporate culture 7
* Product safety and quality 6
* Water 2

We have long, medium and short-term targets to drive progress and remain accountable. We review these targets annually to ensure they are still relevant, amending existing or adding new ones as needed.

* ‘Low-carbon’ means that the hotels are powered by electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) and no gas or LPG is used for water and space heating and cooking.

STRATEGIC REPORT 61 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Responsibility

Key performance indicator	Performance in 2025/26 (dark green)	vs target 2024/25	Market	Link to material topic
99.6% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040 from a 2016/17 baseline	48.3% reduction	46.4%	UK&I and Germany	1
84.1% emissions intensity reduction in Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 from a 2016/17 baseline	63.0%/m² reduction	61.5%/m²	UK&I and Germany	1
90% absolute reduction in Scope 3 by 2050 from a 2018/19 baseline	21.0% reduction	16.7%	UK&I and Germany	1, 4
58.1% emissions intensity reduction in Scope 3 by 2030 from a 2018/19 baseline	38.1%/m² reduction	35.7%/m²	UK&I and Germany	1, 4
36.4% absolute reduction in FLAG Scope 3 by 2030 from a 2018/19 baseline	40.2% reduction	32.5%	UK&I and Germany	1, 4
Reduce water use in the UK by 20% per guest by 2030 from a 2019/20 baseline	18.0% reduction	14.2%	UK&I	1, 2
Cut food waste by 50% by 2030 from a 2018/19 baseline	39.5% reduction	31.3%	UK&I	1, 3
We will not send any operational waste to landfill	100% operational waste diverted from landfill	99.3%	UK&I and Germany	3
100% of our suppliers will be assessed for inherent human rights risk	100% suppliers risk assessed	100%	UK&I and Germany	4

1 Restated number for 2024/25 due to a change in the methodology for m² calculations.# STRATEGIC REPORT

Key performance indicator

Key performance indicator	Performance in 2025/26 (dark green) vs target 2024/25	Market	Link to material topic
100% cage-free status on all whole shell and ingredient eggs by 2025	100% of eggs sourced from cage-free farms, accredited by British Lion and Bord Bia (Origin Ireland Q-Mark)	85.4%	UK&I 4
100% of raw beef will be produced to a recognised farm assurance scheme in its country of origin	100% of our raw beef range	100%	UK&I 4
100% of wild caught fish served will be Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or equivalent certified	100% of wild caught fish served	100%	UK&I 4
100% of palm oil in own recipe products will be Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified by the end of 2025	100% of palm oil in our own recipe products	73%	UK&I 1 4

62 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Our Property team continues to design high-efficiency and low-carbon hotels, whether new build or retrofit, reusing existing structures where possible to reduce embodied carbon and construction waste. For example, in Old Bailey, London, we opened a 212-room hub by Premier Inn hotel, transforming the former Snow Hill Police Station and retaining the facade and other important heritage features of a Grade II listed landmark. The hotel’s heating and hot water are generated via air-source heat pumps, and heat recovery systems create a low energy demand. This hub also features a blue roof design, which means it stores the rainwater and releases it slowly to reduce flood risk in the area.

The decarbonisation activity underway drives not only emissions reductions, but also financial benefit for the business. The installation of lower-flow showers across the estate is estimated to reduce annual operating costs by £3.7m once fully deployed. Targeted capital investments in asset efficiency offer attractive medium-term returns with an estimated 4.4-year payback and strong lifetime ROCE. The transition from gas boilers to heat pumps is expected to be broadly cost-neutral in operation, with financial returns improving over time as electricity costs become more competitive relative to gas. Overall, the programme demonstrates that disciplined decarbonisation investment can enhance cost efficiency, asset resilience and long-term value.

Our absolute Scope 3 emissions have reduced by 21% from a 2016/17 baseline, thanks predominantly to lower purchases of food with high embodied carbon – another result of the strategic transformation of our business. We have established a Scope 3 Net Zero Working Group to oversee the delivery of our Scope 3 reduction plan, including senior representatives from the teams who determine what we buy and who we buy it from. In 2026/27, we will publish our refreshed Net Zero Transition Plan considering both our operational and supply chain carbon and taking into account risks and dependencies.

This year we continued to change the shape of our business, divesting some of our branded restaurants and converting others into higher-returning hotel rooms. This allows us to adopt lower-carbon technologies into our designs. The majority of the extensions are built using timber frames that are lower in embodied carbon than its alternative – concrete; and 90% of the 3,000 rooms delivered through our AGP will be low-carbon 1, powered by electricity, without adding new gas connections. We also made a significant change to our procurement model, transitioning a majority of our food purchases to a wholesaler. ESG was a core part of the tender and onboarding process, giving us much better visibility of, and influence over, ESG topics with a significant part of our supply chain. Our new partner is working closely with us on social and environmental assessments, food waste reduction, decarbonisation, packaging and more.

Our social mobility work is broadening our talent pool and helping fantastic colleagues into new careers. We’ve slightly increased representation of women across our leadership population. We’ve also made progress towards our goal of supporting 100 interns per year across the UK. The passion of our teams to fundraise remains steadfast and the results of their efforts are admirable with a further £2.6m raised for GOSH during the year. By keeping our Force for Good programme aligned to the core business strategy, we continue to make progress and embed sustainability into the business as usual.

Responsibility

The decarbonisation of our operations and value chain remains strategically important both to reduce operational costs and supply chain risks, and to meet the requirements of our customers. In 2025/26, we made further progress towards our carbon targets, thanks to the ongoing switch from gas boilers at the end of their life to air-source heat pumps and the upgrade to lower-flow showers – either removing or lowering demand for gas for heating and hot water.

We have now reached 2,300 low-carbon 1 rooms across our estate, more than any other UK&I hotel chain, c.800 of which were delivered during the year, including four new hotels in the UK. These are rooms for which the power, heating and hot water are entirely run by electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs). REGOs certify that the equivalent number of units of electricity purchased have been generated from renewable sources such as wind or solar – moving us away from fossil fuels. We have achieved a 63%/m 2 emissions intensity reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and absolute reduction of 48.3% on a market basis from a 2016/17 baseline.

Year in review

Scope 1 and 2 intensity reduction, tonnes of carbon/m 2

2021/22	2022/23	2023/24	2024/25	2025/26
0.025	0.025	0.023	0.019 2	0.018

SUSTAINABILITY CONTINUED

1 ‘Low-carbon’ means that the hotels are powered by electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) and no gas or LPG is used for water and space heating and cooking.
2 Restated number for 2024/25 due to a change in the methodology for m 2 calculations (see page 139).

STRATEGIC REPORT 63 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

We continue to reduce demand for water through the installation of low-flow showerheads and taps and replacing toilet flushes with more efficient systems. These low-flow solutions not only reduce carbon, as less water is heated, but also reduce consumption and costs. All solutions are trialled with guests to ensure that they still get the same great Premier Inn experience.

We have made good progress this year towards our food waste target – hitting almost 40% reduction on our 2018/19 baseline and 12% year on year. This is due to increased focus on site-level engagement and strengthening operating standards, as well as using improved data to target specific products that are driving waste. Progress on our food waste target has also been enhanced by AGP which involves converting branded restaurants into hotel rooms, optimising the delivery of F&B at these sites. Bins with AI vision continued to collect data, which has allowed us to track in detail exactly what is thrown away, how much and at what time of day. From this data, we have built a plan for the coming 12 months to reduce plate waste and buffet waste at breakfast time. We recognise that some residual waste is inevitable – especially with a buffet breakfast format – and have extended our partnership with Too Good To Go (now at over 90 sites), which stops good food going in the bin while also delivering a financial return.

Opportunity

The people-focused aspects of our Force for Good agenda remain fundamental to our success. Whitbread provides employment in hundreds of local communities and supports skills and career development. The hospitality industry is one of the most socially inclusive industries, and our approach to diversity and inclusion reflects this. At leadership level, we are making steady progress towards our target of 45% of women in our leadership by considering diversity in senior appointments and succession planning. Over the past year, we’ve increased our focus on internal talent management and future leadership development to build a more diverse pipeline. As importantly, we champion inclusion across the business with an active community of networks – GEN (Gender Equality), REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage), GLOW (LGBTQIA+), and enAble (Disability and Neurodiversity) – raising awareness and driving policy improvements.

We regularly listen to our teams through both our employee engagement survey and our elected representative forum – Our Voice – with over 80% of our colleagues sharing their views in 2025/26. This underpins our inclusive culture and approach to employee wellbeing, hearing from and acting upon our team’s feedback. A specific initiative that our teams requested was more help in understanding their finances, and a core part of our wellbeing activity focused on financial education across budgeting, debt management, savings and pensions.

We are passionate about giving our employees opportunities to further their careers and run comprehensive development programmes to foster progression, alongside an apprenticeship offer for all levels within the business. Our offer covers everything from early careers, partnering with local schools and colleges, through to leadership development in conjunction with Ashridge Management College. We currently have over 1,000 apprentices in learning and over 300 people engaged in one of our management or leadership courses.

We have specific plans focused on youth and social mobility. We partner with Barnardo’s to offer a ten-week pre-employment programme for care-experienced young people, and via our Thrive initiative, partnering with special educational needs organisations to support students into the workplace, which marked its ten-year anniversary in 2025/26.Our longstanding collaborations with Derwen College and Hereward College have supported more than 30 students with learning difficulties to transition into permanent jobs through supported internships. More detail can be seen on page 57 (CPO section)

Community

Our teams are passionate about the work they do, raising funds for charity partners and contributing to their communities. We raised £2.6m for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH) and our long-standing partnership has reached an important milestone. We are halfway to raising £20m for the new Children’s Cancer Centre due to open in spring/summer 2028, with £10m now secured. In total, thanks to our colleagues, guests and partners, we have raised almost £29m for GOSH since 2012, contributing to the development of three clinical wards and a dedicated patient-carer lounge within the new facility.

We remain committed to improving community health and nutrition through improvements to our food and beverage offerings. We engaged with government and sector stakeholders to support policy development, including DEFRA’s Food Strategy, the NHS 10 Year Plan on mandatory healthier sales reporting, and the Department of Health’s review of the Nutrient Profiling Model. In 2025/26 we transitioned to a new sourcing model that has resulted in a lack of progress towards the sugar, salt and calorie targets. In addition, the new flavour profiles we introduced to respond to current trends were slightly higher in salt content. We are addressing both in the coming year and look forward to seeing the Government’s new targets to help inform our approach.

We responded to the government’s increased focus on High Fat, Sugar or Salt (HFSS), reviewing our core menus and revising our internal targets to reduce the number of dishes classified as such. There is a lot for us to be proud of in our Force for Good results to date, and I’m looking forward to supporting our teams to deliver against the plans we have set out for the coming year. Force for Good supports our short, medium and long-term resilience, reducing risks, driving returns and protecting our reputation – it remains a key value driver for our future.

Clare Thomas
General Counsel
29 April 2026
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PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Understanding and responding to risk

Risk management reporting and escalation
Board	Accountable for strategic risk management, including the assessment of risk appetite, and ensuring a sound system of internal control and risk management is in place. Read more on pages 96 to 99
Executive Committee	Review, challenge and approval of Group risks. Read more on page 100
Risk Working Group	Identify and evaluate new risks, monitor risk interdependencies and report key risks to the Executive Committee.
Audit Committee	Oversight and challenge of the effectiveness of risk management and mitigating controls. Read more on pages 109 to 115
Internal Audit	Co-ordination and analysis. Read more on pages 112 and 113

Governance, strategy, oversight and communications

Risk management framework

An effective and robust risk management framework is integral to achieving our strategic priorities. Our success is underpinned by our ability to identify, manage, and mitigate risk within our business. We can never fully avoid or eliminate risk, which arises naturally from operational and strategic decisions taken. Instead, we actively manage and harness risk as far as is practical, whilst pursuing our business objectives.

The Board has ultimate responsibility for risk management throughout the business and determines the nature and extent of the risks we are willing to take. Certain responsibilities, including overseeing the systems of risk management and internal control, have been delegated by the Board to the Audit Committee, which completes an annual review of the effectiveness of these processes. The Executive Committee is responsible for the identification and day-to-day management of significant risks. A bi-annual top-down risk assessment captures Board and Executive views on the principal risks facing the business and informs updates to risk appetite and mitigation actions. This enables us to keep up to date with changes in our risk profile and adapt as necessary. Actions required to manage these risks are monitored and reviewed on a regular basis.

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All principal risks are owned by a member of the Executive Committee and this, combined with our robust three lines of defence model, helps to reinforce a culture of accountability throughout the business. Internal Audit constructs a risk-based audit plan, aligned to the principal risk register, to provide independent assurance over our highest risk activities.

Risk appetite

Risk appetite is defined as the level of risk we are willing to accept in pursuit of our strategic priorities. For principal and emerging risks, this is determined on an annual basis by the Executive and Board members, who assess risk appetite against key indicators including potential impact of risk, likelihood of risk and ability to reduce risk through mitigation. This ensures alignment between our view of acceptable risk exposure and the strategic priorities of the business. The Executive Committee communicates the appetite for risk, to embed this within our ways of working and this is considered when making strategic or operational decisions regarding new opportunities for the business.

Emerging risks

Emerging risks are new or evolving uncertainties that can be difficult to quantify but have the potential to materially affect the Group over the longer term. The pace of change in areas such as technology, legislation and geopolitics reinforces the importance of proactive horizon scanning. Through our risk management framework, management conducts an annual review of industry trends, external insights and peer developments to identify potential issues at an early stage. We have identified the following key emerging risks:

Ongoing geopolitical tensions in certain regions continue to create uncertainty for businesses operating in, or welcoming guests from, affected areas. While Whitbread has only a limited presence in these regions, the safety and wellbeing of our guests and team members remains paramount. A material escalation in geopolitical conditions may disrupt local operations, impact travel demand and negatively affect customer confidence and the Group’s reputation.
The shift in government priorities and increasing fiscal pressures are creating a more uncertain policy landscape. Evolving decisions on taxation, labour regulation, planning, and industry specific measures may increase operating costs or constrain demand. We continue to closely monitor policy developments and engage with government and industry bodies to anticipate change. Scenario planning helps ensure we can respond quickly to emerging regulatory or fiscal shifts.

We also continue to monitor other emerging risk topics previously highlighted, which reflect a more volatile and rapidly evolving external environment. Changes in global political and economic alignments may increase uncertainty and disruption across markets, supply chains and costs. Rapid advances in digital technologies, including AI, may create risk if platforms, controls and capabilities do not keep pace with business needs. In parallel, evolving workforce dynamics from younger generations may have longer-term implications for engagement, retention and organisational resilience.

Updated risks

Internal and external factors, as well as continued uncertainty of key drivers, mean the nuances in the detail of our risks are constantly changing. Risk descriptions are periodically reviewed and updated to ensure they remain an accurate reflection of the risks faced by the business.

Risk identification

Our risk management framework is efficient and effective, and is embedded across the business. Risk Owners identify and regularly review functional, operational and strategic risks that may affect the delivery of their objectives, and implement mitigation actions as appropriate, to maintain exposure within acceptable levels. This is underpinned by clear governance arrangements, supported by proportionate reporting and defined escalation routes across the framework.

Risks are often highly interdependent, meaning changes to one risk can affect multiple existing risks or result in new risks being created. The Risk Working Group (RWG) is a collaborative forum, which includes organisation-wide representation, allowing us to utilise insights from senior leaders to monitor these interdependencies effectively and proactively identify associated new risks. The RWG reports directly to the Executive Committee.

Image: hub by Premier Inn Farringdon (Old Bailey)
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PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES CONTINUED

Principal risks

Risk	Key mitigations
Uncertain Economic Outlook
Uncertain UK and Germany economic outlook due to broader macroeconomic trends, geopolitical volatility, and local political instability. This uncertainty may affect consumer confidence; reduce domestic and international travel and ultimately weaken hotel market demand.
Continued fiscal pressure on governments to increase taxation could drive structural increases in our operating cost base such as employee taxes, business rates, regional levies, or duties and tariffs on imports, that disproportionately impact the hospitality sector or property ownership.
Persistent inflation across key goods and services such as utilities, food costs and construction materials combined with supply chain disruption further exacerbates cost pressures.
Higher interest rates may impact the cost of borrowing, affect property valuations and constrain our ability to fund growth, placing pressure on balance sheet strength and cashflows.
• We have a strong balance sheet, with substantial liquidity and a large freehold property base, giving us the option to raise additional funds by entering into sale and leaseback agreements, if required.
• We continue to make good progress with our efficiency programme and rolling utilities hedging to offset inflationary and demand-led pressures and maintain rigorous discipline over our capital spend and costs.
• We continue to execute our strong commercial strategy, designed to increase market share and financial returns through execution of several commercial initiatives.
• Our rigorous business planning process considers many scenarios and appropriate responses, always seeking to drive increased returns and create value for shareholders whilst continuing to manage risk.
• We continue to make good progress in executing our F&B transformation strategy to drive returns improvement and share price protection

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year
N/A	N/A	Increase due to impact of business rates and inflation.

Cyber and data security

Businesses are subject to continuously evolving methods of cyber-attack. The digital world expands the potential impact arising externally to Whitbread’s infrastructure due to our interconnectivity and reliance on a significant number of suppliers that enables our technology. Data breaches or operational disruption caused by malware such as ransomware, can result in a loss of revenue, brand trust, regulatory fines and have an adverse impact on the Group’s share price.

Established operational resilience programme, with cross functional ownership of business continuity plans focusing on minimal viable product.
We have a specialist team and mature Information Security Management in place with a wide range of proactive and reactive security controls including up-to-date antivirus software across the estate, network and system monitoring, and regular penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities.
All IT change and engineering has information security built-in by design.
A continuous security improvement programme is in place, with regular internal and external independent reviews of the control effectiveness and maturity.
Our mature risk process and proactive threat modelling and monitoring allow us to identify and address threats at the earliest opportunity.
We have solid compliance foundations across all countries for data protection and effective collaboration between the Information Security and Data Protection teams to minimise risks and ensure compliance with GDPR.

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year
Grow and innovate in the UK, Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany, Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	Cautious	Lower / Higher Level

STRATEGIC REPORT 67 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Potential RevPAR impact from prolonged strategic changes to the food and beverage proposition

There is a risk that the continued uncertainty from proposition changes for our guests and team, may damage Premier Inn’s brand perception, operational excellence and desire to eat in our sites, losing share to other local F&B operators. Whilst some impacted properties continue to be marketed for sale, this risk continues to be prevalent. Stand-alone F&B operations are also being impacted by current operational challenges in a highly competitive market, with sector driven inflationary pressures and recent people-related legislation costs. Overall, the various states of our F&B offer may become less relevant or appealing to guests and continue to be a drag on senior management time, investment and resources to resolve.

The extension of the AGP programme aligning to our strategic objectives, with strong F&B-focused leadership.
New menus and propositions have been launched, including revenue opportunities focusing on specific trading times throughout the day, premiumisation and improvement of guest experience by integrating ground floor spaces inside our hotels.
We harness better buying with supply chain and procurement targets.
We are always considering how best to serve our customers with extensive market research and customer feedback.
Optimisation of marketing spend via specific key event-led initiatives throughout the year.

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year
Grow and innovate in the UK, Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany, Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	Open	Increase due to extended timeframe for executing activities, as well as the impact of F&B re-organisation.

Strategic business change and interdependencies

The risk that we are unable to deliver major transformational programmes on time and realise benefits, due to the high volume of change. This may disrupt core business processes, operational efficiency and potentially affect guest experiences. This risk specifically relates to estate optimisation; the ongoing strategic review of our food and beverage offering; and commercial optimisation initiatives. Additionally, embedding new ways of working, having successfully delivered our new reservation technology and HR and payroll system, presents further challenges. This risk remains elevated due to cross-programme dependencies, the scale and pace of organisational change, extensive operational impacts and the significant associated investment in technology.

To help ensure successful delivery of the change projects, we have enhanced internal project delivery expertise with a dedicated strategic project management office (PMO) function, supported by a robust assurance management framework.
This framework is coupled with regular reporting, cross-functional forums and monthly reporting to the Executive Committee.
Our mature and independent programme assurance plan ensures aligned assurance utilising subject matter experts to provide external insight.
We engage with various change experts and strategic partners to gain knowledge, challenge and insights.

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year
Grow and innovate in the UK, Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany, Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	Balanced	Recognising the delivery and maturity of various programmes in the year such as HR and payroll system, supply chain transformation, outsourced guest contact points and securing our systems’ networks.

STRATEGIC REPORT 68 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES CONTINUED

Brand strength and customer demand

Demand for our products and services can be impacted by a number of factors including changes in customer behaviour, brand perception and competitor activity. The Group’s brands need to remain relevant in order both to compete effectively with new and existing sector operators and evolving market dynamics. The importance of brand relevance can increase during periods of market weakness or if more challenging economic conditions prompt consumers to become more focused on price and value, at the same time competitor activity can become more aggressive and disruptive. Given the prominence of the Premier Inn brand, negative media coverage could have an adverse reputational impact and influence consumer behaviour and booking volumes. The combined impact of these factors may present a risk to market share, potential returns and cash flow.

We perform extensive top line scenario modelling, fed by regular competitor and market analysis, allowing us to assess the impact of various structural shifts on the business and enabling us to make informed decisions.
Our Customer & Trading Committees track metrics including Brand Index, net promoter score, and customer satisfaction and feedback to supplement all decision-making.
We continue to focus on market share trading initiatives and perform in-depth reviews into the impacts of key competitors to our business.
There is an established Commercial and Customer Plan with ongoing development and investment in customer proposition to maintain quality and reflect demands of different segments.
We perform proactive public relations activities including monitoring of all media and prompt responses to any significant negative coverage that might have a bearing on our reputation or our commercial activities.

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year
N/A	Cautious	N/A

Changing distribution landscape and emergence of AI-led search

Ongoing changes in the distribution landscape, including the growth of online travel agents, AI-led search and specialist platforms, may reduce the effectiveness of our current distribution strategy. This could be particularly relevant with certain consumer groups such as the under 35s who are less likely to go direct to brands and more likely to shop around or seek help and advice when choosing a hotel. Compounding this with AI usage in the hotel research journeys could lead to a decline in direct bookings, reduced brand loyalty, and potential revenue loss.

Continuous monitoring of the competitor and technology landscape.
Development of third-party distribution strategy and building of strategic relationships with third parties.
Continue good progress to execute customer-focused strategy.# STRATEGIC REPORT 69

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year	New risk at half year	Movement vs prior year	Level	See page 2
Grow and innovate in the UK; Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany; Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	Balanced		New risk at half year	Lower/Higher

Germany profitable growth

Uncertain German economic outlook or failure to achieve a flexible operating model, may impact our ability to build the Premier Inn brand, deliver market growth assumptions and deliver our targeted level of return in a timeframe that satisfies shareholder and analyst expectations, whilst recognising the significant amount of capital now invested. This risk is partially offset by opportunities to acquire sites arising from competitor weakness.

We are able to use the deep level of skills and experience used to build the UK business, coupled with our strong development team and new leadership in country. This allows us to perform detailed and ongoing assessments of the German market and economic fundamentals at both a micro and macro level.
Focus continues to be on the development of our strong organic and small M&A growth pipelines, to become the number one hotel brand in Germany.
We reduce capital costs through better buying power and harness efficiencies and synergies with the UK business.
A clear commercial plan and operational model driving improved profitability along with the continued maturity of the estate and brand.

Property finance execution

Unable to economically refinance and or sell assets to realise value, whether via sale and leasebacks or alternative property-related financing structures, within timeframes. This risk arises from adverse market conditions, specifically affecting hospitality assets, or reduced appetite among key investor groups such as defined-benefit pension funds for property-backed assets; or increased due diligence requirements. In addition, the continued slow recovery of the real estate market could impact the potential future growth and pipeline. This may limit the Group’s ability to realise property value, recycle capital and generate cash within target timeframes and manage leverage effectively.

We have a strong balance sheet that we can use to access a wide variety of different property-related opportunities.
Our strong financial covenants make us attractive to investment funds as a preferred hotel tenant.
We have a robust capital investment framework with updated analysis including yield ranges (+/-50bps), coupled with an experienced and well-networked Property team to support decisions.
We perform continual monitoring of the market with sale and leaseback yields tested regularly.
Our committed pipeline remains solid.

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PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES CONTINUED

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year	New risk at half year	Movement vs prior year	Level	See page 2
Grow and innovate in the UK; Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany; Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	Open		New risk at half year	Lower/Higher

Health and safety

Death or serious injury arising from company negligence or a significant failure in food safety, in particular the risk from allergens, fire safety, security arrangements or other significant safety controls. This could be due to a failure in safety standards, supply chain provenance, responsible sourcing, poor hygiene standards, or a direct targeted terrorism attack, all of which could lead to adverse publicity, loss of revenue, brand damage and a sudden or prolonged downturn in demand in key markets and locations.

The safety of our guests and employees is of paramount importance. NSF, an independent company, undertakes unannounced health and safety audits at sites covering food, fire, and general health and safety requirements. Compliance with these requirements is incentivised as part of site WINCard measures.
We have robust fire safety policies, procedures and training for our team members, and work closely with independent fire safety consultants regarding fire safety in our hotels.
We have stringent food safety and sourcing policies with robust traceability and testing requirements, including the independent audit of key suppliers in our supply chain. We invest considerable resources into employee training along with allergen information, which is made easily accessible both online and at sites.
Regular health and safety updates are provided to the Risk Working Group, Executive Committee and Board.
We invest in on-going site level training to help identify hostile reconnaissance activities and to ensure we have an appropriate response should such events take place. The executive team also holds crisis management exercises to ensure we are prepared for such events.

Third-party arrangements and supply chain rigour

Whitbread relies on a number of key third-party suppliers to support the effective operation of its hotels and support centre activities, including IT, food and beverage, distribution, and laundry services. Withdrawal of services by one or more of these suppliers, provision of services below acceptable standards, lack of or failure of information security controls; or reputational damage arising from unethical supplier practices could cause significant business interruption.

We continually review our preferred supplier partnerships and business continuity arrangements. Business continuity plans are in place for critical suppliers, whilst enhanced supplier performance monitoring allows proactive action when required.
We expect our suppliers’ practices to be in line with our values and standards. Suppliers are thoroughly vetted before we enter into any arrangements to ensure they are reputable and then monitored through our supplier management arrangements.
We have evolved our international sourcing strategy by exploring additional capacity in China, while also focusing on local suppliers and utilising stock holding capacity in our Germany warehousing facility.

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Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year	New risk at half year	Movement vs prior year	Level	See page 2
Grow and innovate in the UK; Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany; Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	Cautious			Lower/Higher

Talent, attraction and retention

Recruitment and retention remain a challenge due to the structural shifts in the labour market, with occasional shortage in key roles, such as chefs, and cost-of-living pressures disproportionally affecting the hospitality sector. To be an agile organisation we are embedding people changes as part of our everyday ways of working and as a cultural strength, creating a multi-skilled workforce, driving efficiencies in a sustainable manner. Substantial organisational changes driven by strategic business programmes could also impact job security perception, affecting team engagement, external employer sentiment and Whitbread’s ability to attract top diverse talent. These factors may result in cost inflation and potential business disruption.

The success of our business would not be possible without the passion and commitment of our teams. Team engagement is fundamental. We monitor this closely through our annual engagement survey and invest in ongoing development, wellbeing and engagement, along with driving our diversity and inclusion strategy.
We have a dedicated Direct Hire Resourcing Team, and in addition to optimising our model, we continue to enhance our employer brand presence with a particular focus on youth.
Team retention is a key component of our WINCard and Annual Incentive Scheme, with long-term incentive schemes in place for senior team members.
We have focused reviews of remuneration in key areas each year and regularly benchmark our reward packages against the market to ensure these remain attractive.

Movement vs prior year: Stable labour market, strong employability credentials due to established brand, good retention and attraction.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

As a business we have an impact on and can be impacted by a wide variety of sustainability issues. A changing regulatory landscape and high costs related to decarbonisation, may mean we are unable to meet our publicly stated carbon targets which potentially could result in an increase to our costs through carbon taxation and/or reputational damage. More regular extreme weather events impacting our hotels, causing water shortages, affecting natural resources or disrupting our supply chain may materially affect our ability to operate or increases costs. Socially unacceptable practices such as unethical sourcing issues e.g. modern slavery or poor working conditions could damage our reputation and reduce customer, supplier and/or investor confidence. In addition, the volume of ESG legislation including reporting requirements to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, could result in increased cost or complexity to deliver, or increased potential to incur fines or penalties from non-compliance.

Our Force for Good programme and structured sustainability governance forums drive our ESG agenda. We set targets and strategies around emissions, food procurement and waste, carbon and water reduction, and diversity and inclusion ensuring our accountability for positive change.
Our TCFD response helps us to identify and assess key risks, opportunities and impacts of climate change to the business.• We champion inclusivity and improving diversity across the organisation with our inclusion networks raising awareness, education, and influencing policy within the business, to ensure our teams feel supported and engaged.
• We perform regular ethical supplier audits combined with our responsible sourcing policies and initiatives ensuring ethical end to end buying.
• We revise our public Net Zero Transition Plan at least every three years as per best practice guidance. Internally, we regularly review progress, implementation and our trajectory towards our near term and long-term targets, drawing on our internal expertise supported by external guidance and extensive modelling across all three scope areas.

Strategic priorities	Risk appetite	Movement vs prior year	Movement vs prior year	Level	See page
Strategic priorities		Lower	Higher		2

Grow and innovate in the UK
Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany
Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth

STRATEGIC REPORT 72 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

VIABILITY STATEMENT

The UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 requires that the Directors have considered the viability of the Group over an appropriate period of time selected by them. The Board acknowledges that, despite the performance of the business, there are a number of factors that continue to cause uncertainty to the Group’s business planning, namely; potential fluctuations in the global economy and the impact on competitor and customer behaviour.

Assessment period: three years

The Directors, in making the assessment that three years is appropriate, considered the current financial and operational position of the Group, the Group’s business planning cycle and the period over which the Directors have carried out a robust assessment of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the Group as outlined on pages 66 to 71 of the Annual Report.

Longer-term prospects

The strategy in action and business model sections in the strategic report describe how the Board has positioned the Group to take advantage of the growth opportunities in the markets in which the business operates and how the Company is positioned to create value for shareholders, over the longer term, taking account of the risks described in this section of the Annual Report.

Mitigating actions

As noted within the assessment of viability, management would consider mitigating actions such as making use of its strong balance sheet to raise funding, implementing a remeasured property expansion plan, and establishing a stricter control framework for spending.

Business plan (downside assumption)

The Group’s business plan is sensitised to include downside assumptions to show the expected impact of the current uncertain economic outlook. The Directors consider as part of the planning cycle process; cash, profit and headroom to the Group’s leverage target and the revolving credit facility covenant.

individual principal risks
This stage of the assessment also includes consideration of the potential impact of climate change and associated regulation across the viability statement period as well as other principal risks occurring as individual events, specifically: uncertain economic impact, cyber and data security, strategic business change and interdependencies.
combined principal risks
This stage of the assessment considers the impact if a combination of the principal risks (noted before) were to occur together across the viability statement period.

Outcome
This shows the Group has sufficient headroom within its existing facilities and planned activities to continue to operate over the period of the viability statement, operating within its existing facilities.

Outcome
The impact on the Group’s financial position would not result in a requirement for further facilities; however, the Group may look to implement mitigating actions or make use of its revolving credit facility to maintain growth plans.

Outcome
The impact on the Group’s financial position and the viability statement would result in greater use of its committed facilities, but does not anticipate the need to secure additional facilities. As above, the Group may look to implement mitigating actions or make use of its revolving credit facility to maintain growth plans.

The Directors believe it is reasonable to expect that the Group would have access to further financing and/or the ability to agree covenant amendments, assuming debt levels are maintained at an acceptable ratio to the Group’s EBITDA.

Based upon this assessment, the Directors confirm that they have reasonable expectation that the Group will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the three-year assessment period.

The combination of compelling structural opportunities and the advantages of our unique operating model should enable the business to outperform in the UK as well as take market share and capitalise on the material growth opportunity in Germany. The strong fundamentals outlined above, combined with the appropriate capital structure, should continue to drive long-term value.

Assessment of viability
Assessment of prospects
Long-term viability statement

STRATEGIC REPORT 73 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

NON-FINANCIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY INFORMATION STATEMENT

As the UK’s largest hotel company, we have a responsibility to focus and lead on our most important people, social and environmental issues, which is why one of our Force for Good commitments is to ensure we always do business in the right way. We aim to comply with the non-financial reporting requirements contained in sections 414CA and 414CB of the Companies Act 2006. The below table, and the information it refers to, is intended to help stakeholders understand our position on these key non-financial matters.

Our due diligence process is that each policy and standard is reviewed annually by the responsible party and updated accordingly to ensure it reflects up-to-date and accurate information. Further information on the various policies mentioned below and throughout the report can be found on our website at www.whitbread.co.uk/governance/reports-policies. More details on our Customer Privacy Policy is available on the Premier Inn website.

Reporting requirement	Policies and standards which govern our approach	See for additional information
Anti-corruption and anti-bribery	• Anti-bribery policy • Code of conduct	• Corporate governance, page 94
Employees	• Gender and ethnicity pay gap report • Health and safety policy – statement of intent • Speaking out policy • Diversity and inclusion report	• Board leadership and Company purpose, page 93 • Chief People Officer’s review on page 56 • Directors Report on page 141
Corporate social responsibility	Sustainability reporting • 2025/26 Sustainability report • TCFD report 2025/26 • Net Zero Transition Plan 2022/23
Environmental Policies	• OFWAT Compliance Statement • Premier Inn environment policy • Restaurants environment policy • Whitbread water policy • Whitbread energy policy
Responsible Sourcing Policy	• Whitbread responsible sourcing policy 2026 • Responsible sourcing – soy policy • Responsible sourcing – cotton policy • Responsible sourcing – cocoa policy • Responsible sourcing – palm oil policy • Whitbread responsible sourcing - packaging policy
Animal welfare	• Animal welfare policy 2025 • 2025 Animal welfare KPIs • Antibiotics Policy 2025	• Force for Good, pages 60 to 63 • Read the full reports on our website, www.whitbread.co.uk
Human rights	• Human rights policy • Workplace adjustment policy • Diversity and inclusion policy • Human trafficking positioning statement • Modern slavery statement • Whitbread PLC Board diversity policy 2024	• Force for Good, pages 60 to 63
Privacy	• Customer privacy policy	• Read the full policy on the Premier Inn website, www.premierinn.com
Social matters	• Gender pay gap report • Responsible sourcing policy • Diversity and inclusion statement	• Force for Good, pages 60 to 63 • Diversity and inclusion commitments, page 56

Description of principal risks and impact on business activity: Principal risks and uncertainties, pages 66 to 71
Description of the business model: Business model, pages 8 and 9
Non-financial performance indicators: Strategy and KPIs, pages 21 to 23

Diversity and inclusion

As part of our Diversity and inclusion commitments, we are undertaking regular reviews of our policies across Whitbread to ensure they are inclusive, particularly of under-represented groups. For further information, see page 56.

STRATEGIC REPORT 74 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES

Our changing climate is undeniable, with the impacts felt in many aspects of daily life across the world. From travel disruption to empty shelves in supermarkets, it is increasingly clear that we must do whatever is possible to limit global warming and to adapt to a new way of living. The changes in our climate, governments’ responses to limit or adapt to these, and our own mitigations in turn present both risks and opportunities to our business.

The following pages provide an overview of these climate-related risks and opportunities, and contain our responses to the 11 TCFD disclosures, as well as the Companies Act 2006 requirements on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (s414CA and CB).

Ensuring long-term resilience in the face of climate change
Image: Premier Inn Margate

STRATEGIC REPORT 75 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Disclosure	Where we cover this disclosure	Pages	Alignment with CFD or Companies Act requirements
Governance: Disclose the organisation’s governance around climate-related risks and opportunities. Describe the Board’s oversight of climate-related risks and opportunities.	See “Embedding climate change into our governance structures and management”.

Strategy: Disclose the actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on the organisation’s businesses, strategy, and financial planning where such information is material.

Describe the climate-related risks and opportunities the organisation has identified over the short, medium and long term. See “Principal climate-related risks and opportunities”. This section sets out what we consider to be the relevant short, medium and long-term risks and opportunities, together with a description of the specific climate-related issues potentially arising and their associated potential financial impacts on our business. The processes used to determine which risks and opportunities could have a material financial impact on our business are set out in “Our approach to climate risk management.” See pages 77–79 and 79–83 (d), (e), (f) Describe the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on the organisation’s businesses, strategy and financial planning. See “Our approach to climate risk management”. This section describes the time periods used and how these risks and opportunities are prioritised. Climate-related scenarios were used to inform the strategy and financial planning, which have also been described in this section. See “Results of the scenario analysis and impacts on our strategies”. This section describes how climate-related issues serve as an input to our financial planning process. See pages 77–79 and 84 Describe the resilience of the organisation’s strategy, taking into consideration different climate-related scenarios, including a 2°C or lower scenario. See “Our approach to climate risk management”. This section describes the time period(s) used and how these risks and opportunities are prioritised. See “Results of the scenario analysis and impacts on our strategies”. This section describes how climate-related issues serve as an input to our financial planning process. See pages 77–79 and 84

STRATEGIC REPORT 76 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES CONTINUED

Whitbread PLC has complied with the requirements of UKLR 6.6.6(8)R by including climate-related financial disclosures consistent with the TCFD recommendations and recommended disclosures. We disclose the work we have undertaken to analyse the relevant climate scenarios against each risk with the data available to us, including the financial quantification of the potential impacts of climate change under different climate scenarios. This is with the exception of one thematic area, relating to customer demand, where we have found that much of the data we rely on contains a wide range of assumptions and consequent uncertainties. While we continue to evolve our approach to the quantification of these risks, we look forward to the development of market regulatory frameworks that will establish more comprehensive datasets that, alongside improvements in our own data and understanding, will help improve our assessment of the resilience of our business under each climate scenario.

The climate-related financial disclosures made by Whitbread PLC comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as amended by the Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-related Financial Disclosure) Regulations 2022. This Annual Report includes both financial and non-financial information (NFI), which is prepared using a range of internal and external frameworks that differ materially from those applied to financial data and is based on estimates, assumptions and third-party inputs. As a result, NFI is subject to uncertainty, may not be comparable across companies or periods, and is provided for information only without liability except where such liability cannot be limited under applicable law.

Ensuring long-term resilience in the face of climate change continued

Disclosure	Where we cover this disclosure	Pages	Alignment with CFD or Companies Act requirements
Risk management: Disclose how the organisation identifies, assesses and manages climate-related risks.
Describe the organisation’s processes for identifying and assessing climate-related risks.	See “Our approach to climate risk management”. This section describes our processes for identifying and assessing climate-related risks, including how we determine the relative significance of climate-related risks.	77–79	(b), (c), (d)
Describe the organisation’s process for managing climate-related risks.	See “Our approach to climate risk management”. This section describes our processes for managing climate-related risks, including how we make decisions to mitigate, transfer, accept or control those risks.	77–79
Describe how processes for identifying, assessing and managing climate-related risks are integrated into the organisation’s overall risk management.	See “Our approach to climate risk management”. This section sets out how our processes for identifying, assessing and managing climate-related risks are integrated into our overall risk management.	77–79
Metrics and targets: Disclose the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities where such information is material.
Disclose the metrics used by the organisation to assess climate-related risks and opportunities in line with its strategy and risk management process.	See “Principal climate-related risks and opportunities”. This section discloses the metrics relevant to each of the four thematic areas and progress against them	79–83	(g), (h)
Disclose Scope 1, Scope 2, and, if appropriate, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the related risks.	See “Principal climate-related risks and opportunities”. This section describes how our decarbonisation poses both risks and opportunities, and disclose the potential impact on the business. Within the ‘sustainability’ section of this Annual Report, we update on progress this year against our Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 GHG emissions.	79–83 and 60–63
Describe the targets used by the organisation to manage climate-related risks and opportunities, and performance against targets.	See “Principal climate-related risks and opportunities” . This section describes our key climate-related targets, in line with anticipated regulatory requirements, market constraints and/or other goals.	79–83

STRATEGIC REPORT 77 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Our approach to climate risk management

Our business model as owner-operator, together with our leading sustainability programme, presents an opportunity to build resilience by mitigating potential risks, and, in doing so, transform them into opportunities. This is our fourth TCFD report, and our understanding of climate risk is now sufficiently mature for our approach to climate risk to be fully embedded within our company risk management framework.

Last year, for the first time we published the results of the financial quantification of our risks and opportunities, disclosed under four thematic areas to allow us to quantify interlinked risks and opportunities together. Best practice suggests this quantification should be updated at least every three years, or sooner in the case of changes to identified risks and opportunities, or to the business’s likely exposure. As such, we have only updated our quantification of the policy, taxation and compliance thematic area to reflect the annual updates to our carbon emissions reduction model in light of progress achieved and capital allocated over the next 12 months.

Climate-related risks, along with other sustainability-related risks, are monitored and managed through relevant functional risk registers as part of the wider risk management framework. Risks, corresponding mitigations and ownership for individual risk management are all tracked through this framework with regular interaction between the Head of Sustainability and Internal Audit. The Board has ultimate responsibility for risk management and the risks that we are willing to accept to achieve our objectives, including risks related to climate change.

Timeframes

Our standard risk management framework requires that appropriate timeframes are applied, although the overarching guidance is to consider risks in the context of the Five-Year Plan (see pages 14–15). Given that climate-related risks are likely to materialise over a longer period, we have considered risk review timelines alongside strategy review timelines and have categorised short, medium and long term to mean the following timeframes:

Short: 0–1 years (aligned to our budget cycle)
Medium: 1–5 years (aligned to our Five-Year Plan)
Long: 5–15 years (aligned to our 2040 Scope 1 and 2 reduction targets)

Transition risks:
* Policy, regulatory and legal changes.
* Technology shifts.
* Changing market demand.

Typically managed by:
* Sustainability team monitors legislative landscape and emerging trends and advises the Executive Committee and Board.
* Proposition, Brand and Property teams manage our response.
* Supply Chain, Operations and other departments implement requisite changes.Physical risks:
• Acute: event driven, e.g. extreme weather or flood risk.
• Chronic: longer-term shifts in climate patterns, e.g. sustained higher temperatures.

Typically managed by:
• Safety and Security team and Repairs and Maintenance team manage this with support from Operations.
• Network Planning and Property and Construction team future-proof our estate.
• Supply Chain and Procurement manage the impact on global supply chains.

Climate risks are classified into two types: The Sustainability team reviews existing and emerging climate change regulatory requirements, and cascades information directly to relevant teams through cross-functional risk management meetings. Our Internal Audit team, responsible for risk management, forms part of the internal TCFD Steering Group and Working Group, and, as such, is closely involved in the risk assessment and analysis. For more information, on our risk management framework, and our approach to identifying and managing risks, see pages 64 to 65.

STRATEGIC REPORT 78 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES CONTINUED

Scenario analysis

With many possible warming trajectories ahead of us, and much uncertainty in how both physical and transition risks will present, scenario analysis is a critical tool to quantify potential impacts of climate change on our business. This assessment allows us to derive a probability-based projection of the position that Whitbread would be in at or around 2050, or, where related to transition risks, along the way to 2050 where costs are incurred.

Each risk was analysed using three reference scenarios: 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C increase by 2100. These scenarios were selected in line with the TCFD guidance to include a range of scenarios, including at least one that results in 2°C or less of warming. The different scenarios present a variety of exposure levels to physical and transition risks over different timescales with sufficient granularity to effectively stress test strategy. They are also aligned to the reference scenarios used by the Bank of England in its analysis of the resilience of the financial system and are applicable in a business context, presenting a plausible range of possible trajectories.

We used outputs from an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) scenario analysis tool to underpin our quantification, which comprises a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, an energy transition model, and an earth systems model. The IAM develops scenarios based on constraining emissions associated with different economic activities to align with different temperature pathways, which could result in sector and region-specific macroeconomic shifts (e.g. changes in output, costs, capital and labour). The IAM incorporates a variety of robust, academic sources, including the Global Trade Analysis Project, and provides global coverage. For physical risks, we have applied the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP; referring to projected future greenhouse gas concentrations) 2.6 for Scenarios A and B and RCP 8.5 for Scenario C.

The modelling assumes that transitioning to a lower-carbon economy will require significant changes to the global economy, and economic activity will change over time in different sectors and geographies as policy and legal developments, technological developments, and market and reputational developments take place. The analysis allows for consideration of the potential size, shape and scope of transition risks and opportunities that may occur as a result, including, for example, changes to market performance leading to demand shifts, driving revenue change; changing commodity costs due to supply and demand shifts; and increasing carbon taxation, representing government action to disincentivise emissions-intensive activities.

The Group’s modelling is based on the current estate size and future growth targets, taking into account expected economic growth. The annual financial impact of the risks and opportunities is discounted to present value using the Group’s weighted average cost of capital to arrive at an annualised discounted cash flow impact.

Scenario	Overview	Assumptions	Impact
Scenario A: 1.5°C by 2100	Urgent global policy response delivering net zero emissions by 2050 and in line with Paris Agreement ambition.	Rapid shifts in energy generation, consumer behaviours and technological innovation.	Physical risk increases are limited, but transition risks are high.
Scenario B: 2°C by 2100	Implementation of stated climate policies and commitments without further action beyond this.	Global and national institutions work towards but make slow progress in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.	Medium levels of physical and transition risks in the short term, with increasing physical risks over time.
Scenario C: 4°C by 2100	No further global policy action is taken on climate change, and even current obligations are not met.	Emissions continue to grow. Severe and frequent extreme weather.	Physical risks grow significantly over time, but transition risks are low.

Climate scenario parameters

Our approach to climate risk management continued

STRATEGIC REPORT 79 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

We have used each scenario to understand how our principal risks and opportunities present under the different parameters. As part of this process, we have assessed strategies that may be affected by climate-related risks and opportunities, how those strategies may change as a result, and associated impacts on financial performance. However, it is of course impossible to encapsulate all potential future pathways with a limited suite of defined scenarios, and the true pathway may unfold outside the ranges considered.

We have hotel operations within the UK, Ireland and Germany, and the three countries are considered to have similar risk profiles regarding the relevant (environmental) legislative and geographical make-up of these markets. Therefore, the differences are neither material nor relevant when assessing climate-related risks and opportunities at an overall business level and, equally, we do not believe that climate-related risks and opportunities can or should be broken down by regions within each country. We also have franchised operations in the Middle East, but due to the very small size of the business in the region, and as we hold a minority stake in the franchise, we have deemed it not relevant to include what would be very different risk profiles within this report, and have focused on our wholly owned operations only. The Group only operates branded restaurants in the UK. Noting the nature of our hotel and restaurant operations, similar risks exist across both, and where there are specific significant risks faced by one of those sectors compared to the other, these are limited and identified in the following risk assessment.

Principal climate-related risks and opportunities

This section presents our principal climate-related risks and opportunities, grouped by thematic area to demonstrate the tight interlinkages between risks and opportunities; a risk may pose a potential cost to the business, but this cost may then be reduced by a mitigant or by capitalising on a corresponding opportunity. These risks were considered most significant once current mitigating activity was considered; potential further activities to mitigate the residual risk were also identified through this process. The list of risks and opportunities assessed has not changed from last year.

As well as identifying climate-related risks and opportunities via our Company risk management processes, we also conduct a peer benchmarking exercise, reviewing all risks and opportunities disclosed by other hospitality companies and by our FTSE 100 peers. The results of this comprehensive exercise are then discussed by our TCFD Working Group, to consider relevance and materiality for our business. This year, this exercise did not bring forward any new risks or opportunities that were considered material for our business, and as such, our list has remained the same from last year.

Image: Premier Inn Margate

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CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES CONTINUED

Principal climate-related risks and opportunities continued

Customer demand
Description and context	Description
	Climate change impacts consumer preferences because it raises environmental awareness, prompting individuals to seek products and services that minimise their ecological footprint. As people become more conscious of their climate impact, they prioritise businesses that demonstrate sustainability and responsibility, influencing their purchasing decisions across various industries, including hospitality.
	Context
	As awareness of environmental issues grows, customer demand for sustainable and eco-friendly hospitality offerings may affect demand for traditional offerings.
Opportunities	• The transition to a low-carbon economy is likely to benefit the services sector, as sectors that are generally less carbon intensive (such as the services sector) could see an opportunity resulting from the transition. This is due to relatively small increases in typical costs compared to carbon-intensive sectors. In addition, over time, as costs associated with emissions-intensive activity increase, this could cause a shift in global activity towards the UK and other decarbonised economies.
	• There may also be an increase in leisure customers who are choosing to holiday locally, either because of climate concerns or because of increased costs associated with overseas travel.
	• As more businesses require more from their providers in order to meet their sustainability targets, being seen as a leader in sustainability will help attract customers.
Metrics and targets
* Reach Net Zero by 2050
* Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 84.1%/m² by 2030, and by 99.6% by 2040 from a FY16/17 baseline
* FY26 results: 63% reduction per m² (FY25 results: 61.5% reduction per m² – see page 139)
* Reduce non-FLAG Scope 3 emissions by 58.1%/m² by 2030, and by 90% by 2050, from a FY18/19 baseline
* FY26 results: 38.1% reduction per m² (FY25 results: 35.7% reduction per m² – see page 139)
* Reduce Scope 3 FLAG emissions by 36.4% by 2030
* FY26 progress: 40.2% reduction (FY25 results: 32.5% reduction)

Metrics:

Number of EV chargers and number of sites with EV charging facilities
FY26 results: 134 chargers (excluding legacy chargers) available; 105 sites with charging facilities (FY25 results: not available)
Number and percentage of low-carbon¹ rooms across our estate
FY26 results: 2,300 low-carbon¹ rooms (2.3% of total rooms) (FY25 results: 1,500 rooms)

Risks	Mitigation	Quantification
Less consumer business travel/in-person conferences due to desire by businesses to reduce carbon emissions associated with travel.	Our Force for Good programme and its communication to customers.	Whilst initial modelling shows that the sector and regions in which we operate are likely to benefit from the transition to a low-carbon economy, there is a high level of assumption and judgement used within these calculations and therefore the disclosure of a more precise quantification would not provide additional information.
Climate awareness leads to customers choosing more sustainable options for food and accommodation.	Dynamic pricing strategy in place to respond to changes in customer demand.	Our initial modelling is demonstrating that the hotel sector in the markets in which we operate may see an opportunity resulting from the transition. This is due to relatively small increases in typical costs compared to carbon-intensive sectors.
	Evolving our guest offer including our F&B product range to remain at the forefront of emerging customer behaviours and demands.
	As our emissions will be accounted for within business customers’ Scope 3 footprint, our decarbonisation programme will help ensure we are a priority choice for customers with stretching Scope 3 targets.

Assumptions

As above, the 1.5°C and 2°C scenarios we have used for our analysis assume that transitioning to a lower-carbon economy will require significant changes to the global economy, and economic activity will change over time in different sectors and geographies. The modelling makes evidenced assumptions regarding how emissions may be reduced through different sectors in the economy, based on external data sources and assumed policy/technology instruments. The 1.5°C scenario assumes a fast adoption and a significant reduction in demand for less sustainable, carbon-intensive products and services. As a result, in the medium and longer-term timeframes, we assume consumers will increasingly move away from non-sustainable products.

¹ ‘Low-carbon’ means that the hotels are powered by electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) and no gas or LPG is used for water and space heating and cooking.

STRATEGIC REPORT 81 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Policy, taxation and compliance

Description and context

Climate change will prompt governments to enact policies aimed at mitigating its effects. This can include implementing carbon taxes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, governments may choose to offer tax incentives for businesses that adopt eco-friendly practices or invest in renewable energy. Such policies aim to incentivise sustainability and combat climate change on a broader scale. This may lead to increased regulatory and compliance burden.

Context

In the transition to net zero, there will be an array of voluntary and mandatory regulations, with which the Group may need to comply. The greatest impact is expected from carbon pricing mechanisms, which are being introduced across jurisdictions to encourage decarbonisation. In addition, there is a possibility that suppliers may face increased taxes, which are passed on in the cost of goods supplied.

Relevant targets:

Reach Net Zero by 2050
Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 84.1%/m² by 2030, and by 99.6% by 2040 from a FY17 baseline
FY26 results: 63.0%/m² reduction (FY25 results: 61.5% reduction per m² – see page 139)
Reduce Scope 3 non-FLAG emissions by 58.1%/m² by 2030, and by 90% by 2050 from a FY19 baseline
FY26 results: 38.1%/m² reduction (FY25 results: 35.7% reduction per m² – see page 139)
Reduce Scope 3 FLAG emissions by 36.4% by 2030 from a FY19 baseline
FY26 results: 40.2% reduction (FY25 results: 32.5% reduction)
Reduce water consumption by 20% per sleeper by 2030
FY26 results: 18% reduction per sleeper (FY25 results: 14.2% reduction)

Metrics:

Average carbon, water and waste per occupied room:
- FY26 results: 3.4kg CO₂e per occupied room (note this data is for Jan - Dec 2025 instead of Mar 2025 - Feb 2026) (FY25 results: Not available)
FY26 results: 211 litres water per occupied room (note this data is for Jan - Dec 2025 instead of Mar 2025 - Feb 2026; also note this figure includes water use in outsourced laundry which is not included in our water target) (FY25 results: Not available)
- FY26 results: 1.1kg waste per occupied room (note this data is for Jan - Dec 2025 instead of Mar 2025 - Feb 2026; also note this data excludes restaurants) (FY25 results: Not available)
Number of hotels receiving BREEAM Excellent and number of hotels receiving EPC A
- FY26 results: 1 hotel with BREEAM Excellent (50%) and 2 hotels with EPC A (100%) (FY25 results: 3 certified BREEAM Excellent (43%); 7 certified EPC A (100%))

Risks	Mitigation	Quantification
Tax on carbon or increased carbon pricing throughout the value chain increases costs.	Switching to low-carbon energy sources and renewables and implementing efficiency measures across the Group’s operations.	The quantification represents the modelled cost of carbon taxes based on anticipated carbon prices and the Group’s Scope 1 and 2 decarbonisation strategy.
There is a chance of increased assurance and compliance costs.	Considering climate implications when making purchasing decisions.
We may see increased supply chain costs due to suppliers passing their increased costs from their own net zero transition down to us.	Our ability to vary our pricing in response to cost increases.
The introduction of higher energy efficiency standards may require buildings to be upgraded in order to be compliant.	Targets to reduce our own emissions will minimise exposure to taxation on carbon.
There is a potential reputational impact of failure to meet our public climate change commitments.

Short	Medium	Long
4°C scenario	2°C scenario	1.5°C scenario

Under all scenarios, there is no impact in the short-term horizon as it will take time to introduce policy. We expect a low impact in the medium to long term from the introduction of a carbon tax, as our Net Zero Transition Plan means that Scope 1 emissions will be reduced over this period.

Assumptions

The model assumes the 2024/25 emissions mix and markets remain static over the reporting period with emissions growth rate in line with 2025/26 target growth rates. A carbon price has been applied to the Group’s Scope 1 emissions. The underpinning scenarios make evidenced assumptions regarding how emissions may be reduced through different sectors in the economy, based on external data sources and assumed policy/technology instruments. In order to facilitate emissions reductions under 1.5°C and 2°C pathways, we assume the introduction of a carbon price. As a result of this carbon price, there could be an increase in costs associated with fossil fuels, leading to the energy system adapting to lower-emission sources such as renewables and away from fossil fuels. We assume the cost increases are not passed on to customers through increased prices.

Quantification results key:
Discounted cash flow impact: Not relevant | <£20m | £20m–£40m | >£60m

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CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES CONTINUED

Principal climate-related risks and opportunities continued

Investment in carbon reduction solutions

Description and context
Climate change necessitates more stringent building standards to enhance energy efficiency and resilience. With rising temperatures, buildings must withstand heatwaves while minimising energy consumption. This entails adopting advanced insulation, efficient HVAC systems, and renewable energy sources.

Opportunities
* Improving the fabric and operational efficiency of our buildings to mitigate increased operating costs.

Metrics and targets
Description
To align with global climate goals and to achieve environmental targets, we will need to invest in the identification and implementation of efficiency measures, switching to renewable sources of energy and decarbonising across the estate.### Relevant targets:
* Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 84.1%/m2 by 2030, and by 99.6% by 2040 from a FY17 baseline
* FY26 results: 63.0%/m2 reduction (FY25 results: 61.5% reduction per m2 - see page 139)
* Reduce Scope 3 non-FLAG emissions by 58.1%/m2 by 2030, and by 90% by 2050 from a FY19 baseline
* FY26 results: 38.1%/m2 reduction (FY25 results: 35.7% reduction per m2 - see page 139)
* Reduce Scope 3 FLAG emissions by 36.4% by 2030 from a FY19 baseline
* FY26 results: 40.2% reduction (FY25 results: 32.5% reduction)

Metrics:

Number and percentage of low-carbon rooms across our estate
FY26 results >2,300 low-carbon 1 rooms (2.3% of total rooms) (FY25 results: 1,500 rooms)
Number of hotels receiving BREEAM Excellent and number of hotels receiving EPC A
FY26 results: 1 hotel with BREEAM Excellent (50%) and 2 hotels with EPC A (100%) (FY25 results: 3 certified BREEAM Excellent (43%); 7 certified EPC A (100%))

Risks	Mitigation	Quantification
Meeting net zero targets and climate-related legislation requires investment in new technology and the upgrade of buildings. The replacement of assets may require the impairment of existing book values.	Maintaining both short and long-term investment plans with clear connection between these plans and our sustainability targets and commitments.	The quantification represents the gross discounted capex costs of investing in retrofitting the Group’s estate.
We are reliant on third parties, local government and broader infrastructure to meet our targets, e.g. capacity of the grid to supply the additional energy required for electrification.	Replacing assets at the end of their life, aligning expenditure with ongoing maintenance capex cycle.	Short Medium Long
	Fostering partnerships and relationships and supporting our suppliers to help us meet our objectives.	4°C scenario 2°C scenario 1.5°C scenario

In all scenarios, long-term investment is required to replace end-of-life assets with more efficient solutions; however, the longer-term impact is offset by reduced energy spend as a result of increased building efficiency.

Assumptions

We will invest in new solutions as existing assets need replacement at all sites to meet our long-term (2040) Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target, replacing all gas equipment in hotels and restaurants with technology that can be powered by renewable electricity, including air-source heat pumps and immersion heaters. We will meet our 2030 SBTi-accredited target to reduce emissions. No further investment, in addition to our Net Zero Transition Plan, will be required to conform with changes to laws and regulations.

1 ‘Low-carbon’ means that the hotels are powered by electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) and no gas or LPG is used for water and space heating and cooking.

STRATEGIC REPORT 83 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Extreme weather events

Description and context

Climate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather events by altering atmospheric conditions. Prolonged periods of extreme temperatures may strain heating and cooling systems, impacting guest comfort and increasing energy costs. Rising sea levels can threaten coastal hotels with flooding and erosion. Additionally, water stress may lead to reduced water availability.

Context

There is a risk to both revenue and the supply chain of increased severe events. Revenue would be impacted through sites being unable to trade or customers being unable to travel due to extreme heat, flooding, wildfires or snow/rain. There may be additional damage to sites impacted by these events. In addition, the availability of products in the supply chain could be impacted by severe weather affecting product availability and input prices.

Opportunities

Higher temperatures result in certain locations becoming more desirable as leisure destinations, leading to increased leisure guests from the UK and abroad.

Relevant targets:

Reduce water consumption by 20% per sleeper by 2030 from a FY19/20 baseline
FY26 results: 18% reduction per sleeper (FY25 results: 14.2% reduction)

Metrics:

Average water use per occupied room (note this data is for January - Dec 2025 instead of March 2025 - Feb 2026; also note this figure includes water use in outsourced laundry which is not included in our water target)
FY26 results: 211 litres per occupied room (FY25 results: not available)
Further metrics relating to impacts of extreme weather are under development.

Risks	Mitigation	Quantification
Flooding, storms, droughts, etc. lead to sites being unable to trade either due to direct disruption or disruption of critical services. The supply chain may be impacted by non-availability of goods.	Incorporating climate change factors into design of new sites, refurbishment programmes and maintenance capex programmes.	The quantification represents the expected combined cost of asset damage and business interruption as a result of extreme weather events.
Severe weather may impact guest visits/stays leading to cancellations.	Adopting resilient building designs and sustainable practices can mitigate these risks.	Short Medium Long
An increased use of energy for heating and cooling leads to greater costs to the business.	Ensuring appropriate insurance can also mitigate the risks posed by extreme weather.	4°C scenario 2°C scenario 1.5°C scenario
There may be losses from assets located in high flood risk zones.

In general, the level of risk to sector assets in both the UK and Germany is low. Of all hazards considered, only coastal inundation in the UK could become moderate towards the end of the timeframe provided. The risk is higher in RCP 8.5 than in RCP 2.6.

Assumptions

Due to the geographic spread of our assets, the impact of extreme weather events has been modelled using country level assumptions in the UK and Germany. We intend to further develop these scenarios based on the specific location of our estate in future years.

Quantification results key: Discounted cash flow impact Not relevant <£20m £20m–£40m >£60m

STRATEGIC REPORT 84 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES CONTINUED

Results of the scenario analysis and impact on our strategies

Overall, we do not believe the impact of climate change will be material for our business over the short or medium term, and we believe that our current strategies are resilient. The results of the analysis indicate that the highest short-term price and cost changes can be expected under the early, smooth transition climate scenario in association with a near-term transition to a low-carbon global economy. Transitioning to net zero will require significant investment in our estate over the medium and long term, but this will also mitigate other risks and drive a number of benefits through, for example, reduced carbon taxation and higher customer demand. Over the longer term, impacts are harder to identify due to the timeframes and nature of risks, but at this point, we do not believe the impact of climate change will be material, at least over the initial years of this period. This materiality is not the same as financial statement materiality as set out on pages 151 and 152.

At the time of analysis, not all value drivers identified for individual risks could be modelled robustly using existing datasets. For this reason, we have not disclosed the results of the quantification for the customer demand thematic area. We remain committed to reviewing and improving our TCFD climate scenario analysis work over time, and updating it at least every three years, as per the CFD requirements. While our climate disclosure is an annual process, we continually use the results, alongside any evolution in knowledge or understanding of climate change, its impacts, and potential mitigants, to monitor and test the resilience of our strategies to these risks and opportunities. This cross-functional process, taking into account the mitigating activity already ongoing, has confirmed that there is no immediate concern; additional mitigants have been identified and strategies adapted where necessary.

As technology evolves, and knowledge and understanding grow both within the business and outside, new opportunities to mitigate risks arise and must be considered. For example, this year we have begun a process to achieve sustainability certification in Germany, to meet customer demand. Our Climate Transition Plan, currently being updated, highlights current or planned mitigations for a number of risks, and is integrated into our strategy and Five-Year Plan. The business’s structure, with direct, centralised control of its operations, makes us well placed to react rapidly to any emerging risks or opportunities to ensure the best possible outcomes. We are also preparing to align with International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) reporting requirements, including the necessary data collection structure.

Image: Premier Inn Margate

STRATEGIC REPORT 85 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Embedding climate change into our governance structure and management

Effective corporate governance is critical to executing our strategy and delivering for all our stakeholders. Our governance of climate and sustainability-related matters reflects our commitment to strong leadership and oversight by senior management and the Board, ensuring that there are strategies in place which are resilient to climate-related risks.

Governance

Whitbread PLC Board
See pages 96 to 99
* Oversees climate and sustainability governance, and ensures strategies are resilient to climate-related risk.* Considers sustainability when reviewing and guiding strategy, major plans of action, risk management policies, annual budgets and business plans, as well as setting the organisation’s performance objectives.
* Held ten meetings in 2025/26; at five of these, General Counsel presented an update that included sustainability matters where relevant.
* Head of Sustainability has attended two of these meetings to take the Board through key strategic priorities, e.g. transition to net zero.

Audit Committee

See pages 109 to 115
* Sustainability included as part of Audit Committee’s risk management process.
* Held four meetings in 2025/26, and discussed TCFD at one of these.
* Reviews and approves TCFD disclosures

Nomination Committee

See pages 104 to 108
* Ensures that the composition of the Board reflects the necessary balance of skills, knowledge and experience, including those relevant for sustainability.

Remuneration Committee

See page 116 to 136
* Ensures that ESG is adequately reflected within our reward structures and monitors performance of senior management against these key performance indicators (KPIs).
* In 2025/26, ESG measures formed part of the Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer’s Annual Incentive Scheme as well as part of the Annual Incentive Scheme for other senior Whitbread employees, e.g. Executive Committee members.
* ESG measures are also incentivised both through individual objectives and through the WINcard. The WINcard applies to all Whitbread employees, ensuring a focus on specified ESG matters throughout the Company.
* The WINcard for 2025/26 includes KPIs related to the Group’s carbon reduction target from both an operational level and Support Centre level.

STRATEGIC REPORT 86 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Management

The Executive Committee

See pages 100
* Has oversight for managing our sustainability, which encompasses climate-related issues, including formulating, implementing and monitoring strategy (including resilience to climate-related risks), major plans of action, risk management policies, annual budgets and business plans, as well as setting the organisation’s performance objectives.
* Clare Thomas, General Counsel, is a member of the Executive Committee and has responsibility for the Group’s sustainability programme, Force for Good.
* During the past financial year, the Head of Sustainability presented two updates to the Executive Committee.

Sustainability Steering Committee

A multi-disciplinary group, responsible for overseeing the Company’s response to sustainability risk, opportunity and communication and providing oversight, co-ordination and delivery of key programmes and initiatives, as approved by the Executive Committee. Meeting quarterly, the Committee develops recommendations for our response to emerging risks, opportunities and legislation. The SSC is chaired by the General Counsel and has representation from Finance, Investor Relations, HR, Operations, Brand, Property and Procurement, including five representatives of the Executive Committee.

Sustainability team

Led by the Head of Sustainability, Megan Adlen, the team is responsible for setting the overarching sustainability strategy including targets, designing the framework to deliver our ESG programme, embedding processes across the business where it can make the most difference and supporting internal stakeholders to deliver against these targets.
The team also oversees our corporate sustainability disclosures, including in response to TCFD, and monitors climate-related issues. The Head of Sustainability reports directly to the General Counsel, ensuring consistency with how we apply our climate programme across the individual brands and ensuring accurate and timely monitoring of climate-related issues. Find out more in our ESG report 2025/26.

TCFD Steering Group

Chaired by the Chief Financial Officer with representation across various functions in the business and meets at least annually.
Provides oversight and drives implementation of the TCFD recommendations and wider climate strategy, working with subject matter experts to oversee the mitigation of risks and opportunities.

Risk Working Group

See page 64
* Supports the Executive Committee by reviewing the methodology for identifying and assessing both emerging as well as principal risks, including climate-related risks, and reporting on the approved position. The General Counsel is member of this group.

Functional delivery of our sustainability programmes

Responsibility for delivering our sustainability strategy, which is closely integrated into wider business strategy, is embedded across functions within the Group. Our sustainability targets and requirements are managed and shared across relevant business functions, as appropriate, to ensure successful implementation.

CLIMATE-RELATED FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES CONTINUED
Embedding climate change into our governance structure and management continued
STRATEGIC REPORT 87 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Our metrics and targets

Measuring our progress towards our diverse sustainability programme is key to ensuring its success. This year, we have undertaken a collaborative process to identify a more comprehensive suite of metrics – beyond those reported against our sustainability targets. We have a number of publicly stated targets that are directly relevant to our management of climate risk, including our SBTi-validated emissions reduction targets, food waste target and water reduction target (see page 60 and see our ESG report). We also set annual internal targets in order to build a delivery plan and ensure that progress against longer-term goals is tracked. These are then incorporated into both individual and Company-wide annual objectives, which, in turn, are captured within the Group’s remuneration policies. Progress against targets is reported annually to the Board and through the Annual Report and can be found on page 60. All our targets, programmes of implementation and progress against them, including assurance statements, are outlined in our ESG report. Our reporting is aligned with the requirements of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Key metrics are independently assured to the ISAE 3000 standard, in compliance with ISQM (UK) 1.

For information on the metrics and targets directly linked to the identified climate related risks and opportunities, please see the table of principal climate-related risks and opportunities on pages 79 to 83.

Over the past year, we have been refining our climate-related metrics, and will continue to improve these and the data behind them. As part of this process, we have also removed targets and metrics which are less directly related to the risks and opportunities discussed, such as food waste; although relevant, there are more pertinent measures to use. A number of the risks and opportunities that we have identified are in fact broader sectoral risks and are better suited to monitoring through market-level changes or ad hoc studies. In these cases, corporate-level metrics would not provide useful insights on the specific climate-driven trends. These include:

The risk that there will be less consumer business travel or in-person conferences due to businesses’ desire to reduce carbon emissions associated with travel. This will be better monitored through ad hoc travel studies; due to a number of factors influencing business travel rates and the leisure/business travel split, identifying the impact just of climate change would not be possible from corporate-level data.
The risk of increases in supply chain costs due to suppliers passing their increased costs from their own net-zero transitions down to us. Climate-driven increases will not be distinguishable from other increases, such as those driven by increases in inflation, labour costs, taxation, energy costs etc.
The risk relating to our reliance on third parties, local government and broader infrastructure to meet our targets. While we can ensure we take any opportunities to engage with government, industry and partners, the impacts of this are challenging to monitor.
The opportunity in that higher temperatures result in certain locations becoming more desirable as leisure destinations, leading to increased leisure guests from the UK and abroad. While we can monitor the trends in occupancy at sites dominated by leisure travel, pinpointing the impacts of climate change on this will not be possible from corporate data alone and will require industry-wide insights.

We have also identified one priority area for development: the impacts of severe weather leading to cancellations or disruption to trading. While this can currently be assessed on an ad hoc basis, we do not have continuous monitoring in place, and will look to develop this further as a priority over the coming year.

Our full assurance statement can be found on page 146
Read our ESG report online www.whitbread.co.uk
Image: hub by Premier Inn Farringdon (Old Bailey)

The strategic report on pages 2 to 87 was approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by Clare Thomas General Counsel 29 April 2026

STRATEGIC REPORT 88 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AT A GLANCE

Corporate governance at a glance

During the year, we were fully compliant with the provisions of the 2024 UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code).

Highlights 2025/26

Appointment of new Chair, Christine Hodgson, in September 2025
Appointment of new Audit Committee Chair, Jonathan Howell, in January 2026
Female representation on the Board at 45%
Conducted a comprehensive internal Board evaluation.Read more on pages 101 and 102 • Speaking Out policy updated in April 2025 Priorities for 2026/27 • Continue full compliance with the new UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 • Support and oversight of the growth of the business both in the UK and internationally • Review and act on the recommendations from the internal Board evaluation. Read more on page 102 In this section 90 Chair’s governance report 91 Corporate governance statement 93 Board leadership and company purpose 95 Division of responsibilities 96 Board of Directors 100 Executive Committee 101 Composition, succession and evaluation 104 Nomination Committee report 109 Audit Committee report 116 Remuneration Committee report 120 Remuneration at a glance 124 Annual report on remuneration 137 Directors’ report 143 Directors’ responsibility statement 144 Independent limited assurance report GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 89 Board tenure The length of time each of the directors has served on the Board at the date of the report is shown below.

Board and Committee meeting attendance

	Board	Audit	Nomination	Remuneration
Christine Hodgson	6/6	-	2/2	3/3
Kal Atwal	10/10	4/4	4/4	5/5
Horst Baier	10/10	4/4	4/4	5/5
Frank Fiskers	10/10	0/0	4/4	4/5
Richard Gillingwater	9/10	4/4	-	3
Jonathan Howell	3/3	4/4	1/1	4
Karen Jones	10/10	4/4	4/4	4/5
Hemant Patel	10/10	4/4	4/4	-
Dominic Paul	10/10	-	-	-
Shelley Roberts	10/10	-	-	-
Cilla Snowball	10/10	4/4	4/4	4/5

4 Not a member of the Committee.

Board focus areas

The chart below demonstrates the proportion of the Board’s time spent in each area.
* Continue to grow and innovate in the UK 21%
* Focusing on our strengths to grow in Germany 9%
* Enhancing our capabilities to support long-term growth 6%
* People 10%
* Strategy 26%
* Financial and reporting 17%
* Governance, sustainability and risk 11%

Gender diversity

The chart below shows the gender split of the Board.
* Women 5 45%
* Men 6 55%

Board experience

The Board comprises directors with a broad range of skills and experience. The chart below provides an overview of the experience around the Board table.

Ethnic diversity

The chart below shows the ethnic diversity of the Board.
* White British (including minority White groups) 9 89%
* Asian/Asian British 2 11%

Please see page 94 for details of key agenda items that were covered at the Board meetings during the period.

1 Christine Hodgson joined the Board in September 2025.
2 Jonathan Howell joined the Board in January 2026.
3 The one meeting Richard Gillingwater missed was due to a prior commitment.
4 There was an additional ad-hoc meeting that Karen Jones could not attend due to prior commitments.
Years GOVERNANCE 90 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Ensuring consistent, effective governance oversight

“The Board remains focused on generating long term stakeholder value through strong and effective governance.”
Christine Hodgson, Chair

CHAIR’S GOVERNANCE REPORT

I am pleased to present this year’s Board report on the Company’s compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code. The Board promotes an open culture that supports transparent and constructive interaction between management and non-executive directors. High quality decision-making continues to be underpinned by the standard of Board and Committee papers, together with the breadth of knowledge, skills and experience of our directors. This is strengthened by an open and transparent culture that enables rigorous debate and effective oversight.

In reaching its decisions, the Board remains focused on delivering the Company’s key strategic priorities while maintaining a clear understanding of the impact of those decisions on our stakeholders. At Whitbread, we remain committed to ensuring that our actions reflect our culture, values and long term strategic ambitions. We recognise that strong corporate governance is fundamental to achieving this alignment.

Each year, the Board conducts an internal assessment of the Company’s compliance with the Code. I am pleased to report that we have been fully compliant with all provisions for the reporting period. In the following sections, we describe how we have applied the principles of the Code during the year.

At the 2025 annual general meeting, Chris Kennedy chose not to stand for re-election and stepped down from the Board. In September, Adam Crozier also stood down from the Board, both as a director and as Chair. I was appointed as Chair of the Board in September and Jonathan Howell was appointed as a non-executive director and Chair of the Audit Committee in January.

An internal effectiveness review of the Board and its Committees was undertaken during the year. The process involved two stages: a questionnaire and individual discussions with each director. Each director provided feedback on the performance of the Board and the Committees on which they serve. The reports were subsequently presented to the Board and relevant Committees for discussion in March 2026.

The effectiveness review concluded that the Board continues to operate effectively and that its Committees perform their roles diligently, working cohesively within the broader governance framework. Further detail on the findings and progress made against actions from the previous year’s review can be found on page 103. In accordance with the Code, the next Board review will also be internally facilitated.

The Board acknowledges its collective responsibility for engaging with stakeholders and ensuring that their views and interests are considered in its decision making processes. In accordance with Provision 5 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, Whitbread has formed an workforce advisory panel, which we call ‘Our Voice’. It is a body made up of elected representatives across the business, which represents the views of employee constituencies to senior management, including an annual session chaired by the Chief Executive. The Board receives reports of these meetings. Additional information on our stakeholder engagement activities can be found on pages 49 to 53.

Christine Hodgson
Chair
29 April 2026

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 91

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STATEMENT

The UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

The UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 is the standard against which we measure ourselves. It is issued by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and is available to view on its website, www.frc.org.uk. Further information on our compliance with the Code can be found in the table on the right:

On page 89, we have reported on the experience of the members of the Board and how the discussions at the Board meetings this year were focused on improving shareholder value and contributing to wider society. There is detail on the Board’s engagement with all its stakeholders, including the Company’s major shareholders. You will also find information on how the Board lays out its strategy and sets the Company up for long-term sustainable success.

On page 95 we outline the responsibilities of the Chair; these are different from the role of the Chief Executive. We also provide details on the matters reserved for the Board and the matters that are delegated to the Executive Committee. On pages 96 to 99, we have introduced the Board to you and provided details on the skills and experience of the directors.

Section	Topic	See page
Section 1	Board leadership and Company purpose
A	Effective and entrepreneurial board to promote the long-term sustainable success of the company, generating value for shareholders and contributing to wider society. Ensure necessary resources, policies and practices are in place	93
B	Purpose, values and strategy with alignment to culture	93
C	Governance reporting should highlight key board decisions and their impact on the company’s strategy	94
D	Effective engagement with shareholders and stakeholders	90
E	Consistency of workforce policies and practices with the company’s values to support long-term sustainable success	93 to 94
Section 2	Division of responsibilities	See page
F	Leadership of the board by the chair	95
G	Board composition and responsibilities	95
H	Role of non-executive directors	95
I	Company secretary, policies, processes, information, time and resources	95 to 100

GOVERNANCE 92 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

You will find details of the composition, roles and responsibilities and the work of the Nomination Committee, which met four times during the year, together with a summary of its activities during the year on pages 104 and 108. We have provided a summary of the internal Board effectiveness review carried out this year, as required by the Code.

Pages 109 to 115 contain a letter from Jonathan Howell, Chair of the Audit Committee, which met four times during the year, and provide an introduction to the composition, roles and responsibilities of the Committee, together with information on the key topics discussed during the year. This section also covers details on decision-making in line with the recommendations provided by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

On pages 116 to 136, Frank Fiskers, Chair of the Remuneration Committee, which met five times during the year, presents the remuneration report. The report sets out in detail the key decisions made by the Committee during the year and provides comprehensive disclosures on executive pay and the linkage to the Company’s strategic goals.| Section | Description | Page |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Section 3 | Composition, succession and evaluation | |
| Section 4 | Audit, risk and internal control | |
| Section 5 | Remuneration | |
| J | Board appointments and succession plans for board and senior management and promotion of diversity | 105 |
| K | Skills, experience and knowledge of board and length of service of board as a whole | 89 |
| L | Annual evaluation of board and directors and demonstration of whether each director continues to contribute effectively | 101 to 108 |
| M | Independence and effectiveness of internal and external audit functions and integrity of financial and narrative statements | 112 to 113 |
| N | Fair, balanced and understandable assessment of the company’s position and prospects | 111 |
| O | Risk management and internal control framework and principal risks the company is willing to take to achieve its long-term objectives | 112 |
| P | Remuneration policies and practices to support strategy and promote long-term sustainable success, with executive remuneration aligned to company purpose and value | 121 |
| Q | Procedure for executive remuneration, director and senior management remuneration | 121 to 123 |
| R | Authorisation of remuneration outcomes | 116 to 136 |

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STATEMENT CONTINUED

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 93

BOARD LEADERSHIP AND COMPANY PURPOSE

Purpose, values and strategy

The Chair and the General Counsel met with major shareholders during the year to discuss environmental, social and governance issues as well as business strategy and performance in the UK and Germany.

Culture

The Board appreciates the rich culture of Whitbread and its commitment to maintaining the highest standards of honesty, openness, and accountability. The Board is regularly updated on progress against our people plan and the key metrics that indicate the health of our culture: employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, retention, and employee relations. Specific initiatives in the last year that further enrich our culture include the launch and embed of ‘How We Lead’, a consistent framework of leadership behaviours designed to further drive high performing teams, and the roll out of a digital recognition platform called ‘Wonderfully Whitbread’.

Speaking Out

The Speaking Out (whistleblowing) service is available to all team members, employees, suppliers and third parties allowing them to raise concerns. Through this service, reports can be raised online using the web reporting functionality or through the telephone hotline in multiple languages. The service can also be accessed on phones by scanning the QR code displayed on the Company’s intranet or on the posters across all our locations. The Audit Committee approved a Speaking Out policy in April 2025, which has been adopted this financial year.

Board diversity

The Board diversity policy was updated in March 2024 to align with the latest FCA targets and also business best practice. The FCA’s diversity targets for UK listed companies, which are implemented on a ‘comply or explain’ basis, require that at least 40% of boards be women, and at least one senior board position (Chair, CEO, SID, or CFO) be held by a woman. Additionally, at least one board member must be from a minority ethnic background. We are pleased to report that we are currently meeting these targets. We have 18% ethnic representation on our Board, meeting the FCA ethnicity target. From a gender perspective, 45% of our directors are female. With the appointment of Christine Hodgson as Chair we have met the FCA’s targets in full.

Gender and ethnicity data collection

The table below sets out the gender and ethnicity of the Board, executive management and senior Board positions (CEO, CFO, SID and Chair) as at 26 February 2026. In line with the Listing Rules definition, ‘executive management’ consists of Whitbread’s Executive Committee members. For full details of the Executive Committee please see page 100. The Board diversity data is collected using a questionnaire and given on a self-identification basis at the point of their onboarding to the Company. The diversity data collated for the Executive Committee is collected on an anonymous basis directly from each member using a questionnaire and given on a self-identification basis.

Gender of members of the Board and executive management

	Board members	Percentage of the Board	Senior Board positions (Chair, CEO, CFO and SID)	Executive management	Percentage of executive management
Women	5	45%	1	2	22%
Men	6	55%	3	7	78%

Ethnic background of members of the Board and executive management

	Board members	Percentage of the Board	Senior Board positions (Chair, CEO, CFO and SID)	Executive management	Percentage of executive management
White British or other White (including minority White groups)	9	82%	3	8	89%
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	0	0%	0	0	0%
Asian/Asian British	2	18%	1	1	11%
Black/African/Caribbean/ Black British	0	0%	0	0	0%
Other ethnic groups	0	0%	0	0	0%
Not specified/prefer not to say	0	0%	0	0	0%

The Board and the executive team remain focused on the strategic objectives of the Company while also balancing the needs of stakeholders and promoting shareholder value. You can read more about how stakeholders are considered in the decision-making process on pages 48 to 53.

GOVERNANCE 94 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Board agenda 2025/26

Standing agenda items
* Chief Executive’s report
* Chief Financial Officer’s report
* Chief People Officer’s report
* General Counsel’s report
* Property and International Managing Director’s report
* Approval of capital projects
* KPI pack
* Budget review

Q1
* Risk review and appetite
* Board evaluation
* Property disposal
* Capital projects
* Review of annual accounts ended 27 February 2025
* Reports from Remuneration and Audit Committees
* Food and beverage update
* Health and safety
* Force for Good

Q2
* Commercial update
* Germany update
* Investor relations
* Capital projects
* Annual general meeting

Q3
* Appointment of Christine Hodgson
* Force for Good
* Germany update
* Employee engagement and insight
* Reports from Remuneration and Audit Committees
* Capital projects
* Board strategy day preparation
* Review of half-year results
* Post-completion review
* Commercial/trading update
* Cyber security
* Guest experience
* Half-year risk review
* Technology update
* Health and safety update
* Operational and property strategy

Q4
* Appointment of Jonathan Howell
* Operational delivery
* People strategy
* Capital projects
* Board effectiveness review
* Budget approval
* Review of Five-Year Plan financial update

Controls and risk management

The Board is responsible for the Company’s framework of internal control and risk management and for reviewing their effectiveness. These frameworks are designed to manage rather than eliminate risk of failure to achieve business objectives. They can only provide reasonable, and not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. The Board has established an ongoing process for identifying, evaluating and managing the Company’s principal risks. This process was in place throughout the financial year and up to the date of this report. The process is reviewed by the Board and accords with the internal control guidance for directors in the Code. A report of the principal risks, together with the viability statement, can be found on pages 66 to 72.

Code of Conduct

We updated our Code of Conduct last year. Key enhancements include our new values and an update to our whistleblowing reporting processes. This was designed to streamline the process for raising concerns and to enable users to very clearly identify when to use the system over other available reporting tools, whilst always ensuring absolute confidentiality and protection for whistleblowers. We have reinforced our zero-tolerance stance against all forms of abuse and discrimination, whether towards our people, our guests or those that we work with. These updates reflect our commitment to ensuring a safe, transparent and accountable workplace, aligning with our core values and commitment to doing business the right way. Our mandatory Code of Conduct training now includes an annual refresher requirement for all employees. The programme has now been fully rolled out across the Support Centre and is being extended to our Operations teams to ensure our teams not only understand these changes, but also model our values in their daily operations.

BOARD LEADERSHIP AND COMPANY PURPOSE CONTINUED GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 95

DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES

The Chair and the Chief Executive have clearly defined roles which are separate and distinct. The specific duties and division of responsibilities between the Chair and the Chief Executive have been agreed by the Board and are set out below, together with information on the roles of the Senior Independent director, the executive directors, the non-executive directors and the Company Secretary.

Chair

Leadership of the Board and setting its agenda, including approval of the Group’s strategy, business plans, annual budget and key areas of business importance.
Maintaining appropriate contact with major shareholders and ensuring that Board members understand their views concerning the Company, especially on governance.
Ensuring a culture of openness and debate around the Board table.
Leading the annual evaluation of the Board, the Committees and individual directors.
Ensuring, through the Company Secretary, that the members of the Board receive accurate, timely and clear information.

Chief Executive

Optimising the performance of the business.
Day-to-day operation of the business.
Reviewing and proposing strategy.
Ensuring effective communication with shareholders and employees.
The creation of shareholder value by delivering profitable growth and a good return on capital.* Ensuring the Company has a strong team of high-calibre executives, and putting in place appropriate management succession and development plans.
Leading and motivating a large workforce of people.

Senior Independent Director

The Senior Independent Director provides a sounding board for the Chair and supports her in the delivery of her objectives. The Senior Independent Director is available to shareholders if they have concerns that the normal channels have failed to resolve, or that would be inappropriate to raise with the Chair or the executive team. He also leads the annual evaluation of the Chair on behalf of the other directors.

Executive directors

The executive directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the business and for implementing the operational and strategic plans of the Company.

Non-executive directors

The non-executive directors play a key role in constructively challenging and scrutinising the performance of the management of the Company and helping to develop proposals on strategy.

Company Secretary

Advising the Board on legal matters, corporate governance and Board procedures.
Arranging and minuting the Board and Committee meetings.
Providing support to the Chair, the Chief Executive and the Board Committee Chairs.
Enabling and supporting communication between directors and senior management to the Board and Committees.

The matters reserved for the Board can be found on our website www.whitbread.co.uk

GOVERNANCE 96 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Christine Hodgson CBE

Chair

External appointments:
* Severn Trent Plc (Chair)
* Newton Group Holdings Limited (Chair)
* Spencer Stuart (non-executive director)

Career:
Christine Hodgson is a highly experienced FTSE 100 Chair with a strong background in finance, technology and sustainability leadership. She has held senior roles across the technology and consumer-facing sectors and working with multiple high-growth international companies. Christine joined Capgemini, one of the world’s largest technology and professional service groups, in 1997 and held a number of roles including CFO of Capgemini UK Plc and for the Global Outsourcing business, CEO of Technology Services North West Europe, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Executive Chair of Capgemini UK Plc.

Board tenure: Appointed March 2022
Nationality: British

Dominic Paul

Chief Executive

External appointments: N/A

Career:
Dominic Paul is an experienced senior executive with a very strong operational and commercial record in the travel, leisure and hospitality sector and has a track record of growing and transforming brands both in the UK and internationally. Dominic was previously a member of the Whitbread Executive Committee and Managing Director of Costa Coffee for three years, before serving as CEO of Domino’s Pizza Group Plc where he led the business through the COVID-19 pandemic, delivered a strong period of sales growth and value creation and aligned all stakeholders behind a growth strategy for the future. Previously Dominic was Senior Vice President of International with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, where he led the business through a period of strong growth. His extensive experience in the travel and leisure industry also includes senior roles at easyJet, British Midland and British Airways.

Board tenure: Appointed January 2023
Nationality: British

We believe that it is vital for the Board to include a diverse range of skills, backgrounds and experience, to enable a broad evaluation of all matters considered and to contribute to a positive culture of mutual respect and constructive challenge. The mix of skills and experience represented on the Board is outlined on page 89.

Hemant Patel MBE

Chief Financial Officer

External appointments:
* 3i Group plc (non-executive director)

Career:
Hemant joined Whitbread in 2018 as UK Finance Director, having previously been Finance Director of Greene King Pub Co. He also worked at ASDA-Walmart for 11 years, carrying out various management roles including Commercial Finance Director, Director of Own Label and Director of Strategy. He also had several finance roles over six years at Mars, Inc. He was Chair of the Royal Armouries Museum and was awarded an MBE for services to Museums and Heritage in the 2020 birthday honours list. He also received the Arts and Business Individual of the Year award in 2007 for his work with Interplay Theatre.

Board tenure: Appointed September 2025
Nationality: British

Key:
A Audit Committee N Nomination Committee R Remuneration Committee Committee Chair Committee member

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 97

N R

Kal Atwal

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* OSB Group PLC (non-executive director)

Career:
Kal has over 14 years’ executive experience at BGL Group Limited in various roles, including founding managing director of comparethemarket.com. Kal was also Chair of Simply Cook, a tech-enabled meal kit subscription service prior to its sale to Nestle. Kal began her career at EY in Madrid, after which she held a number of operational and strategic roles with Southern Derbyshire Chamber and Northcliffe Media Ltd. Kal is an experienced strategic leader with international experience in start-up, scale-up, fintech and digital businesses.

Board tenure: Appointed January 2023
Nationality: British

N R

Richard Gillingwater

Senior Independent Director

External appointments:
* Spirax Group plc (independent non-executive director and Senior independent director)
* Wellcome Trust (Chair of the Investment Committee)

Career:
Richard was Chairman of Janus Henderson Group plc from 2017 to the end of 2022, and served as a non-executive director of Helical PLC and was former Pro-Chancellor of the Open University. Richard also served as Chairman on SSE PLC from 2015 to 2021. Richard is a highly experienced executive and has spent much of his career in corporate finance and investment banking with Kleinwort Benson, BZW and Credit Suisse First Boston, before he moved out of banking and became Chief Executive of the Shareholder Executive and then Dean of Bayes Business School.

Board tenure: Appointed March 2021
Nationality: British

N R

Karen Jones DBE

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* The Crown Estate (Chair and Senior Non-executive Director of the Board and Chair of the Sustainability Committee)
* Underdog Group Limited (Hawksmoor – Chair)
* Imbiba Growth LLP (Advisory Board Member)
* Bricks and Fuel Limited (Director)
* National Theatre Enterprises Ltd (Chair)
* Federal Café Limited (Chair)
* Abode JV GP Limited (Chair)
* Punch Pubs Limited (Advisor)

Career:
Karen is Senior Independent Director at The Crown Estate and the Chair at Hawksmoor. Karen previously served as Senior Independent Director at Deliveroo PLC, Executive Chair at Prezzo and Senior Independent Director at Booker plc. Karen has a wealth of experience in the restaurant, food and hospitality sectors having founded Café Rouge and led the formation of Spirit Group as CEO. Karen also has strong experience in executive remuneration, having previously chaired the remuneration committees at ASOS Plc, Booker plc and Deliveroo plc.

Board tenure: Appointed June 2018
Nationality: British

GOVERNANCE 98 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

N A

Cilla Snowball DBE

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* University of Birmingham (Deputy Pro Chancellor and Chair of the remuneration committee)
* Wellcome Trust (Governor)

Career:
Cilla Snowball has a wealth of advertising, marketing and digital experience, being made a Dame in 2017 for her services to advertising, diversity and equality. Cilla started her career in advertising and served as Group Chief Executive at Abbott Mead Vickers BDDO Ltd from 2006 to 2018, also sitting on the BBDO Worldwide Board, and Chair of both the Advertising Association and the Women’s Business Council.

Board tenure: Appointed January 2023
Nationality: British

N A

Frank Fiskers

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* Shurgard Self Storage SA (non-executive director)

Career:
Frank spent ten years with Scandic Hotels Group and served twice as President & CEO from 2007 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2018. Between September 2010 and September 2012, he was a non-executive director at the Group. He has experience in several countries in Europe and Africa. Frank has served as Chairman of Norstedt and Akademibokhandln. He has also served as a board member of the Swedish Hospitality Employers Association, the British Hospitality Association, and Shurgard Self Storage SA.

Board tenure: Appointed February 2019
Nationality: Danish

N A R

Horst Baier

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* Bayer AG (Member of Supervisory Board)
* Ecclesia Holding GmbH (Member of the Voluntary Supervisory Board)

Career:
Horst was Chief Financial Officer of TUI AG, previously London-listed Anglo-German leisure travel group for eight years until the end of September 2018. During his time at TUI AG, Horst played an important role in TUI’s transformation from a tour operator to a global provider of holidays.

Board tenure: Appointed November 2019
Nationality: German

BOARD OF DIRECTORS CONTINUED

Key:
A Audit Committee N Nomination Committee R Remuneration Committee Committee Chair Committee member

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 99

Clare Thomas

General Counsel and Company Secretary

External appointments: N/A

Career:
Clare Thomas joined Whitbread as General Counsel and Company Secretary in June 2023, having previously held a similar position at Britvic from 2013 to 2023. Prior to this, she was a corporate/M&A partner at law firm Addleshaw Goddard LLP, where she had a particular focus on working with consumer-facing businesses in retail, consumer brands, leisure and hospitality.As well as being General Counsel and Company Secretary, Clare is also the Executive Committee member responsible for Whitbread’s sustainability programme, Force for Good.

Shelley Roberts

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* Compass Group (Chief Commercial Officer)

Career:
Shelley is currently the Group Chief Commercial Officer at Compass Group PLC, where she is responsible for leading the Group’s Global Clients, Strategy, M&A, Health & Safety, Sustainability, Digital and Procurement functions. Shelley has vast experience in the travel and hospitality sector, having served as Managing Director of Compass Group’s Australian business and previous to this holding leadership roles at easyJet, Tiger Airways and Sydney Airport.

Board tenure: Appointed January 2026
Nationality: British

Jonathan Howell

Independent non-executive director

External appointments:
* Experian Plc (non-executive director and Chair of Audit Committee)

Career:
Jonathan was the Group Chief Financial Officer of The Sage Group plc from 2018 to 2025. Prior to that he was Group CFO of Close Brothers Group plc for ten years. Jonathan also served as the Group CFO of The London Stock Exchange Group for nine years. The early part of Jonathan’s career was at Price Waterhouse where he qualified as a chartered accountant. Jonathan is a non-executive director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Experian plc and previously served as a Non-Executive Director and as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at Sage from 2013 to 2018, before becoming the Group CFO.

Board tenure: Appointed November 2023
Nationality: Austrian

(Note: Data points A NA N appearing in source text)

Board tenure: Appointed June 2023
Nationality: British

GOVERNANCE

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 100

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Dominic Paul, Chief Executive
Rachel Howarth, Chief People Officer
Simon Ewins, Managing Director, UK Hotels and Restaurants
Mark Smith, Chief Technology Officer
Joe Garrood, Chief Commercial Officer
Hemant Patel MBE, Chief Financial Officer
Clare Thomas, General Counsel and Company Secretary
Mark Anderson, Managing Director, Property and International
Erik Friemuth, Chief Executive Officer, Premier Inn Germany

The Executive Committee has authority to manage the day-to-day operations of the Group’s businesses, with the exception of those matters reserved for the Board, and within the financial limits set by the Board. The Committee’s responsibilities include:
* formulation of strategy for recommendation to the Board;
* management of performance in accordance with strategy and budgets;
* talent & succession and team member wellbeing;
* risk management;
* capital investment decisions (where Board approval is not required);
* cost efficiency, procurement and organisational design;
* reputation and stakeholder management;
* culture and values;
* the Force for Good sustainability programme;
* health and safety; and
* customer engagement & satisfaction and product development.

Biographical details for the Executive Committee can be found on the Company’s website: www.whitbread.co.uk

GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 101

COMPOSITION, SUCCESSION AND EVALUATION

As stated in previous reports, we have been determined to reach at least 40% of the Board being female with at least one of the main Board positions also being held by a female. Both of these aims have now been achieved.

Board effectiveness review

During the year, an internal performance review of the Board and its Committees was carried out. The process was set out in two stages. In the first, the Board members completed detailed questionnaires. In the second stage, the Chair had discussions with each member of the Board. The Chair’s review was carried out by the Senior Independent director.

Board composition

The Nomination Committee aims to ensure the Board and its Committees have the appropriate balance of skills, experience, diversity, independence and knowledge of the Company to enable them to discharge their responsibilities effectively. After assessing independence against the Code, the Board considers all non-executive directors to be independent in judgement and character and also considered the Chair to be independent on appointment. The Board is currently composed of the Chair, the Chief Executive, the Chief Financial Officer and eight independent non-executive directors. As required by the Code, all directors will be subject to election or re-election at the next AGM.

During the year, the Chair completed the individual performance review of each non-executive director and the Chief Executive Officer in respect of their contribution and time commitment to the Company. Details setting out why each director is deemed to be suitable for reappointment, and how their contribution continues to be important to the Company’s long-term success, will be included in the AGM papers circulated to the shareholders.

Board succession

The Chair leads the Nomination Committee in annually evaluating the balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge on the Board. A matrix of the skills and competencies of the current Board is mapped against the skills and competencies the Committee believes will be required in the future. This process helps the Committee ensure a robust succession plan and the development of a diverse pipeline in line with the Board’s policies and Diversity and Inclusion commitments.

As part of the annual talent cycle, the Nomination Committee reviews the long-term succession plan for the members of the Executive Committee and their direct reports. The Committee recognises the importance of reviewing internal succession strength and ensuring robust emergency succession plans are in place. Deep dive talent reviews into the critical capabilities of the Executive Committee and senior leadership team for both the UK and Germany are also carried out annually.

As Adam Crozier and Chris Kennedy were both approaching their nine-year tenure on the Whitbread Board, we carefully planned for a smooth transition and effective handover of their considerable experience, with Christine Hodgson succeeding Adam Crozier as Chair in September 2025 and Jonathan Howell replacing Chris Kennedy as Audit Committee Chair in January 2026. Horst Baier, who has significant and relevant experience, acted as interim Chair of the Audit Committee when Chris stepped down after the AGM in June 2025.

Year	Review Type
2026-27	Internally Facilitated Board Effectiveness Review
2025-26	Internally Facilitated Board Effectiveness Review
2024-25	Externally facilitated Board Effectiveness Review carried out by Chris Saul

The General Counsel collated the responses of the evaluation and, based on the outcomes of the discussions, a summary of findings along with key outcomes was provided to the Chair. Copies of the reports were also presented to the Board and each Committee for discussion. The overall outcome was positive, with Directors continuing to describe an open, collegiate and constructive environment, with an appropriate blend of support and challenge of management, helped by clear reporting, well-structured agendas and strong relationships across the organisation.

GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 102

COMPOSITION, SUCCESSION AND EVALUATION CONTINUED

Culture, people and stakeholder engagement

Feedback on culture remains positive. Directors describe a Board environment that is inclusive, collaborative and well balanced, with constructive challenge and mutual respect underpinning discussion. Workforce engagement continues to be valued, with Directors emphasising the importance of maintaining site visits and opportunities to meet employees and observe guest interactions.

Board composition, skills and succession

The review indicates that the Board composition remains appropriate, with recent appointments made through open and objective processes. Executive succession planning is progressing, but Directors emphasised the need to continue deepening internal pipelines.

Meetings, information and committee operations

Meetings continue to be well chaired, with high-quality papers and clear reporting supporting effective decision-making. Some Directors noted that certain papers could be shorter and more clearly structured around the decision required. Directors also suggested continuing to vary meeting locations and increasing opportunities for informal interaction. Committee operations continue to be strong, with well-balanced agendas and well-prepared papers.

Summary of the 2026 Board evaluation

Strategy and Business Priorities
The review confirmed that the Board maintains a strong understanding of the organisation’s strategy and key priorities. The strategy day and thematic deep-dives were again highlighted as particularly valuable, providing a clear platform for high-quality discussion and structured challenge. The review noted a desire for wider sector and competitive insight, including greater emphasis on AI, technology, and broader hospitality and accommodation trends. Directors also expressed interest in receiving more external stimulus to further “bring the outside in.”

GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 103

Committee effectiveness reviews

Audit Committee
The Audit Committee continues to operate effectively, with strong relationships across Finance, Internal Audit and with the external auditor. The reporting environment is viewed as robust and papers are of high quality.

Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee remains effective, with clear alignment between remuneration structures and strategic priorities. Performance discussions with management are described as balanced and transparent, supported by high-quality papers. The review identified opportunities to hold occasional NED-only sessions and continue scanning for emerging remuneration practices within UK governance guidelines.### Nomination Committee
The Nomination Committee continues to oversee succession and talent effectively, with strong processes and transparent discussion. The Committee highlighted the need to continue strengthening succession planning at the Executive Committee and one level below.

Board strategy day

The Board and the Executive Committee met in London on 26 November 2025 for a Board strategy day. The purpose of the Board strategy day is to present, discuss, evolve and crystallise the key strategic priorities for the Group. The focus of this strategy day was to spend time thinking about the next phase of the Company’s long-term growth beyond the five-year plan, and to think about the right model to support that strategy. There were also presentations on the strategic plan for the Commercial and Operations teams, and discussions on Accelerating Growth Plan, Germany and Technology, with an opportunity for all participants to ask questions and give feedback. Information on the Group’s strategic priorities can be found on page 2.

Each Executive Committee member presented their part of the plan and all participants were able to ask questions and provide feedback. The presentations broadly covered the following themes:
* the latest view of the Five-Year Plan;
* financial plan;
* commercial and operations plan;
* Germany plan;
* technology plan;
* Accelerating Growth Plan.

Progress against actions from last year

The Board reviewed progress against the actions arising from last year’s Board effectiveness review. Progress was strong across all areas:
* More regular Board discussions of key strategic themes: As can be seen from the Board focus areas for this year on page 89, the Board has spent considerable time discussing this and the Board effectiveness review indicates that the Strategy Day in November was well received by the Board.
* Periodic competitor deep dives: there was more focus on this during the year and it continues to be a focus area.
* At least one Board site visit: the Board visited a number of hotels in Birmingham and Hamburg.
* An additional Nomination Committee discussion around Executive Committee succession: this took place during the year.
* Actions around adding variety to Board and Committee meeting locations.
* During the year, there were several opportunities for the Board to interact in an informal setting with colleagues across the business demonstrating high growth potential.

This progress reflects a strong commitment to continuity, capability development and strengthening Board processes.

Actions agreed for the year ahead

In response to this year’s review, the Board agreed the following priorities:
* Produce a calendar of events for the year with touchpoints across various stakeholders;
* Identify opportunities for more training on cyber, AI, big trends, competitor benchmarking etc;
* Begin each Board meeting with a ‘customer moment’ and/ or a ‘health and safety’ moment; and
* Hold space at the end of each meeting for a NED-only meeting.

GOVERNANCE 104 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

NOMINATION COMMITTEE REPORT

“It has been a busy year for the Nomination Committee with both my appointment as Chair of the Company and the appointment of Jonathan Howell as Audit Committee Chair.”
Christine Hodgson
Chair, Nomination Committee

Membership of the Nomination Committee and meeting attendance

Name of director	Attendance at meetings
Christine Hodgson (Chair) 1	2/2
Jonathan Howell 2	1/1
Kal Atwal	4/4
Horst Baier	4/4
Frank Fiskers	4/4
Richard Gillingwater	4/4
Karen Jones	4/4
Shelley Roberts	4/4
Cilla Snowball	4/4

1 Christine Hodgson was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2025.
2 Jonathan Howell was appointed to the Board on 1 January 2026.

Role of the Committee

The role of the Nomination Committee is to review the composition of the Board and Executive Committee. The Committee is also responsible for evaluating the directors on an annual basis, striving for a balance of skills, knowledge, independence, experience and diverse representation to allow it to operate effectively. The Committee also carries out succession planning for senior management.

Responsibilities of the Committee

The Committee has specific responsibilities on behalf of the Board and these are detailed below:
* to regularly review the structure, size and composition of the Board (including the balance of skills, independence and diversity, including gender), and to make recommendations to the Board;
* to consider succession planning for the Board and senior management, oversee the development of a diverse pipeline for succession and determine the skills and experience required for future Board appointments;
* to identify and nominate, for the approval of the Board, candidates to fill Board vacancies as and when they arise;
* to evaluate the balance of skills, knowledge, experience and diversity required prior to recommending an appointment to the Board and, on the basis of this evaluation, to prepare a role description outlining the capabilities required for a particular appointment;
* to keep the leadership needs of the Company under review, for both executive and non-executive directors;
* to review the time commitment required from non-executive directors and to ensure that a performance evaluation is undertaken to determine if non-executive directors are spending sufficient time to fulfil their duties; and
* to review the results of the annual Board evaluation that relate to the composition of the Board.

Board training during the year

Throughout the year, various members of the Board attended training sessions across a wide range of topics to hone their skills and expertise and keep abreast of changing market conditions. Key themes of these sessions were:
* Cyber Security
* Corporate Governance
* Diversity and Inclusion
* AI training
* ESG and Sustainability training

Board Diversity and Inclusion policy

The Board Diversity and Inclusion policy was updated in March 2024 to align with the latest FCA targets and also business best practice. This policy is applicable to the PLC Board and its committees but sits alongside the our Code of Conduct and our Diversity and Inclusion policy, which set out Whitbread’s broader commitment to diversity and inclusion. The entire policy can be found on the Whitbread website.

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 105

Time commitment of non-executive directors

On behalf of the Board, the Nomination Committee has reviewed the extent of other interests of the non-executive directors. As a result, the Board is satisfied that the Chair and each of the non-executive directors continue to commit sufficient time to their duties and fulfil their obligations to the Company. No executive director has taken on more than one other non-executive directorship in a FTSE 100 company.

Matters considered by the Nomination Committee during the year

Every year, the Committee considers the following matters:
* talent review;
* Board succession planning;
* composition of the Board; and
* Board skills matrix.

Talent review

The Nomination Committee reviews talent regularly. As part of this work, the Committee reviews the long-term succession plan for the Executive Committee and its direct reports. The Committee recognises the importance of reviewing the internal succession strength and ensuring robust emergency and medium-term succession plans are in place. We also value deep dive talent reviews into the critical capabilities of the Executive Committee and senior leadership team. This review includes both the UK and Germany.

Chair of the Board and Audit Committee Chair succession processes

Background

As part of the Company’s continued focus on strong governance and long-term Board planning, the Nomination Committee commenced a formal process to identify successors for both the Chair of the Board and the Chair of the Audit Committee. This work formed part of the Committee’s ongoing assessment of Board composition, future leadership needs, and the evolving strategic and operational environment in which the Company operates.

The Senior Independent Director (SID) led the process for the Chair succession. After consideration of several firms, Russell Reynolds Associates (RR), an experienced executive search adviser, was proposed by the SID and subsequently appointed by the Committee. RR was selected on the basis of its independence, its strong track record in board-level appointments, and its adherence to the Voluntary Code of Conduct for Executive Search Firms. RR do not have any other connection with the company or individual directors other than in their capacity as external search consultants.

Board discussion and approach

Following RR’s appointment, the SID worked with executive and non-executive directors to articulate desired future Chair responsibilities and qualities. Early discussions emphasised a preference for deep experience in large-scale transformation, delivery of sustained growth and familiarity with complex, multi-site employer environments. RR conducted 1:1 consultations with each Board member to ensure a robust understanding of both the strategic leadership attributes and the cultural characteristics required of the next Chair.

RR was also appointed to undertake the second search for a new Audit Committee Chair in early 2025, with an initial candidate pool focused on acting and recently retired CFOs with experience in large listed organisations. Horst Baier agreed to act as interim Audit Committee Chair while the formal search process progressed.

Succession processes

Details of the process in relation to my own appointment can be found below.

Chair of the Board

Over the course of 2024 and early 2025, the Committee received regular updates from RR on the longlist and, subsequently, the shortlist of candidates. The longlist emerged from a combination of external market mapping and stakeholder input following Board member interviews.RR presented several candidates with significant leadership credentials in relevant industries. A staged interview format – initially with the SID, followed by a designated group of non-executive directors (NEDs) and finally the wider Board – provided multiple touchpoints to assess leadership style, cultural alignment and strategic capability. Following the completion of all interview rounds and Committee discussions, Christine Hodgson emerged as the preferred candidate. The Committee concluded that Christine’s experience leading high-growth, technology-enabled and operationally complex businesses, combined with her significant board level and FTSE chairing experience, made her the ideal successor. The Committee provided its recommendation to the Board in April 2025, with a formal announcement published on 27 May 2025 confirming her appointment as Chair effective 1 September 2025.

Audit Committee Chair

The Audit Committee Chair succession process progressed alongside the later stages of the Chair search. Following longlist reviews and initial screening, RR presented a shortlist to a group of NEDs in early 2025. Each shortlisted candidate met with multiple Board members to allow a thorough assessment of their financial oversight experience, risk management acumen, and ability to contribute effectively to the wider Board agenda. They also met with the prospective Chair to ensure a good fit. After these meetings and a comprehensive discussion of feedback, Jonathan Howell was identified as the leading candidate. The Committee agreed to recommend him for appointment and this recommendation was accepted by the Board. A formal RNS announcement published on 15 September 2025 confirmed Jonathan Howell’s appointment as Audit Committee Chair effective 1 January 2026, with Horst Baier remaining on the Committee and concluding his interim chairship at year-end.

The Nomination Committee is satisfied that both succession processes were conducted with the appropriate level of rigour, independence and transparency. The appointments of Christine Hodgson and Jonathan Howell will support strong governance and continuity while enhancing the Board’s depth of experience and strategic capability.

Richard Gillingwater
Senior Independent director

GOVERNANCE 106
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Timeline of Key Activities

NOMINATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Director induction
All Directors receive a comprehensive induction programme. This is tailored through discussion with the Chair, Senior Independent Director in the case of a Chair appointment, and the Company Secretary and considers existing expertise and any prospective Board or Board Committee roles. The induction programme for Christine Hodgson and Jonathan Howell comprised a balance of knowledge-based sessions with internal functions and external advisers, supplemented by operational site visits and meetings with key stakeholders. The programme ensured a rounded understanding of Whitbread’s business model, governance structure, culture and key strategic priorities. Meetings were sequenced to provide early exposure to Board governance, commercial performance, technology, people, operations, and financial oversight, followed by deeper dives with internal and external advisers. For both new directors, additional sessions with brokers and external advisers were incorporated as required.

2024	2025
In early 2024, RR was formally appointed and the SID, together with the search agency, developed the initial role specifications, timeline and approach.	In 2025, all shortlisted Chair candidates met with the designated NEDs, followed by broader Board interactions.
RR conducted individual interviews with each Board member to refine the Chair criteria, capturing views on experience, style, cultural fit and strategic priorities.	The Committee reviewed additional feedback on the shortlisted candidates and, reached an in principle decision to recommend Christine Hodgson as the next Chair.
The longlist candidates met with the SID and then with other NEDs. Feedback was discussed by the Committee.	The Nomination Committee reviewed the longlist of Audit Committee Chair candidates.
Horst Baier agreed to serve as interim Audit Committee Chair during the transition.	The NEDs completed meetings with all shortlisted candidates and provided detailed feedback.
The Committee reviewed the Board skills matrix, project plan and draft role specifications.	The Company subsequently announced Christine’s appointment with effect from 1 September 2025.
A longlist was presented in early October 2024.	The Committee agreed to recommend Jonathan Howell for appointment.
In parallel, the Committee began planning for the transition of the Audit Committee Chair. RR was appointed to lead this second search, and an initial longlist focused on senior finance leaders was prepared.	His appointment was effective from 1 January 2026.

GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 107

Christine Hodgson – Induction overview

Christine’s induction programme brought together core areas of the business and governance environment she oversees as Chair. Sessions spanned strategy, operations, people, finance, governance, technology and external advisory input, delivered through structured meetings with Executive Committee members, non-executive directors, external advisers and major shareholders. In addition, Christine also received a comprehensive handover from Adam Crozier and observed the Board meeting and AGM in June 2025. Christine also met with senior leaders within the business across various functions such as Risk, Internal Audit, Secretariat, Finance, Property, etc.

Strategy, property, international and M&A
Property strategy, international business, supply chain, Middle East footprint, and M&A
Strategic advisory discussions, long-term commercial thinking
Premier Inn Germany strategy, market landscape, financial performance
Governance, legal, risk and regulatory
Legal and regulatory matters, external legal advisers, audit interface
Remuneration Committee and Audit Committee introductions
Finance, investor relations and external market engagement
Our key metrics – to build understanding of business performance
Bid defence, valuation, market positioning
Investor relations, major shareholders, capital markets engagement
Operations, technology and transformation
Hotel operations, culture, tech-enabled change, operational efficiencies
Technology strategy, operating model, cyber security
People, culture and safety
People strategy, remuneration, succession planning
Health and safety, major risk areas, WINcard reporting
Secretariat and insurance
Company Secretariat, governance processes, insurance arrangements

“I am delighted that the search for the Chair of Whitbread has resulted in Christine’s appointment. Christine’s experience working with high-profile consumer and technology businesses will be hugely valuable over the coming years.”
Richard Gillingwater
Senior Independent director

GOVERNANCE 108
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Jonathan Howell – Induction overview

Jonathan’s induction reflects his responsibilities as incoming Audit Committee Chair, with emphasis on finance, audit, risk, governance, operations, technology, safety and external advisory relationships.

Finance, treasury, accounting and investor relations
Group finance, treasury, accounting framework
Investor relations overview
Audit, internal control, risk and governance
Internal audit and risk management
Governance, Board processes, legal overview, Secretariat and insurance
Interactions with NEDs and Audit/ Remuneration Committee Chair
Whistleblowing
Commercial, strategic and market orientation
Commercial strategy, performance, long term planning
Germany business overview (market, performance, strategy)
Operations, technology and transformation
Hotel operations and culture, digital operational transformation
Technology, data, cyber security
Group transformation agenda, future success enablers
Property, international and supply chain
Property strategy, supply chain, M&A
People and safety
People strategy, remuneration, talent
Safety and security, risk areas, oversight mechanisms
External advisers
Market advisory, valuation, audit interface

Christine Hodgson
Chair, Nomination Committee
29 April 2026

“Jonathan is a great addition to the Board. His international outlook and experience in technology and data-led businesses are of great benefit to Whitbread as we continue to deliver on our key strategic priorities and Five-Year Plan.”
Christine Hodgson
Chair

NOMINATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Director induction continued

GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 109

“I am pleased to have taken on the role of Audit Committee Chair for Whitbread, and am looking forward to how the Committee will continue to support the business and it’s priorities. During the year, the Committee maintained its focus and oversight on the Group’s financial reporting and internal controls. We continue to respond to the changing regulatory and corporate governance landscape, building on our existing controls frameworks and best practice.”
Jonathan Howell
Chair, Audit Committee

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

Membership of the Audit Committee and meeting attendance

Name of director	Attendance at meetings
Jonathan Howell (Chair)*	-/-
Horst Baier	4/4
Frank Fiskers	4/4
Cilla Snowball	4/4
Shelley Roberts	4/4

Jonathan Howell was appointed as Audit Committee Chair on 1 January 2026. Between this date and the end of the financial year there were no committee meetings held. During the year, Chris Kennedy, chaired the Audit Committee and the three Audit Committee meetings before stepping down from the Board on 19 June 2025.Horst Baier chaired one Audit Committee meeting as Interim Chair before stepping down on 1 January 2026.

Roles and responsibilities of the Committee

The Board has delegated specific responsibilities to the Committee in accordance with the Code. The key responsibilities of the Audit Committee are to:

monitor and review the integrity of the Group’s half-year and full-year financial results, and the financial reporting process including consideration of these reports being fair, balanced and understandable;
monitor the statutory audit of the parent company and consolidated financial statements;
review the Group’s internal controls and risk management systems;
review and monitor the independence and effectiveness of the external auditor, in particular the provision of additional services;
monitor and review the effectiveness of the Group’s Internal Audit function; and
have primary responsibility for the recommendations to the Board in relation to the external auditor.

To aid its review, the Committee considers reports from the Group Finance Director and the Director of Internal Audit & Risk, as well as reports from the external auditor on the outcomes of its half-year review and annual audit. The Committee looks for constructive challenge from Deloitte as external auditor. The Committee met four times in 2025/26. Meetings were attended by members of the Committee and, by invitation, the Chair of the Board, the Chief Executive, the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Internal Audit & Risk, the Group Finance Director, the General Counsel and other relevant people from the business when appropriate. The external auditor, Deloitte, is also invited to meetings except where discussion includes matters relating to its own independence, performance, reappointment, fees or audit tendering.

Composition of the Committee

In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, the Board has confirmed that all members of the Committee are independent non-executive directors and have been appointed to the Committee based on their individual financial and commercial experience. The Board has also confirmed that the Chair of the Committee, has recent and relevant financial experience through his experience from his time as Group Chief Financial Officer of The Sage Group plc from 2018 to 2025. Jonathan is also the Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Experian plc and previously served as a Non-Executive Director and as Chair of the Audit and Risk committee at Sage from 2013 to 2018, before becoming the Group CFO. Horst, who served as Interim Audit Committee Chair and continues to be a member of the Audit Committee, was Chief Financial Officer of TUI AG, previously London-listed Anglo-German leisure travel group, for eight years until the end of September 2018 and brings relevant financial experience to the Committee.

GOVERNANCE 110 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Significant matters in the financial statements

The Committee are provided a formal update from Management in the form of financial reporting papers at the relevant Audit Committees throughout the year, as well as relevant audit reporting papers from the external auditors. The key areas of judgement and estimates considered by the Committee in relation to the 2025/26 accounts and disclosed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements on pages 162 to 171, were:

Significant matters in the financial statements	Response	Challenge and outcome	Cross reference
Adjusting items	During the year certain items are identified and separately disclosed as adjusting items. Judgement is applied as to whether the item meets the necessary criteria as per the accounting policy disclosed in Note 2. This assessment covers the nature of the item, the cause of occurrence and the scale of impact of that item on reported performance. Reversals of previous adjusting items are assessed based on the same criteria. Note 6 provides information on all of the items disclosed as adjusting in the current year and comparative financial statements.	The Committee were informed of the adjusting items in this financial year as well as the controls that surround their identification and recognition. The Committee challenged the appropriateness of the presentation of adjusting items, giving consideration to the nature and significance of each item classified as adjusting as well as considering multi-year programmes and their appropriate cut-off where such a programme is substantively complete. The Committee concluded that the items met the criteria as defined by the accounting policy and that the policy had been applied consistently across the years.	See Note 2 and Note 6 to the financial statements.
Assets held for sale	Assets are classified as held for sale only if the asset is available for immediate sale in its present condition and a sale is highly probable and expected to be completed within one year from the date of classification. As a result of the Group’s Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP) the Group is actively marketing a significant number of sites. Judgement exists on a site-by-site basis as to whether the sale will complete within one year. In exercising its judgement management has taken into consideration all available information including external market expert advice.	The Committee reviewed and considered the assumptions used by management to assess whether (on a site-by-site basis) the sales of those sites being marketed as part of the Group’s Accelerating Growth Plan will complete within one year of and be actively marketed as at the balance sheet date. The Committee specifically challenged the approach taken in relation to sites that are to be disposed of as part of the announced extension to include the remaining branded restaurants in the Accelerating Growth Plan, noting these sites were not actively marketed at the balance sheet date. The Committee has concluded that the available information including external market expert advice has been applied appropriately.	See Note 2 and Note 15 to the financial statements.

Specific Areas of Focus of the Audit Committee

The Committee spent time on the following specific areas during the year, to consider and challenge relevant, current and important issues (a full listing of activities during the year is found on page 114):

Response to changes in UK governance code and provision 29
Oversight of the development and operation of processes to monitor and review the effectiveness of material controls, supporting the Board in meeting the requirements of the updated UK Corporate Governance Code, including Provision 29 on internal controls.

Impact of Accelerating Growth Plan
The Accelerating Growth Plan is not by itself a significant matter; it does, however, have an impact across the significant matters of adjusting items, assets held for sale and impairment testing for this financial year and future financial years. The Group has announced it will extend the programme to include all remaining branded restaurants. The Audit Committee has considered and approved the approach taken by management across these areas.

ESG Reporting
On 26 February 2025, the EU Omnibus Directive was released resulting in changes to the Group’s CSRD and EU taxonomy requirements, with the reporting year for Germany delayed by a year whilst the Group reporting under the EU taxonomy reporting becoming optional.

Minimum Standard published by the FRC
In accordance with the 2024 Code, the Group and its Audit Committee should follow the ‘Audit Committees and the External Audit: Minimum Standard’ (Standard) published by the FRC in May 2023. The Standard has been applied during the year and is embedded within the Annual Report covering the Audit Committee’s responsibilities including; oversight of auditors and audit, audit tendering and significant matters in the financial statements. The Committee’s responsibilities have been reviewed against the Standard and are set out in its terms of reference, available at www.whitbread.co.uk/governance/

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 111

Environmental, social and governance (ESG)

Due to the significant changes proposed around sustainability regulations and associated reporting requirements, ESG is a standing item on the Audit Committee’s agenda and during the year the Committee:

reviewed the impact of the EU Omnibus simplification package and the impact on timing to the Group and its subsidiaries;
reviewed the impact of the UK SRS alignment announcement and determined it is appropriate to adopt these for Whitbread’s first report year in FY28; and
noted that the TCFD quantification was disclosed in FY26 and has been reviewed for changes in this financial year, noting no significant changes in the business to date to reflect.

Corporate governance

During the year, the Committee maintained close oversight of the business readiness activities supporting forthcoming corporate reporting (UK Corporate Governance Provision 29) and control reforms. The programme has continued to progress well, with materiality thresholds defined, material controls identified and an assurance approach developed. Initial dry run testing was completed, supported by extensive engagement with control owners and senior stakeholders, and the team further strengthened documentation to evidence control effectiveness. The Committee reviewed and approved the proposed materiality, controls and assurance approach, and planning for the year ahead has been established to ensure appropriate coverage. The programme continues to build on Whitbread’s mature audit methodology and established risk and control frameworks, providing a robust platform for implementation.| Significant matters in the financial statements | Response | Challenge and outcome | Cross reference |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Recognition of German deferred tax asset | The Group, through its market entry in Germany, has generated tax losses that will be available for offset against future taxable profits. These losses have resulted in a material unrecognised deferred tax asset. | The Committee were provided an update of the financial position of the German taxable profits profile on which the tax losses are generated. The Committee challenged the basis of Management’s assessment regarding the criteria to be met for recognition of the German loss generated deferred tax asset. The Committee has concluded that the assessment conducted supports not recognising the asset in this financial year, but the topic is appropriately classified as a Key Judgement for the Group. | See Note 2 to the financial statements. |
| Defined benefit pension | Defined benefit pension plans are accounted for in accordance with actuarial advice using the projected unit credit method. The Group makes significant estimates in relation to the discount rates, mortality rates and inflation rates used to calculate the present value of the defined benefit obligation. | The Committee were informed that the principal assumptions used were updated for the latest available Trust valuation assumptions, as well as noting the specific methodology adopted for Alphabet Inc. bond issuances into the discount rate. The sensitivities around the assumptions were considered and the consistency in approach from 2024/25 to 2025/26 was assessed. The Committee challenged the basis of the assumptions used to calculate the fair value of pension scheme assets and present value of defined benefit obligations under IAS 19, to satisfy itself that appropriate consideration and balance had been given to all macroeconomic factors. Note 32 describes the assumptions used together with an analysis of the sensitivity to changes in key assumptions. | See Note 2 and Note 32 to the financial statements. |
| Impairment testing – Property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets | The performance of the Group’s impairment review requires management to make a number of judgements and estimates; a portion of these recur whereas others are considered as a result of certain events such as the impact of the accelerating growth plan. | The Committee were informed of the assumptions and methodology utilised across the Group’s impairment model. The Committee were informed of the drivers of the impairment recognised in the financial year. The Committee challenged management’s approach, in particular the methodology used to estimate both value in use and fair value less costs of disposal for site level impairment reviews, as well as the approach taken where an individual asset within a CGU is no longer highly dependent on the remainder of the CGU for its expected cashflows. The Committee also challenged the inputs used in management’s model, specifically challenging the valuations utilised, the advice provided by local market experts, the impact of the announced increase to business rates in future financial years and the application of growth rates. The Committee was satisfied that the Group has appropriately performed the impairment reviews, accounted for the impairment and impairment reversals identified, and that the related disclosures are appropriate. | See Note 2 and Note 14 to the financial statements. |

GOVERNANCE 112 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

‘Speaking Out’ facility

In accordance with the Code, the Committee has continued to review the Company’s whistleblowing function. A system was introduced in 2024 and is operated by Safecall Ltd. This allows employees and third parties to report anonymously and in confidence in a variety of different ways. The Committee received half-yearly reports from the General Counsel on the operation of this function and the arrangements in place for proportionate and independent investigations.

Fair, balanced and understandable

In order to confirm to the Board that the Annual Report and Accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable, there has been a thorough verification and approval process using the Committee’s knowledge of the Company, as outlined below:

The Annual Report and Accounts is drafted by the appropriate senior management with overall coordination by the Secretariat team to ensure consistency.
Comprehensive reviews of the drafts of the Annual Report and Accounts are undertaken by management, members of the Executive Committee and the Audit Committee Chair.
A final draft is reviewed by the Audit Committee prior to consideration by a Committee of the Board.
Formal approval of the Annual Report and Accounts is given by the Disclosure Committee.

Going concern and viability

The assessment of the Group to continue as a going concern, being a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing these financial statements, is supported by the following:

cash and cash equivalents of £0.2bn at the balance sheet date with access to undrawn committed borrowing facilities of £0.8bn;
the Group maintains sufficient headroom to its current financial covenant throughout the going concern period; and
£1.0bn of sterling bonds are maturing outside of the going concern period, between May 2027 and May 2032.

In arriving at the going concern assessment for the Group the Committee challenged management to ensure the business rates cost increase from the Autumn 2025 Budget and the subsequent impact on the business planning cycle have been considered adequately.

The Committee has reviewed the Group’s assessment of viability over a period greater than 12 months. In assessing viability, the Committee has considered the Group’s position as listed above, considered the current financial and operational position of the Group, the Group’s business planning cycle and the period over which the directors have carried out a robust assessment of the principal risks and uncertainties facing the Group, as outlined on pages 66 to 71 of the Annual Report. As part of the assessment, the Group, considers its likely investment grade status over the viability assessment period. Further detail of the assessment following this can be found within the Viability Statement. The viability statement can be found on page 72

Internal control and risk management

The Audit Committee oversees the effectiveness of Whitbread’s systems of risk management and internal control. As part of its annual cycle, the Committee undertakes a formal review of the overall framework, including the risk management policy, management’s risk assessment processes, and the adequacy of monitoring and reporting arrangements. The Committee also reviews updates to the Financial Control Framework as part of its oversight of financial governance.

Responsibility for identifying, assessing and managing financial and non-financial functional risks sits with designated risk owners across the business. These risks are monitored and mitigated through established processes, supported by the cross-functional Risk Working Group, which provides visibility of emerging or elevated risks. The Executive Committee retains ownership of principal risks, sets the risk appetite and oversees mitigating actions. Internal Audit provides regular updates to the Committee on insights arising from Executive Committee risk discussions and the activities of the Risk Working Group.

During the year, the Board undertook a robust assessment of the Company’s principal and emerging risks and approving the risk appetite. For each principal risk, the Board also reviewed and confirmed the level of assurance required. Within the wider Finance Controls Framework (FCF), both the Control Steering Group and the Fraud Risk Steering Committee assess the strength of the control environment and review fraud-related indicators. Internal Controls present periodic updates to the Committee, including outcomes of FCF testing and fraud risk management. During the year, the Committee received updates on legal compliance and corporate reform readiness. The Committee also approved revisions to the treasury policy and tax strategy, and received a comprehensive review of employee relations within UK operations, including key themes and emerging risks.

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Overall, the Committee is satisfied that the systems of risk management and internal control operated effectively throughout the year. The UK control environment remains robust, underpinned by clear accountability, strong governance and regular monitoring, with our overseas businesses progressively maturing. Further details of the principal risks facing the Company can be found on pages 66 to 71

Internal Audit

The Internal Audit function provides independent and objective assurance over the effectiveness of Whitbread’s risk management processes and internal controls established by management. Its work helps the Audit Committee and the Board evaluate whether core systems and processes remain robust as the business grows, supporting sound governance and sustainable long-term performance.

The Audit Committee discusses and approves the annual Internal Audit plan and receives regular reports and updates on audit progress, key findings, and status of management actions. To support the Committee’s assessment of Internal Audit’s independence, the Director of Internal Audit and Risk meets privately with the committee at least once a year.

Over the last 12 months, Internal Audit completed a broad programme of work across operational and people processes in both the UK and Germany, incorporating testing of associated financial controls. Group-wide audits were delivered across the technology functions with a continued focus on cyber risk and the transition of programme activity into IT services.In addition, the function undertook programme assurance reviews across three of our strategic programmes: the implementation of the new HR & Payroll system, transformation of the supply chain and exploratory development of the revenue management system. This coverage provided valuable insight on areas of complexity and change, contributing to strengthened oversight of key business risks.

Internal Audit operates a rolling 24-month plan, with the first 12 months of activity approved by the Committee in March for the year ahead. This approach provides flexibility to respond and re-prioritise audits as business priorities evolve. The plan is risk-based, aligned to Whitbread’s principal risks, and determined by the Audit Universe. It reflects areas of major change, recurring themes from prior audit results, management views and external risk trends. Follow-up audits are undertaken where significant risks were identified to confirm that agreed actions have been implemented and are operating effectively.

The function continues to conform to professional standards through its Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme, and coordination with external audit ensures efficient coverage of key risk areas. The Committee monitors Internal Audit effectiveness throughout the year and, in 2025, reviewed and updated the Internal Audit Terms of Reference to reflect the latest Institute of Internal Auditors’ Standards. The Committee concluded that Internal Audit remains appropriately resourced, independent, and effective in providing assurance over key risks and internal controls. In 2026, the Committee will consider feedback gathered from stakeholders following the FY26 year end to inform its ongoing assessment. An External Quality Assessment is scheduled during 2026 in line with the five-year requirement of the Institute of Internal Auditors. The Committee will approve the scope, consider the findings and any recommended enhancements to ensure continued alignment with best practice.

External auditor

On behalf of the Board, the Committee oversees the relationship with the external auditor. Deloitte was appointed as the auditor of the Company in 2015 following a formal tender process. The Audit Committee recommended to the Board the reappointment of Deloitte for the financial year, and for this to be ratified at the upcoming annual general meeting. The current lead audit partner is William Smith, who was appointed in 2025.

Audit effectiveness

The effectiveness of the external audit process is dependent on appropriate audit risk identification at the start of the audit cycle. We receive a detailed audit plan from Deloitte, identifying its assessment of these key risks. These risks were reviewed and they, together with the work done by the auditor, were used to challenge management’s assumptions and estimates around these areas, as well as other areas reported upon. The effectiveness of the audit process was assessed in addressing these matters through the reporting we received from Deloitte at both the half year and year end.

In addition, feedback was sought from the Committee, the Board and management on the effectiveness of the audit process and targeted and tailored questionnaires were completed. In the October 2025 meeting, the Committee reviewed the FRC’s Audit Quality Review results of Deloitte, assessing the quality of the results of the audit inspections and considering whether any specific observations impact upon Whitbread’s external audit. The relevant areas identified involved audit work on Impairment, noting the need for specific focus on data, evaluation and challenge of key assumptions in cashflow forecasts.

An assessment of the effectiveness of Deloitte in respect of the previous financial year was undertaken in July 2025. Overall, the audit was considered to be effective and executed to a high standard with relevant and robust challenge together with working through significant judgemental areas and best practice governance. Improvements had been made in significant financial reporting matters, with earlier planning and identification of the key decision points delivering a more effective process in relation to impairment and the defined benefit pension scheme. The focus for this financial year is to continue to improve the systems audit approach that reflects the maturity of the finance systems environment, and to deliver the minor improvements in the wider audit that build on the successes from previous years. A joint action plan has been agreed between Whitbread and Deloitte to address these areas. As part of our review process for the financial year, the Committee will be assessing the work of the year-end audit after it is finalised, incorporating an external audit effectiveness review for this financial year which will be completed and reported to the Audit Committee.

Auditor independence

To safeguard the objectivity and independence of the external auditor, the Committee’s terms of reference set out the policy in respect of provision of services by the external auditor. The Committee regularly reviews this policy for necessary changes in response to changes in related standards and regulatory requirements. The policy defines permitted non-audit services that can be provided by the auditor, because of the knowledge and experience of the external auditor and/or for reasons of confidentiality, meaning it can be more efficient or prudent to engage the external auditor rather than another party.

This is particularly the case with audit-related assurance services that are closely connected to the audit function where the external auditor has the benefit of knowledge gained from work already performed as part of the audit. For these specifically permitted audit-related assurance services, the Group can employ the external auditor without reference to the Audit Committee, subject to a specified fee limit of up to £250,000. Where these services are less than £250,000 they are approved by Group Finance. For the services permitted in certain circumstances, agreement must be sought from the Chair of the Audit Committee, where fees are less than the limit specified, or with full Audit Committee approval where fees are anticipated to be greater than £250,000. A tender process would be held where appropriate.

Total non-audit fees amounted to £0.1m, as broken down below: £0.1m for audit-related assurance (interim review); although this is considered to be a non-audit service, the objectives of the review are aligned with the audit.

Jonathan Howell
Chair, Audit Committee
29 April 2026

Main activities during the year

In 2025/26, the Audit Committee’s work covered internal controls, risk management, internal audit, external audit and financial reporting. The details of the matters discussed at Committee meetings are shown below.

March 2025

Review of the year-end financial statements and reports template, accounting judgements methodology and early view on estimates and impairment approach.
External audit – approval of remuneration, terms of engagement and non-audit fees.
Approval of the Internal Audit plan.
Risk and controls – financial controls update, approval of risk management policy and risk management framework and deep dive on cyber risks.
Compliance report and TCFD.
Committee evaluation report.
UK Corporate Reform update.
Sustainability reporting update – outcome from EU Omnibus and TCFD quantification.

April 2025

2024/25 Annual Report and Accounts including strategic report, governance and consolidated accounts.
Approval of the impact of judgements and estimates.
Review of going concern, viability statement and fair, balanced and understandable assessment; external evaluation of the Committee; review and approval of the AC terms of reference.
External audit – year-end audit report and non-audit fees.
Internal Audit – internal audit report and terms of reference.
Risk and controls – review of statements on risk management and controls and litigation report.
Compliance report (including subsidiary audit status) – whistleblowing update and TCFD report.
Whistleblowing report and Whistleblowing policy.
Externally facilitated Committee evaluation report.
Approval of Audit Committee terms of reference.

July 2025

Compliance – treasury policy.
Internal audit report and external quality assessment action plan update.
External audit – auditor effectiveness review and financial reporting update.
Risk and controls – financial control framework update.
UK corporate reform – material risks and controls.

October 2025

Review of 2025/26 interim results – including management papers in relation to judgements and estimates, impairment and going concern.
External audit – half-year report, interim letter of representation and preliminary audit plan.
Risk and controls – financial controls update and UK Corporate Governance Code – key controls plan.
Internal Audit – interim update including retail audit.
Compliance – litigation report, compliance report, whistleblowing, employee relations in Whitbread UK operations and tax Strategy.

Main activities post-financial year

March 2026

Review of year-end financial statements and report template – including accounting judgements and estimates methodology.
External audit – audit update report, AQR output review, non-audit fees and UK Corporate Code update.
Internal Audit – approval of plan and update on recent internal audits.
Provision 29 dry run test results and FY27 timeline
Risk and controls – approval of risk management policy and management framework and update on financial control framework.
Compliance report.
External Audit Committee effectiveness review.April 2026
2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts including strategic report, governance and consolidated accounts.
Review of Going Concern and Viability Assessment – including review of Downside scenario (severe but plausible scenario).
Approval of the impact of updated judgements and estimates including approval of going concern assessment on behalf of the Board.
External audit – year-end audit report and non-audit fees and approval of remuneration.
Internal Audit – internal audit report and terms of reference.
Risk and controls – review of statements on risk management and tax controls and litigation report.
Compliance report – whistleblowing and TCFD update.

Image: Premier Inn Margate

GOVERNANCE 116 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

REMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT

“The incentive outcomes for 2025/26 reflect the business’s positive performance, outperforming the market despite significant external headwinds, laying strong foundations and positioning our business for future growth.”

Frank Fiskers
Chair, Remuneration Committee

Membership of the Remuneration Committee and meeting attendance

Name of director	Attendance at meetings
Frank Fiskers (Chair)	5/5
Kal Atwal	5/5
Richard Gillingwater 1	4/5
Christine Hodgson 2	3/3
Karen Jones 3	4/5

The meeting Richard Gillingwater could not attend was due to a prior commitment.
Christine Hodgson joined the Board on 1 September 2025.
There was an additional ad-hoc meeting that Karen Jones could not attend due to prior commitments.

Chair holds regular meetings with shareholders on a range of governance matters, which provides a forum for any remuneration issues to be raised and referred to the Remuneration Committee for consideration. No such issues arose in these conversations this year and, as such, there has been no impact on remuneration policy or outcomes as a result of these meetings.

The Committee’s focus in 2025/26 has been implementing our approved Policy to ensure that it continues to drive alignment of remuneration with our overall aims and strategy.

Remuneration Committee activities in 2025/26

Following shareholder approval of the Policy at the AGM, the Committee’s activities this year centred on ensuring its effective application. Key activities included setting the performance framework for the year ahead, assessing prior year outcomes for both the annual incentive and the Restricted Share Plan, and considering remuneration and workforce trends across the organisation. Throughout the year, we ensured that remuneration outcomes remained aligned with shareholder expectations and consistent with the strategic priorities of the business. This letter summarises the actions we have taken, the reasoning behind our decision-making and why we believe these outcomes are appropriate.

2025/26 incentive outcomes

The incentive outcomes for 2025/26 reflect the business’s positive performance, outperforming the midscale and economy market in both the UK and Germany despite significant external headwinds, alongside continued delivery of strategic and ESG objectives, laying strong foundations and positioning the business for future growth. The Committee believes the outcomes are an appropriate reflection of performance and has, therefore, not made any adjustments. The Committee is also comfortable that the Policy operated as intended, in terms of Company performance and quantum.

2025/26 Annual Incentive Scheme

The Annual Incentive Scheme (AIS) for 2025/26 was structured around financial, strategic, and ESG-related performance metrics:

financial performance: 75% weighting (60% profit, 15% efficiency savings); and
strategic and ESG objectives: 25% weighting.

As in prior years, the target level of profit generation was set in line with our stretching internal plan. Achieving the profit target amid persistent inflation, rising labour costs and softer UK market demand required the delivery of very strong cost controls and strong underlying growth in the face of these material headwinds. The Committee believes that the level of adjusted PBT delivered in the year is a strong outcome for shareholders, and this incentive outcome is a fair reflection of this element of performance.

Germany profit was included in the executive directors’ scorecard for the first time in 2025/26. This was a breakthrough year for our German business, delivering our first annual profit and making material progress on our commercial initiatives. However, we set a materially tougher threshold for incentive purposes, with actual performance coming slightly below threshold. As such the outcome for this measure is nil.

The delivery of our efficiency programme remains as critical as ever to our financial performance and allowing us to continue to invest in our guest experience, our people and our growth opportunities. Efficiency savings delivered in year exceeded our stretch goal.

On behalf of the Remuneration Committee, I am pleased to present our remuneration report for 2025/26. This report outlines the key remuneration decisions made by the Committee during the financial year and how the remuneration policy was implemented. The Committee appreciated the high level of shareholder support for the 2024/25 Remuneration Report and Policy, which were supported by 95% and 94% of our shareholders, respectively. In particular, the Committee would like to thank those shareholders and investor bodies that actively participated in the consultation process that we ran ahead of the 2025 Annual General Meeting. The Company

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 117

Delivery of the executive directors’ strategic objectives, which purposefully focused on key areas that underpin the Five-Year Plan, was excellent, with highlights in the year included on pages 125 and 126. After assessing all elements of the AIS, payouts for 2025/26 on a formulaic basis are 65.4% of maximum for Dominic Paul and 64.9% for Hemant Patel. As ever, the Committee sought to ensure these outcomes were reasonable in the context of the overall performance of the business and the manner in which it was delivered for all of its stakeholders, and the way we confirmed this is set out on pages 118 and 119.

2023 Restricted Share Plan award

The two underpins for the 2023 RSP were an average lease-adjusted net debt to FFO leverage ratio of less than 4.7x, and an average ROCE for the UK business of 9% or higher. Both RSP underpins have been met, and therefore, the 2023 RSP awards will vest in full; a summary of the Committee’s assessment of these underpin conditions is set out on page 127.

Implementation for 2026/27

Both Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel will receive salary increases of 3%. This is in line with the increase applied to salaried employees in the UK and below the increase applied to the majority of our hourly paid team members in the UK where we have continued to make a significant investment to ensure our pay rates remain competitive. In respect of the AIS, the maximum opportunity will remain at 170% of salary for Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel. We are retaining the same framework as in FY26, with a 75% allocation for financial metrics, split between 60% profit and 15% efficiency, and a 25% allocation for strategic objectives and ESG. We believe this allows for a continued

Business performance

Our strategic priorities for the year were to grow and innovate in the UK, to focus on our strengths to grow in Germany, and to enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth in order to deliver for our stakeholders. During the year, management have made strong progress across the full range of our priorities, despite significant sector-wide headwinds. Some headwinds were known at the start of the year such as the increase in employer NIC contributions from April 2025 and increased labour costs, whilst others arose during the year, most notably a softer than expected hotel market during the first half. Despite these challenges, management’s focus on the delivery of technology-enabled commercial initiatives, material cost savings, and achieving the key profitability milestone in Germany, has delivered continued market outperformance in a challenging year.

A summary of our key achievements in the year is set out below:

Strategic Pillar	2025/26 performance highlights
1. Grow and innovate in the UK	• Premier Inn UK accommodation sales increased by 1% • Outperformed the midscale and economy (“M&E”) market by +1%pts on RevPAR basis. • Delivered a RevPAR premium to the M&E market of £5.88 • Opened four new hotels and 1,190 new rooms across the estate. • Refurbished almost 5,000 rooms, including upgrades to Premier Plus. • Expanded our development pipeline with 1,995 additional rooms added at year end.
2. Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany	• Increased Germany’s total year-on-year accommodation sales by 12%. • Grew total estate RevPAR by 4%, significantly outperforming the wider M&E market. • Reached profitability for the first time, reflecting strong momentum and our continued progress. • Strengthened our portfolio with three new hotels (633 new rooms), providing great-value accommodation in even more locations for customers. • Our development pipeline reached over 7,000 new rooms at year end, securing sustained growth for the years ahead. • Outperformed M&E market accommodation sales by 12.4%pts. • Increased our brand awareness to 19%, delivering the strongest year-on-year brand awareness growth among our competitors.
3. Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth	• Delivered £82.9m in cost efficiencies, after the removal of non-recurring structural savings, up from £75m in 2024/25. • Great progress against our Accelerating Growth Plan, to optimise the delivery of food and beverage for our guests. • 31 sites and 583 extension rooms opened during the year, with encouraging early performance. • Enhanced operation and commercial performance through investment into our technology stack.
• Lease adjusted leverage of 3.3x
• Net debt £709m
• Completed the previously announced £250m share buy-back focus on driving Group and Germany profitability, whilst ensuring focus on future years of the plan through delivery of key strategic growth enablers. Full details on our measures for 2026/27 are on page 134. 2026 RSP awards will be made at 125% of salary for Dominic Paul and 110% of salary for Hemant Patel. The underpins are unchanged vs 2025 and based on net debt to EBITDAR ratio and returns. The Committee considers these underpins to continue to be the most appropriate to protect shareholders against any payments for potential failure. More details on the underpins are provided on page 134.

Looking forward

Despite external challenges, this has been a year in which the business has continued to lay strong foundations and position our business for future growth. The Committee will continue to set stretching goals and appropriate policies that align management with this long-term growth, driving the right behaviours and performance outcomes. I hope to meet some of you at our AGM in June, where I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Frank Fiskers
Chair, Remuneration Committee
29 April 2026

GOVERNANCE 118 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Customers

Maintained our market-leading Quality & Value scores in the UK, with scores in Germany among the highest in the midscale and economy market, measured by the YouGov BrandIndex.
Investment in bed replacement programme to ensure a great night’s sleep, with c.70,000 beds now upgraded to our new specification.
Refurbished a further 4,982 rooms to ensure a consistent, quality experience for our guests.
Developed a further 500 Premier Plus rooms across 30 hotels (including three hotels in Germany), to give guests an upgrade option, taking the total to almost 8,000 rooms.
Continued to offer guests flexibility and choice with room rate products such as Early Check-In and Rooms with a View.
Continued to roll out our ‘Social’ F&B concepts across the estate, including AGP sites, to deliver our famous breakfast and a great choice for dinner.
Enhanced the app and kiosk user experience, upgrading 468 digital check-in kiosks during FY26 and piloting new features such as Digital Keys in both the UK and Germany.
Ongoing investment and development of our web and app user experience, offering guests new functionality such as price finder, whilst driving increased revenue through optimised booking flow
Strong growth in key ancillary lines including upgraded Wi-Fi, car parking, and offering guests the opportunity to buy our beds and bedding.
Strong customer satisfaction scores in Germany Premier Inn sites, with an average online review score of 4.18/5.

Employees

Over £35m invested in pay increases, continuing to pay ahead of National Living Wage, with average increases for hourly paid team members of 6%.
Over £500k awarded to hourly paid team members under the ‘All Green’ WINcard incentive to recognise excellent performance at site level.
Germany hotel team members received a special annual payment.
Investment in developing careers through external leadership programmes for senior leaders and our “Progressing Into” programmes for future operational leaders (with over 250 team members on programmes to progress to first management or hotel management).
We have over 1,000 team members on apprenticeship programmes, with over 350 achieving their qualification this year. We were rated as a top ten apprenticeship employer in FY26, reflecting the quality of our programmes.
Recognised as a Top Employer for the 16th consecutive year.
We actively enable opportunity for disadvantaged young people, helping them into meaningful, paid employment. We partner with Barnardo’s, focusing on those who are care experienced, and with Derwen and Hereward Colleges for our “Thrive” programme, which supports students with learning difficulties into work.
We continue to listen to our teams through our elected, representative employee forum, Our Voice, which meets quarterly in each of our Divisions before laddering up to a bi-annual national meeting with our MD for UK Hotels & Restaurants, and an annual, collaborative session chaired by our CEO. Details of our workforce engagement mechanism can be found on page 54.

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 119

Stakeholder experience in 2025/26

Investors

Adjusted PBT of £483m.
Dividend of 97.0 pence per share.
£250m share buy-back completed.
A further year of market outperformance in the UK, with Premier Inn total accommodation sales +0.3%pts ahead of the wider midscale and economy market.
Expansion continuing at pace in Germany, establishing a broad national network with 65 open hotels (11,598 rooms) and 39 sites in the pipeline (7,584 rooms).
Significant interaction principally through the Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations team throughout the year. Separately, the Chair, General Counsel and Investor Relations Director also met with several of the Group’s larger investors to discuss governance-related matters. The Group also hosts investor visits to our hotels in both the UK and Germany and presents at several investor conferences each year.

Communities

Donated 40,386 meals to 641 charities via FareShare.
Raised £2.6m for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH), totalling almost £29m since our partnership began in 2012.
Donated 769 digital devices from our Support Centre through Sustainable Tech for Good. These have been refurbished and distributed to families in need in the local area.
Raised €50,000 in 2025/26 for our German charity partner Children for a better World e.V., a national charity fighting child poverty, taking total fundraising for this partner to €1.7m since 2021.
For the Children’s Health Foundation in Ireland, we have raised just over half of the €30,000 we’ve committed to raise in 2024–2027, for a ground-breaking multi-disciplinary rehabilitation programme – the first of its kind in the country.

Environment

Scope 1&2 Carbon reduction of 3.9% year-on-year and 63% from a 2016/17 baseline.
This year, we reached over 2,300 low-carbon rooms, with c.800 delivered in-year, which have no natural gas connection and use only electricity backed by Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO).
The Accelerating Growth Plan will add over 3,000 new rooms, 90% of which will run only on REGO-backed electricity (no gas for heating and cooking).
ESG scores received: MSCI AA, ISS ESG B, S&P CSA scored 54 (88th industry percentile), CDP B for climate and water.
18.0% reduction in water use per sleeper from a 2019/20 baseline, meaning we are making great progress towards our target of a 20% reduction by 2030.
Opened seven new hotels in the UK and Germany, with our flagship hub by Premier Inn London Farringdon (Old Bailey), incorporating the culturally and historically important elements of a Grade II listed building, together with modern sustainability features, including a blue roof, air source heat pumps and heat recovery systems.
Since 2020, we have opened 62 hotels in the UK&I. Of these, 47 achieved an EPC rating of A, and 49 were certified to a BREEAM rating of Very Good or higher, including 10 rated Excellent and one Outstanding.
All electricity that we procure across our UK, Irish and German estate is verified as renewable, backed by Energy Attribute Certificates.
We have achieved a 40% reduction in food waste against our 2018/19 baseline, keeping us on track to achieve our target of 50% reduction by 2030.
We continue to source our critical commodities responsibly, with 100% of beef farm assured, 100% of wild caught fish MSC certified, 100% of whole shell eggs cage free, and 100% of Palm Oil included in non-branded food products being RSPO certified in our own recipes.

Suppliers

Continued option for discounted early payment to support supplier cash flow management.
Continued additional due diligence on human rights.

GOVERNANCE 120 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Incentive outcomes in 2025/26

2025/26 Annual Incentive Scheme outcomes

Measure	Weighting (% of max)	Threshold	Target	Max	Outcome (% of maximum)	Dominic Paul	Hemant Patel
Group PBT performance	50%	£436.5m (10% payout)	£485m (60% payout)	£533.5m (100% payout)	Actual: £483.1m	57.3%	57.3%
Germany PBT performance	10%	€3.38m (10% payout)	€8.38m (60% payout)	€13.38m (100% payout)	Actual: €2.3m 1	0%	0%
Efficiency savings	15%	£67.5m (10% payout)	£75m (60% payout)	£82.5m (100% payout)	Actual: £83m 2	100%	100%
Strategic objectives	20%	-	-	-	Details on pp 125-126	90%	87.5%
ESG measures	5%	-	-	-	Details on p 127	75%	75%
Total outcome (% of max)						65.4%	64.9%
Actual annual incentive						£1,072k	£627k
Value of which deferred into shares						£536k	£313k

2023 RSP underpin assessment

Underpin	Assessment	Vesting level (% of max)
Average Lease-adjusted net debt to FFO leverage ratio of less than 4.7x over the three-year period to the end of 2025/26	Met: 3.6x	100%
ROCE for the UK business of 9% or higher over the three-year period to the end of 2025/26	Met: 13.7%	100%

This outturn relates to the Germany profit delivery on a segment adjusted PBT basis. The remuneration target range included some central overheads that have been allocated to Group. In both cases, the outcome is below threshold.
This outturn relates to the efficiency savings delivered after the removal of non-recurring structural savings. The remuneration target range was set at the start of the year, prior to this adjustment.On this basis, the performance outcome would be higher and in both cases, the outcome exceeds maximum.

2025/26 single total figure of remuneration

The diagram below provides a summary of the single total figure of remuneration for 2025/26. Further details are set out on page 124 in the annual report on remuneration.

Dominic Paul
Chief Executive
£3.10m
* Base salary 31%
* Benefits 1%
* Pension 3%
* Annual Incentive Scheme 35%
* Restricted Share Plan 31%

Hemant Patel
Chief Financial Officer
£1.75m
* Base salary 32%
* Benefits 1%
* Pension 3%
* Annual Incentive Scheme 36%
* Restricted Share Plan 27%

REMUNERATION AT A GLANCE
GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 121

Summary of our remuneration policy and implementation for 2026/27

The Company’s directors’ remuneration policy (the ‘Policy’) was approved by shareholders at the annual general meeting on 19 June 2025. A summary of the Policy and how we intend to implement it for 2026/27 is set out below. The full Policy can be found at whitbread.co.uk/governance.

Key elements	Overview of remuneration policy	Implementation for 2026/27
Base salary, pension and benefits
Salary	Salaries are reviewed annually.	CEO: £993,002 (3% increase from 1 May 2026). CFO: £585,265 (3% increase from 1 May 2026).
Benefits	Car or car allowance and healthcare or personal insurance. Additional benefits may be provided in exceptional circumstances (e.g. relocation).	In line with Policy.
Pension	Maximum of 10% of salary.	CEO: 10% of salary. CFO: 10% of salary.
Annual Incentive Scheme
Maximum opportunity	Up to 200% of base salary. Any increase beyond 170% of salary will only be applied in exceptional circumstances.	CEO: 170% of salary. CFO: 170% of salary.
Operation and metrics	Directors are required to defer 50% of their bonus into shares, if they have not met their minimum shareholding requirement, or 25% of their bonus if they have met their shareholding requirement. The remainder is paid in cash. Shares vest after three years. Malus and clawback provisions apply.	Performance metrics: Group profit: 50%. Germany profit: 10%. Efficiency: 15%. Strategic objectives: 20%. ESG: 5%.
Restricted Share Plan
Maximum opportunity	CEO: 125% of salary. CFO: 110% of salary.	CEO: 125% of salary. CFO: 110% of salary.
Operation and metrics	Three-year vesting period. Subject to two or more performance underpins and continued employment. Additional two-year holding period. Malus and clawback provisions apply.	Underpins: Average lease-adjusted net debt to EBITDAR leverage ratio being less than 4.2x. Average ROCE for the UK business to be 9% or higher.
Shareholding requirement
Shareholding requirements	CEO: 300% of salary. CFO: 200% of salary. Requirement is that shares from exercised share awards must be retained until these levels have been reached.	Actual shareholding as at 26 February 2026: Dominic Paul 313%. Hemant Patel: 204%.
Post-cessation shareholding requirements	100% of the in-role requirement for two years post-departure.
Malus and clawback
Circumstances	i) Material misstatement of results. ii) Misconduct. iii) Material loss as a result of participant actions or behaviour. iv) Material reputational damage. v) An error in assessing the performance conditions or underpin. vi) Insolvency or corporate failure.
Timeframe	Malus and clawback provisions apply to the cash bonus and deferred annual bonus for three years from the date of award. For the RSP, provisions apply during the vesting period and for two years following vesting. The duration of these malus and clawback periods is intentionally aligned with the respective deferral, vesting and post-vesting holding periods.	These timeframes are considered appropriate to allow the Committee to assess whether any trigger events have occurred that would warrant the application of malus or clawback.

GOVERNANCE 122 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

DIRECTORS’ REMUNERATION POLICY

Share-based awards under the AIS and RSP may:
a) be delivered as nil-cost options, forfeitable shares, conditional share awards or equivalent cash-settled instruments; and
b) be adjusted in the event of any variation of the Company’s share capital or in any other circumstances the Committee considers it appropriate.

Illustration of application of Remuneration Policy

The graphs below show how the Policy will be applied in 2026/27, with details of expected remuneration levels for each director for below threshold performance, on-target performance and maximum performance.

Executive directors – potential value of 2026/27 package
The table below sets out the assumptions used in the scenario charts on the left:

Below threshold: Only the fixed pay elements are received (base salary, benefits and pension).
On target: Fixed pay elements plus target annual bonus and RSP.
Maximum: Fixed pay elements plus maximum Annual Incentive Award and RSP, with values as set out to the left. An additional scenario sets out the value of the RSP assuming a 50% increase in share price between grant and vesting.

Performance measures

With the exception of base salary, benefits, pension and participation in the Sharesave scheme, all other elements of the remuneration packages of the executive directors are linked to performance. The RSP is subject to performance underpins, which, if not met, may cause an award to be reduced. The RSP is designed to incentivise delivery of the growth strategy in both the UK and Germany, to support shareholder alignment through direct exposure to share price and to retain executive directors throughout an important time for the business to deliver growth. The underpins each year are set taking into account the business plan and the Group’s strategy so as to protect against a payment for failure.

The performance measures and targets for the Annual Incentive Scheme are selected annually to align with the business strategy. Targets for measures are normally set at the beginning of the financial year. There are a number of types of measure used to determine the level of awards under the scheme. There are financial and other business measures and some strategic growth objectives. The growth objectives will be quantitative measures linked to individual responsibilities in the context of our strategic objectives and will be reviewed in advance by the Committee. Targets are set taking into account the business plan.

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 123

Service contracts and external appointments

The key terms of the executive directors’ service contracts are as follows:
* notice period – six months by the director and 12 months by the Company;
* termination payment – see policy on payment for loss of office in the Policy, which can be found at whitbread.co.uk/governance;
* sickness – full salary for a maximum of 12 months in any three-year period or for a maximum of nine consecutive months; and
* non-compete – for six months after leaving or being put on garden leave.

The dates of the executive directors’ service contracts are as follows:
Dominic Paul: 28 June 2022
Hemant Patel: 26 January 2022

Executive directors’ service contracts are available for inspection by any person at the Company’s registered office during normal office hours and on the Company’s website at www.whitbread.co.uk. The executive directors are entitled to retain fees from external directorships.

The effective dates of the letters of appointment of the Chair and the non-executive directors are as follows:
Christine Hodgson: 1 September 2025
Kal Atwal: 1 March 2021
Horst Baier: 1 November 2019
Frank Fiskers: 1 February 2019
Richard Gillingwater: 27 June 2018
Jonathan Howell: 1 January 2026
Karen Jones: 9 January 2023
Shelley Roberts: 31 October 2023
Cilla Snowball: 24 January 2023

The Chair and non-executive directors were each appointed for an initial three-year term and are subject to annual re-election at the AGM.

GOVERNANCE 124 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Single total figure of remuneration – executive directors (audited information)

Director	Base salary 2025/26 £’000	Base salary 2024/25 £’000	Benefits 2025/26 £’000	Benefits 2024/25 £’000	Pension 2025/26 £’000	Pension 2024/25 £’000	Fixed pay 2025/26 £’000	Fixed pay 2024/25 £’000	Annual Incentive Scheme 2025/26 £’000	Annual Incentive Scheme 2024/25 £’000	Long-term Incentive 2025/26 £’000	Long-term Incentive 2024/25 £’000	Variable pay 2025/26 £’000	Variable pay 2024/25 £’000	Total 2025/26 £’000	Total 2024/25 £’000
Dominic Paul	959	930	22	22	96	93	1,077	1,045	1,072	865	949	1,069	1	2,021	1,934	3,099
Hemant Patel	565	548	22	22	57	55	644	625	627	499	478	550	2	1,105	1,049	1,749

1 The value in relation to the long-term incentive vesting in respect of 2025/26 has been estimated using the average closing price of a Whitbread share in the final quarter of the 2025/26 financial year of 2,611.97 pence.The shares under this award are expected to vest on 30 April 2026 and will be restated in next year’s report to reflect the actual share price on the date of vesting. 2 The value in relation to the long-term incentive in respect of 2024/25 has been updated from the estimate provided in last year’s report. Dominic Paul’s award is expected to vest on 30 April, such that the value reflects the average closing price of a Whitbread share in the final quarter of the 2025/26 financial year of 2,611.97 pence. For Hemant Patel, the value reflects the actual share price on the date of vesting (1 May 2025) of 2,743.0 pence.

Base salary
Annual salary increases across the Group are usually effective from 1 May each year. The base salary numbers shown in the table, therefore, include two months’ pay based on the director’s salary from 1 May 2024 and ten months’ pay based on the director’s salary from 1 May 2025.

Benefits
The benefits provided to each executive director comprise a cash allowance of just over £20,000 in lieu of a company car, with the remainder relating to family private healthcare.

Pension
The executive directors receive a monthly amount in cash in lieu of pension contributions. This is at the rate of 10% of base salary and is aligned with the rate available to the majority of the wider workforce. No executive director participates in a Group defined benefit or final salary pension scheme.

2025/26 Annual Incentive Scheme
The maximum bonus opportunity for Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel was 170% of base salary. The incentive for 2025/26 was assessed against a combination of Group and Germany profit, efficiency savings, strategic objectives and ESG metrics. As stated in the Committee Chair’s letter on page 117, the Committee believes the formulaic outcome was appropriate and consistent with the wider stakeholder experience and as such no discretion was exercised.

The outcome of the Annual Incentive Scheme is as follows:

Director	Group Profit outcome (% maximum)	Germany Profit outcome (% maximum)	Efficiency target outcome (% maximum)	Strategic objectives outcome (% maximum)	ESG measures outcome (% maximum)	Total % of maximum	Total % of salary	Total £’000
Weighting	50%	10%	15%	20%	5%
Dominic Paul	57.3%	0%	100%	90%	75%	65.4%	111.2%	1,072
Hemant Patel	57.3%	0%	100%	87.5%	75%	64.9%	110.3%	627

As neither Executive Director met the share ownership requirement based on the market price as at 26 February 2026, which is the relevant basis for determining eligibility for a reduction in deferral, the normal deferral arrangements will apply. Half of these awards will be paid in cash in May 2026, with the remaining half being settled in deferred shares, which are expected to vest in 2029.

Details on the outturns for the financial measures (75% of total award) and the overall outcomes are provided in the at a glance section on page 120. No malus or clawback provisions were exercised in relation to annual bonus awards during the year.

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 125

Awards based on strategic objectives (20% of total award)

Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel each had a number of business objectives and 20% of the maximum incentive opportunity was linked to performance against these objectives. A summary of each of the executive directors’ objectives, together with the incentive outcomes, is shown in the tables below.

Chief Executive, Dominic Paul

Measure	Actual outcome vs targets
OBJECTIVE 1: Grow and innovate in the UK – 8.9% out of 10.0%
Deliver the network growth plan for the UK through organic pipeline and deliver refurbishment plan	• 1,190 openings and 1,995 added to pipeline, ahead of target. • Completed 4,982 refurbished rooms ahead of stretch.
Deliver the commercial strategy	• Improved website and app user experience, delivering £10m of LFL revenue upside. • Achieved step-change in app functionality with revenue contribution exceeding c.12% of direct sales. • Outperformed the midscale and economy market by +1.1% on RevPAR basis.
Achieve customer/guest satisfaction targets	• Combined Premier Inn and Restaurants guest satisfaction scores were in line with target.
Deliver strategic F&B implementation plan and execute agreed in-year activity	• Great progress against our original plan to optimise the delivery of F&B for our guests. • 31 sites and 583 extension rooms opened during the year, with encouraging early performance across both the new extension rooms and the integrated F&B offering. • All F&B offerings were delivered with increased training programmes for staff and guest satisfaction was actively monitored throughout the year. • Planning applications submitted for c.90% of affected sites.
OBJECTIVE 2: Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany – 6.1% out of 7%
Deliver network growth plan including organic pipeline additions in Germany	• Opened 633 new rooms in Germany, ahead of target. • Added 2,358 rooms to the committed pipeline, ahead of stretch.
Drive Germany commercial performance	• Strategically reinforced commercial organisation under new leadership. • Completed Premier Inn Germany e-commerce transformation with revised ROAS targets and new campaign plan in rollout. • Adjusted and successfully implemented trading strategies. • Significantly expanded indirect channel reach through key partnerships, leading to broader market access and enhanced conversion.
Achieve guest satisfaction targets	• Guest satisfaction achieved at target (assessed via own surveys and online reviews).
OBJECTIVE 3: Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth – 3.0% out of 3.0%
Determining the approach for growth opportunities	• Strategic review completed.
Drive technology stability	• Reduced net impact of digital outages by more than 50%, exceeding target.
Total outcome (% of maximum incentive opportunity)	18% out of 20%

GOVERNANCE 126 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Single total figure of remuneration – executive directors (audited information) continued
2025/26 Annual Incentive Scheme continued
Awards based on strategic objectives (20% of total award) continued

Chief Financial Officer, Hemant Patel

Measure	Actual outcome vs targets
Objective 1: Grow and innovate in the UK – 3.8% out of 4.5%
Deliver the network growth plan for the UK through organic pipeline and deliver refurbishment plan	• 1,190 openings and 1,995 added to pipeline, ahead of target. • Completed 4,982 refurbished rooms, ahead of stretch.
Deliver strategic F&B implementation plan and execute agreed in-year activity	• Great progress against our original plan to optimise the delivery of F&B for our guests. • 31 sites and 583 extension rooms opened during the year, with encouraging early performance across both the new extension rooms and the integrated F&B offering. • All F&B offerings were delivered with increased training programmes for staff and guest satisfaction was actively monitored throughout the year. • Planning applications submitted for c.90% of affected sites.
Optimisation of UK PI estates portfolio	• Completed £313m of property-related disposals, including £282m of sale and leasebacks. • Full estate valuation completed and communicated externally at interim results.
Objective 2: Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany – 1.2% out of 1.5%
Deliver network growth plan including organic pipeline additions in Germany	• Opened 633 new rooms in Germany, ahead of target. • Added 2,358 rooms to the committed pipeline, ahead of stretch.
Objective 3: Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth – 12.5% out of 14%
Deliver Investor Relations plan	• Successful communication of 5 year plan and effective follow up with investors following results announcements and business rates changes, although interim communications faced some challenges. Managed expectations on profitability progress consistently.
Deliver FY25 financial audit clearance with no material misstatements and half-year FY26 interim review	• Delivered the 2024/25 audit clearance and 2025/26 interim review with high accuracy and timeliness.
Deliver Accelerated Efficiency programme to budget across business	• Achieved P&L savings that exceeded target. • Established Transformation team to support delivery of the five-year plan.
Land new outsourced Finance organisation with minimal disruption to business	• Minimal impact to Finance SLAs. • Delivered agreed savings for FY26. • Ensured talent pathways remain in place within the new structure.
Drive technology stability	• Reduced net impact of digital outages by more than 50%, exceeding target.
Total outcome (% of maximum incentive opportunity)	17.5% out of 20%

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION CONTINUED GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 127

Awards based on ESG objectives (5% of total award)

The ESG targets for 2025/26, together with the results, are shown below.

ESG measure	Threshold	Target	Stretch	Allocation	Result (% of maximum)
Carbon reduction 1	>= 1.3% reduction	>= 1.5% reduction	>= 1.7% reduction	2.5%	Stretch: 5.6% reduction 100%
Leadership diversity 2				2.5%	Part-achieved: 40.4% female and 7.4% ethnic minority representation 50%
TOTAL				75%

1 When the impact of the external factor of reduced sleeper numbers over the performance period is removed from the carbon reduction targets, performance still exceeds the stretch target. The Committee is therefore satisfied that this outcome is attributable to internal actions taken and appropriately reflects performance.
2 This measure was assessed in a binary manner, unlike the carbon reduction measure which follows a threshold to stretch range as outlined above.

Long-term incentive

Assessment of performance underpins for the 2023 RSP Awards were granted at 125% of salary for Dominic Paul and 110% of salary for Hemant Patel.The 2023 RSP was awarded subject to two underpins and, for each underpin that is not met, the Committee may reduce the vesting outcome by up to 50%. In line with shareholder feedback, the 2023 RSP award is based on two hard financial underpins:
* The Company’s average Lease-adjusted net debt to FFO leverage ratio being less than 4.7x. Over the period, the Company’s average Lease-adjusted net debt to FFO leverage ratio was 3.6x; therefore, this underpin was met.
* The Company’s average ROCE for the UK business to be 9% or higher. Over the period, the Company’s average ROCE for the UK business was 12.7%; therefore, this underpin was met.

The Committee believes the formulaic outcome was appropriate and consistent with the wider stakeholder experience and as such no discretion was exercised. Therefore, the Committee determined that the 2023 RSP should vest in full. The number and value of shares vesting for the executive directors under the RSP are as follows:

Director	Number of shares granted	Number of shares vesting	Estimated value at vesting date (£’000)	Value attributable to share price appreciation (£’000s)
Dominic Paul	36,346	36,346	949	nil
Hemant Patel	18,302	18,302	478	nil

The share price used to calculate the value at vesting was 2,611.97 pence, which was the average closing price of a Whitbread share in the final quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The shares vesting to Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel are expected to vest on 30 April 2026. In both cases the awards are subject to a two-year post-vesting holding period. No malus or clawback provisions were exercised in relation to RSP awards during the year.

GOVERNANCE 128 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Single total figure of remuneration – Chair and non-executive directors (audited information)

Director	Base fee 2025/26 (£’000)	Base fee 2024/25 (£’000)	Senior Independent Director fee 2025/26 (£’000)	Senior Independent Director fee 2024/25 (£’000)	Fee as Chair of a Board Committee 2025/26 (£’000)	Fee as Chair of a Board Committee 2024/25 (£’000)	Fee as a member of a Board Committee 2025/26 (£’000)	Fee as a member of a Board Committee 2024/25 (£’000)	Total 2025/26 (£’000)	Total 2024/25 (£’000)
Christine Hodgson 1	233	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	233	—
Adam Crozier 2	230	450	—	—	—	—	—	—	230	450
Kal Atwal	71	69	—	—	—	—	6	5	77	74
Horst Baier 3	71	69	—	—	9	—	6	5	86	74
Frank Fiskers	71	69	—	—	22	22	6	5	99	96
Richard Gillingwater	71	69	17	17	—	—	6	5	94	91
Jonathan Howell 1	12	—	—	—	4	—	—	—	16	—
Karen Jones	71	69	—	—	—	—	6	5	77	74
Chris Kennedy 2	21	69	—	—	7	22	—	—	28	91
Shelley Roberts	71	69	—	—	—	—	6	5	77	74
Cilla Snowball	71	69	—	—	—	—	6	5	77	74

1 Christine Hodgson and Jonathan Howell joined the Board on 1 September 2025 and 1 January 2026, respectively.
2 Adam Crozier and Chris Kennedy stepped down from the Board on 1 September 2025 and 19 June 2025, respectively.
3 Horst Baier’s fees include fees for acting as interim Audit Committee Chair from 19 June to 31 December 2025.
Neither the Chair nor the non-executive directors are entitled to any additional benefits.

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION CONTINUED GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 129

Statement of directors’ shareholding and share interests (audited information)

The Committee believes that the shareholding requirements for executives play an important role in the alignment of the interests of executives and shareholders and help to incentivise executives to deliver sustainable long-term performance. The Chief Executive’s shareholding requirement is 300% of salary and the Chief Financial Officer’s is 200% of salary. All shares vesting from incentive plans cannot be sold until the shareholding requirement has been met. As at 26 February 2026, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have both met their shareholding requirements. The Chair and the non-executive directors are each required to build a holding to the value of 100% of their annual fee over a three-year period. The table below shows the holdings of directors as at 26 February 2026:

Director	Ordinary shares	Share awards 1	Value based on input price £’000	Value based on market price £’000	Requirement	% of salary/base fee based on input price	% of salary/base fee based on market price	Share awards not counting towards requirements 2
CHAIR
Christine Hodgson	17,817	—	500	465	100%	107%	100%	—
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Dominic Paul	29,088	147,865	3,016	2,807	300%	313%	291%	112,561
Hemant Patel	20,021	34,540	1,161	1,001	200%	204%	176%	57,312
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Kal Atwal	2,525	—	73	66	100%	103%	93%	—
Horst Baier	2,456	—	86	64	100%	122%	90%	—
Frank Fiskers	3,865	—	110	101	100%	155%	142%	—
Richard Gillingwater	2,500	—	85	65	100%	120%	92%	—
Karen Jones	2,075	—	40	54	100%	56%	76%	—
Jonathan Howell	4,520	—	130	118	100%	184%	166%	—
Shelley Roberts	1,106	—	15	29	100%	21%	41%	—
Cilla Snowball	2,258	—	69	59	100%	98%	83%	—

1 The market price used was the average for the last quarter of the financial year (2,611.97 pence). The number of share awards shown is the full number, but the valuation of those awards has been reduced to reflect deductions to be made at the point of exercise in respect of income tax and Employee National Insurance contributions. The awards counting towards the requirement include shares held outright (including by a connected person), unvested deferred shares awarded under the Annual Incentive Scheme and unexercised awards under the Restricted Share Plan and the Recruitment and Retention Scheme, where no further performance conditions apply. All share awards are structured as nil-cost options on vesting.
2 The awards not counting towards requirements are unvested awards under the Restricted Share Plan, where the performance underpins have not yet been tested. There has been no change to the interests in the tables shown on this page between the end of the financial year and the date of this report.

GOVERNANCE 130 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Awards granted in 2025/26

The tables below outline the share awards granted during 2025/26. Awards were granted using the average closing price of a Whitbread share for the five trading days immediately prior to the grant, excluding any days on which dealing in Whitbread shares by management was prohibited. All awards were granted in the form a nil-cost option over shares.

Deferred share awards under the Annual Incentive Scheme

50% of the total annual incentive earned in respect of performance during 2024/25 was deferred into shares, as detailed below. Deferred share awards are subject to continued employment but are not subject to further performance conditions.

Director	Date of award	Number of shares	Share price used (p)	Face value of award at grant (£’000)	Vesting date
Dominic Paul	9 May 2025	15,741	2,748.6	433	30 April 2028
Hemant Patel	9 May 2025	9,085	2,748.6	250	30 April 2028

2025 Restricted Share Plan

Director	% of base salary awarded	Date of award	Number of shares granted	Share price used (p)	Face value of award at grant (£’000)	Vesting date
Dominic Paul	125%	9 May 2025	42,567	2,748.6	1,170	30 April 2028
Hemant Patel	110%	9 May 2025	22,077	2,748.6	607	30 April 2028

The awards made under the Restricted Share Plan are subject to the following two underpins being met, which are assessed over the three-year performance period to the end of 2027/28:
* the Company’s average lease-adjusted net debt to EBITDAR leverage ratio being less than 4.2x; and
* the Company’s average ROCE for the UK business to be 9% or higher.

Awards vesting will then be subject to a two-year holding period.

Options exercised (audited information)

Director	Scheme	Number of shares	Exercise price	Exercise date	Market price on exercise (p)
Dominic Paul	RSP	6,808	N/A	23 May 2025	2,790.24
Hemant Patel	AIS	5,535	N/A	23 May 2025	2,790.24

Key
AIS: Awards made under the Annual Incentive Scheme.
RSP: Awards made under the Restricted Share Plan.

Payments for loss of office (audited)

There were no payments made for loss of office during the year.

Payments to past directors (audited information)

With the exception of regular pension payments and dividends on Whitbread shares and the exercise of share awards as permitted under the rules of the Company’s share schemes, no other payments were made during the year to past directors.

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION CONTINUED GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 131

Chief Executive’s remuneration

Whitbread is in the hospitality business and has a large workforce of around 31,500 team members who are employed directly by the business, with the majority being in hourly paid customer-facing roles in our hotels and restaurants. We have an aligned set of reward principles for all employees which includes offering competitive pay rates at all levels, reflecting our position as a leading organisation in the hospitality sector. This enables us to attract and retain the right talented people for our winning teams. For our hourly paid team members, we benchmark against other hospitality companies to ensure we are competitive when comparing pay with similar organisations. We operate a pay approach where increases are linked to skills progression, with clear and transparent pay rates for each role that increase as new skills are developed. For our Chief Executive, we benchmark against the FTSE 31–100, excluding any non-comparable industries such as Financial Services, Oil and Gas and Natural Resources, where remuneration levels are significantly higher. This ensures we use an appropriate and relevant comparison for this role within our sector. As noted in previous years, the Chief Executive has a high level of variable pay and, therefore, the CEO median pay ratio fluctuates in line with Chief Executive incentive outcomes each year. For 2025/26, the median pay ratio has decreased from 122:1 in 2024/25 to 115:1. The primary drivers of this decrease are our continued investment in employee pay, which has led to higher median employee pay across the business, while CEO remuneration has remained broadly stable year on year.All three of the UK employee reference points compare our Chief Executive’s remuneration with that of hourly paid team members in customer-facing roles in the operational sites and there is relatively limited difference in the 25th, median and 75th percentile ratios as shown below. Given this, we believe the median pay ratio is consistent with the reward policies for our UK employees. Whitbread has continued to use Option A to calculate its ratio, as the data required is readily available and this option provides the most accurate comparison as the figures are calculated on a like-for-like basis. The table below shows how the total pay of the Chief Executive compares with our UK employees at the 25th, median and 75th percentile:

Year	Method	25th percentile ratio	Median pay ratio	75th percentile pay ratio
2025/26	Total pay (FTE):	£25,679	£25,991	£27,967
	Total pay and benefits (FTE):	£26,159	£26,921	£28,673
	Pay ratio (Option A):	118:1	115:1	108:1
2024/25	Pay ratio (Option A):	126:1	122:1	114:1
2023/24	Pay ratio (Option A):	110:1	105:1	97:1
2022/23	Pay ratio (Option A):	147:1	141:1	131:1
2021/22	Pay ratio (Option A):	110:1	105:1	98:1
2020/21	Pay ratio (Option A):	55:1	53:1	50:1
2019/20	Pay ratio (Option A):	150:1	143:1	134:1

The figures for the wider workforce were calculated as of 26 February 2026 (the ‘snapshot date’) and use the single figure methodology (salary, benefits, annual incentive, LTIP and pension). Joiners, leavers and part-time employees’ earnings have been annualised on an FTE basis (excluding any payments of a one-off nature). The Chief Executive’s figure of £3.10m is taken from the total single figure remuneration for 2025/26 on page 124. The alignment of executive and wider workforce remuneration is discussed annually at the Our Voice Pan-Whitbread Forum, our formal workforce advisory panel. During the year, the Remuneration Committee considered wider workforce remuneration, and its alignment with executive remuneration, together with the key themes from employee engagement.

GOVERNANCE 132 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 Chief Executive’s remuneration continued

Annual percentage change in remuneration

We are required to publish the annual percentage change in remuneration (salary or fees, benefits and annual bonus) for each director compared to the annual average percentage change in remuneration for the employees (excluding directors) of the parent company. As Whitbread PLC is not an employing entity, it has no employees and as such this statutory disclosure is not possible. For information purposes, the average remuneration of the Group’s employees increased by 8% versus the previous year.

Director	2025/26 Base salary/fees	2025/26 Benefits	2025/26 Annual bonus	2024/25 Base salary/fees	2024/25 Benefits	2024/25 Annual bonus	2023/24 Base salary/fees	2023/24 Benefits	2023/24 Annual bonus	2022/23 Base salary/fees	2022/23 Benefits	2022/23 Annual bonus	2021/22 Base salary/fees	2021/22 Benefits	2021/22 Annual bonus
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Dominic Paul	3%	1%	24%	3%	0%	(40%)	0%	0%	1%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hemant Patel	3%	1%	26%	4%	0%	(42%)	3%	0%	5%	—	—	—	—	—	—
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Adam Crozier 1	—	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	3%	—	—	7%	—	—
Christine Hodgson 2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Kal Atwal	3%	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	3%	—	—	—	—	—
Horst Baier 3	15%	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	3%	—	—	7%	—	—
Jonathan Howell 2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Frank Fiskers	3%	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	3%	—	—	5%	—	—
Richard Gillingwater	3%	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	3%	—	—	5%	—	—
Karen Jones	3%	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Chris Kennedy 1	—	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	3%	—	—	5%	—	—
Shelley Roberts	3%	—	—	4%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Cilla Snowball	3%	—	—	4%	—	—	3%	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

1 Adam Crozier and Chris Kennedy have been excluded from the year-on-year percentage change calculation for FY25 to FY26, as they stepped down from the Board on 1 September 2025 and 19 June 2025 respectively. As their FY26 remuneration reflects only a part-year of service, the percentage movement is not considered meaningful. They remain included in the table for historic years during which they served a full financial year.
2 Christine Hodgson and Jonathan Howell were appointed on 1 September 2025 and 1 January 2026 respectively and did not serve in the prior financial year; therefore, no year-on-year comparison is shown.
3 Horst Baier’s year-on-year percentage change calculation for FY25 to FY26 is inclusive of an additional fee which was paid in relation to his support in acting as the interim Audit Committee Chair from 19 June 2025 to 31 Dec 2025.

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION CONTINUED GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 133

Ten-year history of Chief Executive remuneration

The following table shows the Chief Executive’s pay over the last ten years, with details of the percentage of maximum paid out under the Annual Incentive Scheme and the LTIP/RSP vesting percentage for each year.

Year	Chief Executive	Single total figure of remuneration (£’000)	% of maximum annual incentive achieved	% of LTIP/RSP award vesting
2025/26	Dominic Paul	3,099	65.4	100.0
2024/25	Dominic Paul	3,074	54.4	100.0
2023/24	Dominic Paul	2,465	95.0	N/A
2022/23	Dominic Paul	2,416	94.4	N/A
	Alison Brittain	3,199	94.4	45.0
2021/22	Alison Brittain	2,164	71.4	N/A
2020/21	Alison Brittain	1,032	0.0	N/A
2019/20	Alison Brittain	2,636	56.7	36.0
2018/19	Alison Brittain	5,588	54.8	0.0
2017/18	Alison Brittain	2,336	64.1	38.3
2016/17	Alison Brittain	2,509	49.8	76.5

Total shareholder return (TSR)

The chart looks at the value over ten years of £100 invested in Whitbread PLC on 3 March 2016 compared, on a consistent basis, with that of £100 invested in the FTSE 100 index and the FTSE 350 Travel & Leisure index based on 30 trading day average values. The FTSE 100 and FTSE 350 Travel & Leisure indices have been selected by the Committee as appropriate comparator groups due to Whitbread being a constituent of both.

Relative importance of spend on pay

The table below compares the change in total expenditure on employee pay during the year with the change in dividend payments and share buy-backs.

	2024/25	2025/26	% change
Employee costs	£818.7m	£801.6m	(2.1)%
Dividends and share buy-backs	£442.4m	£419.2m	(5.2)%

FTSE 100 FTSE 350 (Travel & Leisure) Whitbread
Source: Workspace by LSEG.
300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Total shareholder return (rebased)
03 Mar 2016 02 Mar 2017 01 Mar 2018 28 Feb 2019 27 Feb 2020 25 Feb 2021 03 Mar 2022 02 Mar 2023 29 Feb 2024 27 Feb 2025 26 Feb 2026

GOVERNANCE 134 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Implementation of remuneration policy in 2026/27

Base salary

Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel will each receive a 3% salary increase in May 2026. This is in line with the increases in pay for salaried employees across the organisation. The base salaries of the executive directors with effect from 1 May 2026 will be as follows:

Director	Base salary at 1 May 2026 (£’000)	Base salary at 1 May 2025 (£’000)
Dominic Paul	993	964
Hemant Patel	585	568

Benefits and pension

The benefits received by each executive director will continue to include family private healthcare, a cash allowance in lieu of a company car and cash allowances at 10% of salary in lieu of pension.

Annual Incentive Scheme

The maximum bonus opportunity for Dominic Paul and Hemant Patel will be 170% of base salary. Any incentive payments will be at the discretion of the Remuneration Committee in the event that the health and safety score is red on the WINcard. Keeping our teams and customers safe is not an incentive lever but a core responsibility that earns the right to achieve incentivised rewards. The Committee has the discretion to amend formulaic outcomes. Cash awards will be made in May 2027, with deferred share awards granted in April or May 2027 and due to vest in 2030, with no further performance conditions applying. The measures and weightings for the 2026/27 annual incentive are as follows:

Measure	Weighting
Group Profit	50%
Germany profit	10%
Efficiency	15%
Strategic objectives	20%
ESG measures	5%

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION CONTINUED

Financial measures

The targets of the three financial metrics, which make up 75% of the annual incentive, are considered by the Board to be commercially sensitive and, for that reason, are not disclosed in advance. The Committee intends to disclose the targets retrospectively in the 2026/27 report. Targets have been set with reference to external consensus and budget.

Strategic objectives

Each executive director also has business objectives aligned with the Group’s strategic priorities. They will be eligible to receive up to 20% of the maximum incentive opportunity based on the delivery of these objectives. Some of the objectives have measures with clear threshold, on-target and stretch targets, whereas others will be objectively assessed against a stretch level of performance. All measures are quantifiable and linked to the business plan and future financial performance. For both executives, objectives have been set under the following areas:

Grow and innovate in the UK;
Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany; and
Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth.

ESG measures

The 5% allocation to ESG measures will be split between an environmental measure and a social measure. The targets within the Strategic objectives and ESG measures are considered by the Board to be commercially sensitive and, for that reason, are not disclosed in advance.

Restricted Share Plan

Awards will be granted at 125% of salary for Dominic Paul and 110% of salary for Hemant Patel. The awards will be subject to two underpins and, subject to these underpins being met, are expected to vest in 2029, after which they will be subject to a two-year holding period.The underpins are the same as used for last year’s award:
• the Company’s average lease-adjusted net debt to EBITDAR leverage ratio being less than 4.2x; and
• the Company’s average ROCE for the UK business to be 9% or higher.

Chair’s fee
The Chair will receive a fee increase of 3% with effect from 1 May 2026, taking her annual fee to £478,950.

GOVERNANCE

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 135

Remuneration Committee – responsibilities

• Set the broad Policy for the remuneration of the Chair and members of the Executive Committee, including the executive directors.
• Within the terms of the agreed Policy, determine the total individual remuneration package (including incentive payments, share awards and other benefits) of the Chair and each executive director.
• Monitor the structure and level of remuneration of Executive Committee members.
• Approve the design of, and determine the targets for, executive incentive schemes.
• Approve awards to be made to executive directors and other senior executives under incentive schemes.
• Ensure that contractual terms on termination, and any payments made, are fair to the individual and the Company, that failure is not rewarded and that the duty to mitigate loss is fully recognised.
• Review the alignment of incentives with the Company’s wider culture.
• Obtain ideas and concerns from the wider workforce about reward and take into account workforce remuneration across the Company and externally when setting remuneration policy for the executive directors.

Non-executive director fees

The base annual fee for non-executive directors will increase on 1 May 2026 by 3% to £73,080. The fees for chairing the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee will increase to £23,420. The fee for the Senior Independent director will increase to £17,570 and the fees for membership of the Audit and Remuneration Committees will increase to £5,870.

Statement of shareholder voting

Both the advisory resolution to approve the 2024/25 annual report on remuneration and the resolution to approve the directors’ remuneration policy were put to shareholders for approval at the 2025 AGM, where each resolution was passed. The voting results were as follows:

Resolution	For	Against	Total	Withheld
Annual report on remuneration	131,425,799 (95.2%)	6,643,822 (4.8%)	138,069,621	41,236
Directors’ remuneration policy	129,328,965 (93.6%)	8,837,859 (6.4%)	138,166,824	44,033

During 2024/25, the Committee conducted an extensive consultation exercise with major shareholders, to seek their views on the structure of our remuneration schemes and our new Policy proposals. We were pleased to have the support of the overwhelming majority, and we modified our proposals slightly in light of some feedback received. In particular, a small number of shareholders asked that we align our post-cessation shareholding requirement (PCSR) with the Investment Association’s recommended approach, which we did in our updated proposals. Shareholder views on executive pay at Whitbread are also periodically considered and discussed at investor meetings attended by the Chair.

Remuneration Committee – advisers

Internal advisers
* Clare Thomas, General Counsel and Secretary to the Committee
* Rachel Howarth, Chief People Officer
* Stephen Brown, Reward, Pensions and Insight Director

External advisers
PwC, one of the founding members of the Remuneration Consultants Group Code of Conduct, was appointed remuneration consultant by the Committee with effect from September 2017 following a rigorous tender process and adheres to this code in its dealings with the Committee. Fees paid to PwC in respect of advice received by the Committee amounted to £114,250. These fees were charged on a time and material basis. The Committee is satisfied that the advice received is independent and objective. The Committee is comfortable that the PwC engagement partner and team that provide remuneration advice to the Committee do not have connections with the Company that may impair their independence or objectivity. PwC also provided Whitbread with internal audit and other consulting advice.

Image: Premier Inn Margate

GOVERNANCE 136 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Remuneration Committee agenda – 2025/26

Frank Fiskers, Chair, Remuneration Committee – 29 April 2026

Approval of Annual Incentive Scheme and targets for 2025/26.
Approval of awards of cash and deferred shares to executive directors and senior executives under the 2024/25 Annual Incentive Scheme.
Approval of executive directors’ and senior executives’ salary review.
Approval of the 2025 awards made under the RSP.
Confirmation of the vesting percentage for the RSP awards made in 2022 and which vested in 2025.
Approval of directors’ remuneration policy.
Review of the terms of reference.
Approval of the 2025 remuneration report.
Consideration of the approach to underpins for the 2026 RSP award.
Review of wider remuneration strategy across the organisation.
Consideration of the performance of the 2025/26 Annual Incentive Scheme.
Consideration of the performance against the underpins for the 2023 RSP award.
Evaluation of Committee effectiveness.

ANNUAL REPORT ON REMUNERATION CONTINUED

GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 137

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

Appointment and replacement of directors

Directors shall be no fewer than two and no more than 20 in number. Directors may be appointed by the Company, by ordinary resolution or by the Board of directors. In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, all directors will stand for annual re-election at each AGM. The Company may, by special resolution, remove any director before the expiration of his/her term of office. Directors automatically stop being directors if:
• they give the Company a written notice of resignation (at the date such notice expires);
• they give the Company a written notice in which they offer to resign and the other directors decide to accept the offer;
• all of the other directors (who must comprise at least three people) pass a resolution or sign a written notice requiring the director to resign;
• they are or have been suffering from mental or physical ill health and the directors pass a resolution removing the director from office;
• they have missed directors’ meetings (whether or not an alternate director appointed attends those meetings) for a continuous period of six months without permission from the directors and the directors pass a resolution removing the director from office;
• a bankruptcy order is made against them or they make any arrangement or composition with their creditors generally;
• they are prohibited from being a director under any applicable legislation; or
• they cease to be a director under any applicable legislation or are removed from office under the Company’s articles of association.

Directors’ indemnity

A qualifying third-party indemnity provision was in force for the benefit of the directors during the financial year. In addition, a qualifying pension scheme indemnity provision was in force for the benefit of Whitbread Pension Trustees during the financial year.

The directors present their report and accounts for the year ended 26 February 2026.

Group adjusted profit before tax: £483m
Group profit before tax: £298m
Interim dividend paid on 5 December 2025: 36.4p per share
Recommended final dividend: 60.6p per share
Total dividend for the year: 97.0p per share

Certain information required for disclosure in this report is provided in other appropriate sections of the Annual Report and Accounts. These include the corporate governance and remuneration reports and the Group financial statements and notes to those financial statements, and accordingly these are incorporated into the report by reference. Details on the Group’s dividend policy can be found on page 45 in the Chief Financial Officer’s review. Subject to approval at the AGM, the final dividend will be payable on 3 July 2026 to the shareholders on the register at the close of business on 22 May 2026.

The Board

Board of directors
The directors at the date of this report are listed on pages 96 to 99. Adam Crozier and Chris Kennedy did not seek re-election at the 2025 AGM. Chris stepped down from the Board at the conclusion of that meeting, while Adam stepped down as Chair in September 2025. We appointed a new independent non-executive director, Jonathan Howell, to replace Chris, both on the Board and as Chair of the Audit Committee. We also appointed Christine Hodgson to succeed Adam as Chair of the Board.

Directors’ service contracts

The key terms of the executive directors’ service contracts, together with the dates of those contracts, can be found in the remuneration report on page 116, along with the effective dates of the letters of appointment of the Chair and the non-executive directors. The executive directors’ service contracts are available for inspection at our head office.

Powers of directors

The business of the Company is managed by the directors who may exercise all the powers of the Company, subject to the Company’s articles of association, any relevant legislation and any directions given by the Company by passing a special resolution at a general meeting. In particular, the directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money, issue shares, appoint and remove directors and recommend and declare dividends.

GOVERNANCE 138 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 The Board continued

Compensation for loss of office

There are no agreements between the Company and its directors or employees providing for compensation for loss of office or employment that occurs as a result of a takeover bid.

Directors’ share interests

Details regarding the share interests of the directors in the share capital of the Company, including with respect to options to acquire ordinary shares, are set out in the remuneration report on page 129.# Shares

Share capital

Details of the issued share capital can be found in Note 27 to the accounts. Holders of ordinary shares are entitled to attend and speak at general meetings of the Company, to appoint one or more proxies and, if they are corporations, corporate representatives to attend general meetings and to exercise voting rights. Holders of ordinary shares may receive a dividend and, on a liquidation, may share in the assets of the Company. Holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive the Company’s Annual Report and Accounts. Subject to meeting certain thresholds, holders of ordinary shares may requisition a general meeting of the Company or the proposal of resolutions at AGMs.

Voting rights

On a show of hands at a general meeting of the Company, every holder of ordinary shares present, in person or by proxy, and entitled to vote, has one vote (unless the proxy is appointed by more than one member in which case the proxy has one vote for and one vote against if the proxy has been instructed by one or more members to vote for the resolution and by one or more members to vote against the resolution) and on a poll every member present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote has one vote for every ordinary share held. Voting rights for any ordinary shares held in treasury are suspended. None of the ordinary shares carry any special rights with regard to control of the Company.

Electronic and paper proxy appointments and voting instructions must be received by the Company’s registrars not later than: (i) 48 hours before a meeting or adjourned meeting (excluding non-working days); or (ii) 24 hours before a poll is taken, if the poll is not taken on the same day as the meeting or adjourned meeting.

Unless the directors decide otherwise, a shareholder cannot attend or vote at any general meeting of the Company or at any separate general meeting of the holders of any class of shares in the Company or upon a poll or exercise any other right conferred by membership in relation to general meetings or polls if he or she has not paid all amounts relating to those shares which are due at the time of the meeting. Where a shareholder with at least a 0.25% interest in a class of shares has been served with a disclosure notice in relation to a particular holding of shares and has failed to provide the Company with information concerning those shares, those shares will no longer give that shareholder any right to vote at a shareholders’ meeting.

Restrictions on transfer of shares

There are the following restrictions on the transfer of shares in the Company:
* certain restrictions which may from time to time be imposed by laws and regulations (for example, insider trading laws);
* pursuant to the Company’s share dealing code, the directors and senior executives of the Company require approval to deal in the Company’s shares;
* where a person with at least a 0.25% interest in a class of shares has been served with a disclosure notice and has failed to provide the Company with information concerning interests in those shares;
* the subscriber ordinary shares may not be transferred without the prior written consent of the directors;
* the directors can, without giving any reason, refuse to register the transfer of any shares which are not fully paid;
* transfers cannot be in favour of more than four joint holders; and
* the directors can refuse to register the transfer of an uncertificated share in the circumstances set out in the uncertificated securities rules (as defined in the Company’s articles of association).

The Company is not aware of any agreements between shareholders that may result in restrictions on the transfer of shares or on voting rights.

Purchase of own shares

The Company is authorised to purchase its own shares in the market. The Company purchased 8.8 million of its own shares during the year and cancelled them. At 26 February 2026, 12.5 million shares were held as treasury shares (27 February 2025: 12.5 million).

Employee share schemes

Whitbread does not have any employee share schemes with shares which have rights with regard to the control of the Company that are not exercisable directly by the employees.

Major interests

As at the end of the financial year, the Company had received formal notification, under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, of the following material holdings in its shares (the percentages shown are the percentages at the time of the disclosure and have not been re-calculated based on the issued share capital at the year-end):

	Number of shares	% of issued share capital 1
BlackRock Inc	11,613,345	6.9%
Corvex Management LP	9,355,020	5.53%
Artemis Investment Management LLP	8,760,514	5.01%
Aberdeen Asset Management	9,155,869	4.99%
Vulcan Value Partners LLC	6,698,606	4.98%

1 The percentage of issued share capital is taken from the date of the relevant notification and changes to the voting rights since that date can cause higher numbers of shares to have lower percentages and vice versa. Since the end of the year, one further notification was received from BlackRock Inc. The notification stated that BlackRock Inc has a total of 11,613,345 voting rights, representing 6.70% of the issued share capital.

DIRECTORS’ REPORT CONTINUED GOVERNANCE Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 139

In 2025/26, we decarbonised further c.800 hotel rooms installing air-source heat pumps and other electric equipment to reduce our reliance on gas for water and space heating. We continued our track record of energy efficiency across the estate by undertaking projects such as refrigeration optimisation, installing improved controls for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and utilising voltage optimisation technology. We also installed solar PV at 13 sites, bringing the total to 221 hotels. We improved our understanding of landlord sites that used REGO-backed electricity over the year; this has been taken into account when reporting our Scope 2 market-based emissions. We also improved our tracking of F-gas data for Scope 1 reporting.

When defining the scope of our data, we do not report on operations under Joint Venture agreements, or that are fully franchised, where we do not have operational control such as Premier Inn Middle East. For reasons of materiality, small offices in the Far East have been excluded. Where possible we reported billed or AMR (Automated Meter Reading) data. For those operations which are currently beyond our reporting capabilities, we have used an estimation model based on historic budgeted or billed usage.

Scope 3

Whitbread’s 2025/26 Scope 3 emissions stand at 386,310 tCO 2 e (2024/25: 407,242 tCO 2 e). This is a reduction of 5% year-on- year, and a reduction of 21% against our 2018/19 baseline. The change is predominantly due to lower purchases of food with high embodied carbon – another result of the strategic transformation of our business. Following SBTi Forest Land and Agriculture (FLAG) guidance, Whitbread updated and re-baselined the 2018/19 result to calculate FLAG and non-FLAG emissions. In 2025/26, our total FLAG emissions were 82,409 tCO 2 e (2024/25: 92,932 tCO 2 e) and reduction of 40.2% from a 2018/19 baseline. Total non-FLAG emissions were 303,901 tCO 2 e (2024/25: 314,310 tCO 2 e), a reduction of 13.5% from the 2018/19 baseline.

The key structural change in our 2025/26 Scope 3 relates to the inclusion of emissions from a shared logistics service for the majority of food and consumables within Category 4 (Upstream transportation and distribution). Previously, emissions from this activity were reported under Scope 1, as the delivery fleet was leased by the Group. As the new procurement model is more efficient, both financially and from a carbon perspective, emissions reported in Category 3 (Fuel- and energy-related activities) decreased by 34%. At the same time, as lower volumes of food were procured in 2025/26, emissions in Category 4 did not increase.

In 2026/27 we plan to rebaseline our Scope 3 emissions to account for more granular product-level carbon data we expect to receive from our suppliers. Because our Accelerating Growth Plan is still underway, we will update our Scope 3 baseline fully once we complete the programme in 2027/28.

Mandatory greenhouse gas reporting

In order to comply with the requirements of the Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018, we have amended our environmental reporting accordingly.

Scopes 1 and 2

We considered the six main greenhouse gases (GHGs) and report in CO 2 e for our Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) CO 2 emissions. We used the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard methodology to calculate our emissions as well as Defra and Umweltbundesamt (UBA) GHG Conversion Factors for company reporting.

Scope 1 includes emissions from the fuels we use in our hotels, restaurants and offices such as natural gas and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). It also accounts for CO 2 e from business-owned vehicles which includes benefit and job need company cars. CO 2 e from company cars are calculated using the manufacturer’s stated performance multiplied by an uplift stated in the Defra standards methodology paper. From 2025/26, our Scope 1 footprint no longer includes food logistics vehicles previously leased by the Group, following a switch to a shared logistics service.

Scope 2 relates to the indirect emissions associated with the generation of the electricity consumed in our sites including district heating. For Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions associated with the UK&I estate, we apply UK Government (Defra) conversion factors. From 2025/26, emissions for the German estate have instead been calculated using conversion factors from the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA).As UBA factors are higher than Defra’s (by 52% for district heating and 120% for electricity), this resulted in a 41% increase in market-based and a 30% increase in location-based Scope 2 emissions for Germany, despite electricity consumption increasing by only 0.6%. The change also affected the Group’s overall footprint, with Scope 2 emissions increasing by 25% on a market basis (while decreasing by 9% on a location basis), despite a 1.2% year-on-year reduction in total electricity consumption. In 2025/26, we achieved a 63%/m 2 reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions (61.5%/m 2 in 2024/25) on a market basis, compared with a 2016/17 baseline. This is thanks to lower gas consumption for heating and cooking, and our purchase of Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) in the UK and Ireland, and Guarantees of Origin (GoOs) in Germany. In 2025/26, we re-baselined Scope 1 emissions to reflect the transition from our own leased delivery fleet to a shared logistics service. Without re-baselining, business travel emissions would have fallen by 93.3%. Following re-baselining, emissions decreased by 20.2% year on year, reflecting the continued increase in hybrid and electric vehicles, and a decrease in the number of vehicles overall in our company fleet. In 2025/26, we updated our methodology for square-metre calculations to reflect the growing number of hub by Premier Inn rooms, which are smaller than an average Premier Inn room. Using the updated methodology, we have also restated 2024/25 square metres, resulting in a 5,358 m 2 increase in the reported footprint, equivalent to 0.2% of the estate. This led to a non-material adjustment to our Scope 1 and Scope 2 intensity figures.

GOVERNANCE

140 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Mandatory greenhouse gas reporting continued

Source of emissions	Scope	% change 24/25 to 25/26	2025/26 Total	2025/26 Rest of the world	2025/26 UK	2024/25 Total	2024/25 Rest of the world	2024/25 UK	2023/24 Total	2023/24 Rest of the world	2023/24 UK
Gas (tCO 2 e)	Scope 1	-7.7%	40,631	1,786	38,845	44,004	1,486	42,518	46,921	1,360	45,561
LPG (tCO 2 e)	Scope 1	-16.9%	1,757	0	1,757	2,114	0	2,114	2,306	0	2,306
F-gas (tCO 2 e)	Scope 1	5.2%	5,982	428	5,554	5,686	54	5,632	7,104	258	6,845
Business travel (tCO 2 e)	Scope 1	-93.4%	1 441	140	301	6,664	137	6,527	7,504	128	7,376
Total Scope 1 emissions (tCO 2 e)	Scope 1	-16.5%	48,810	2,355	46,455	58,469	1,677	56,792	63,835	1,747	62,088
Electricity, district heating and EV charging (Total Scope 2 location based) (tCO 2 e)	Scope 2	-8.5%	74,491	17,269	57,222	81,422	13,584	67,838	89,130	12,952	76,179
Electricity, district heating and EV charging (Total Scope 2 market based) (tCO 2 e)	Scope 2	25.2%	7,435	5,902	1,533	5,938	4,180	1,758	7,537	4,924	2,612
Gross emissions (location based)	—	-11.9%	123,301	19,623	103,678	139,890	15,261	124,629	152,965	14,698	138,267
Gross emissions (market based)	—	-12.7%	56,245	8,257	47,988	64,407	5,857	58,550	71,372	6,671	64,700
Floor area (m 2 )	—	0.4%	3,152,682	441,121	2,711,561	3,138,672 2	433,019 2	2,705,653 2	3,110,054	426,530	2,683,524
Tonnes carbon per m 2 floor area (location based)	—	-12.3%	0.0391	—	—	0.0446 2	—	—	0.0492	—	—
Tonnes carbon per m 2 floor area (market based)	—	-4.3%	0.0178	—	—	0.0186 2	—	—	0.0229	—	—
Gas (kWh)	—	-7.7%	222,079,486	9,768,763	212,310,723	240,593,338	8,125,335	232,468,003	256,499,715	7,434,531	249,065,184
LPG (kWh)	—	-16.9%	7,627,050	0	7,627,050	9,176,774	0	9,176,774	10,013,931	0	10,013,931
Business travel (kWh)	—	-26.1%	3,741,105	884,628	2,856,477	5,065,164	863,992	4,201,172	28,654,168	846,610	27,807,558
Electricity, district heating and EV charging (kWh)	—	-1.2%	376,948,465	53,184,902	323,763,563	381,429,268	52,928,003	328,501,265	415,317,497	47,243,369	368,074,128
Self-generated electricity via solar PV (kWh)	—	22.2%	4,701,214	0	4,701,214	3,848,140	0	3,848,140	3,943,107	0	3,943,107
Total (kWh)	—	-3.9%	615,097,320	63,838,293	551,259,027	640,112,684	61,917,330	578,195,354	714,428,418	55,524,510	658,903,908

1 Large reduction due to transition to wholesaler distribution model.
2 Restated number for 2024/25 due to a change in the methodology for m 2 calculations (see page 139).

DIRECTORS’ REPORT CONTINUED

GOVERNANCE

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 141

Additional information

Stakeholder engagement
Information on how the directors engage with our different stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and customers, and on how directors have regard to stakeholders’ interests and the need to foster stakeholder relationships when making decisions, can be found in the stakeholder engagement section on pages 48 to 53.

Employment policies
We have a range of employment policies covering such issues as diversity, employee wellbeing and equal opportunities. Read more on our website www.whitbread.co.uk

Environmental policies
Our businesses depend upon the environment to operate hotels and restaurants through the energy we use and the services and products we provide to our customers. Our main environmental impacts are from the use of natural resources, water consumption and generation of residual waste and GHG emissions associated with energy and fuel use. Our strategy in this area is executed via our Force for Good sustainability programme, which includes energy, water and waste reduction activities. We are committed to minimising our impact on the environment, preventing pollution and promoting good environmental practices. Further details can be found on pages 60 to 63

Employee involvement
The importance of good relations with our teams is fundamental to our culture and the success of our business. Across the UK and Germany, and across our hotel and restaurant sites and Support Centres, we regularly ask all our employees for their views, through regular ‘Your Say’ surveys. Every employee has an opportunity to participate in these surveys, and action plans are created by site/business area. Our Employee Forum, which we call Our Voice, is made up of formally elected representatives from across our hotels, restaurants and Support Centres. Our Voice is designed to connect our senior leaders with our front-line teams for two-way conversations about the business, ensuring employee views are properly represented. More detail can be found on page 50.

Our employees are actively encouraged to take part in our Sharesave scheme, which is available to all employees and offers an option price discounted by 20%. Whitbread believes that people should have no barriers to employment with us, and no limits to ambition with respect to training and progression. We are committed to working with disabled candidates and employees to ensure they have fair and equal opportunity to work for us and that we make reasonable adjustments, as needed, to support their career with us. Our approach is covered in our Diversity & Inclusion Policy and Workplace Adjustments Policy which we created in partnership with the Disability Business Forum.

Additional disclosures

The table below sets out the location of information required to be disclosed in the directors’ report (in accordance with Listing Rule 9.8.4R, and otherwise), which can be found in other sections of this Annual Report and Accounts and is incorporated by reference:

Item	Section
An indication of likely future developments in the business	Strategic report, pages 18 to 25
Financial risk management objectives and policies	Financial statements, Note 24, pages 194 to 195
Research and development	N/A
Existence of branches	N/A
Post-balance sheet events	Financial statements, Note 34, page 212
Stakeholder and employee engagement	Stakeholder engagement, pages 48 to 53
Conflicts of interest	Corporate governance report, pages 88 to 103
Statement of capitalised interest	Financial statements, Note 8 page 177
Long-term incentive schemes	Remuneration report, pages 124 to 136
Purchase of own shares	Financial statements, Note 27, page 200

Details on Whitbread’s compliance with Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules 7.2 can be found on page 93.

GOVERNANCE 142 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Additional information continued

Employee involvement continued
Regular internal communications are made to all employees to ensure that they are kept well informed about the performance of Whitbread, and of financial and economic factors that may affect the Company’s performance.

Amendment of the Company’s articles of association
Any amendments to the articles of association of the Company may be made in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 by way of special resolution.

Contractual arrangements
We have contractual arrangements with numerous third parties in support of our business activities, none of which are considered individually to be essential to our business and, accordingly, it has not been considered necessary for an understanding of the development, performance or position of our business to disclose information about any of those third parties.

Post-balance sheet events
Information on post-balance sheet events is provided in Note 34 to the accounts.

Political donations
We have not made any political donations during the year and intend to continue this policy of not doing so for the foreseeable future.

Auditor
Deloitte has expressed its willingness to continue in office as auditor of the Company and a resolution proposing its reappointment will be put to shareholders at the 2026 AGM. After proper consideration, the Audit Committee is satisfied that Deloitte continues to be objective and independent of the Company. In coming to this conclusion, the Audit Committee gave full consideration to any non-audit work carried out by Deloitte and has concluded that certain services will not be carried out by Deloitte, as outlined in the Committee’s terms of reference.

Disclosure of information to auditor
The directors have taken all reasonable steps to make themselves aware of relevant audit information and to ensure that the auditor is aware of that information.The directors are not aware of any relevant audit information which has not been disclosed to the auditor.

Going concern

Our business activities, together with the factors likely to affect our future development, performance and position, are set out in the strategic report on pages 2 to 87. The financial position of the Company, our cash flows, net debt and borrowing facilities and the maturity of those facilities are set out in the Chief Financial Officer’s review on pages 44 to 47. In addition, there are further details in the financial statements on our financial risk management, objectives and policies (Note 24) and on financial instruments (Note 25). The directors have outlined the assessment approach for going concern in the accounting policy disclosure in Note 2 of the consolidated financial statements. Following that review, the directors have concluded that the going concern basis remains appropriate. The viability statement can be found on page 72.

Annual general meeting

The AGM will be held at 2.30pm on 18 June 2026 at Whitbread Court, Houghton Hall Business Park, Porz Avenue, Dunstable LU5 5XE. The Notice of Meeting is enclosed with this report for shareholders receiving hard copy documents and is available at www.whitbread.co.uk for those who have elected to receive documents electronically.

Approved by the Board on 29 April 2026 and signed.

Clare Thomas
General Counsel and Company Secretary

Registered office:
Whitbread Court
Houghton Hall Business Park
Porz Avenue
Dunstable
Bedfordshire
LU5 5XE

Registered company number: 4120344

DIRECTORS’ REPORT CONTINUED

Image: Premier Inn Margate

GOVERNANCE
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 143

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors are required to prepare the Group financial statements in accordance with International Accounting Standards in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. The directors have chosen to prepare the parent company financial statements in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework. Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the profit or loss of the Company for that period.

In preparing the parent company financial statements, the directors are required to:
* select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
* make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
* state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
* prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in business.

In preparing the Group financial statements, International Accounting Standard 1 requires that directors:
* properly select and apply accounting policies;
* present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information;
* provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements in IFRS Standards is insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance; and
* make an assessment of the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Responsibility statement

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:
* the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole;
* the strategic report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face; and
* the Annual Report and Accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s position and performance, business model and strategy.

This responsibility statement was approved by the Board of directors on 29 April 2026 and is signed on its behalf by:

By order of the Board
Dominic Paul
Chief Executive
Hemant Patel
Chief Financial Officer

DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT

The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and Accounts in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

GOVERNANCE
144 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Our assurance conclusion does not extend to information in respect of earlier periods, or to any other information included in, or linked from, the Report.

Our limited assurance conclusion

Based on the work we have performed, as outlined in the ‘Summary of work performed’ section of our report, and the evidence we have obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Sustainability Subject Matter Information, as defined below, has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Applicable Criteria, as defined below. This conclusion is to be read in the context of what we say in the remainder of our report, in particular the ‘inherent limitations’ and ‘use and distribution of our report’ explained below.

Sustainability Subject Matter Information

The Sustainability Subject Matter Information comprises of the sustainability metrics for the financial year ending the 26 February 2026 in the Annual Report and the Sustainability Report (‘Report’). The Sustainability Report metrics in scope of our assurance are detailed in Appendix A. The scope of our work was limited to the provision of limited assurance over the Sustainability Subject Matter Information.

Applicable Criteria

The criteria used to measure or evaluate the underlying Sustainability Subject Matter (‘Underlying Sustainability Subject Matter’) are in the 2026 Basis of Preparation documents prepared by Whitbread (‘Applicable Criteria’). The Sustainability Subject Matter Information needs to be read and understood together with the Applicable Criteria, which the Entity is solely responsible for selecting and applying.

Inherent limitations

The absence of a significant body of established practice on which to draw to evaluate and measure non-financial information allows for different, but acceptable evaluation and measurement techniques and can affect comparability between entities and over time. The precision of different measurement techniques may also vary. Non-financial information is subject to more inherent limitation than financial information, given the characteristics of the underlying Sustainability Subject Matter and the methods used for determining such information.

Directors’ responsibilities

The Directors of Whitbread are responsible for:
* designing, implementing and maintaining internal controls to enable the preparation and presentation of Sustainability Subject Matter Information that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;
* selecting and/or establishing suitable Applicable Criteria for preparing the Sustainability Subject Matter Information;
* preparing, measuring and presenting the Sustainability Subject Matter Information in accordance with the Applicable Criteria;
* referring to or describing in the Sustainability Subject Matter Information the Applicable Criteria used and, when it is not readily apparent from the engagement circumstances, the person(s) responsible for developing the Applicable Criteria; and
* the content and preparation of the Sustainability Subject Matter Information.

Greenhouse Gas (‘GHG’) quantification is subject to inherent uncertainty because of incomplete scientific knowledge used to determine emissions factors and the values needed to combine emissions of different gases.

Our responsibilities

Our responsibility is to independently express a limited assurance conclusion on the Sustainability Subject Matter Information based on the procedures we have performed and the evidence we have obtained. We are also responsible for:
* planning and performing the engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether anything has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Sustainability Subject Matter Information is not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Applicable Criteria;
* assessing the suitability of the Applicable Criteria and whether they exhibit the characteristics of relevance, completeness, reliability, neutrality and understandability;
* forming an independent conclusion, based on the work we have performed and the evidence we have obtained; and
* reporting our conclusion to the Directors of Whitbread.# INDEPENDENT LIMITED ASSURANCE REPORT to the Directors of Whitbread PLC

The Directors of Whitbread PLC (‘Entity’) engaged us to provide limited assurance on the Sustainability Subject Matter Information defined below.

Professional standards applied and level of assurance

We performed a limited assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements (‘ISAE’) 3000 (Revised) ‘Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historic Financial Information’ issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (‘IAASB’) and, in respect of the GHG Statement, in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements (‘ISAE’) 3410 ‘Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements’, issued by the IAASB (‘ISAE 3410’). These standards require that we plan and perform our engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether anything has come to our attention that causes us to believe the Sustainability Subject Matter Information has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Applicable Criteria.

A limited assurance engagement undertaken in accordance with ISAE 3410 involves assessing the suitability in the circumstances of the Entity’s use of the Applicable Criteria as the basis for the preparation of the Greenhouse Gas Statement, assessing the risks of material misstatement of the Greenhouse Gas Statement whether due to fraud or error, responding to the assessed risks as necessary in the circumstances, and evaluating the overall presentation of the Greenhouse Gas Statement.

A ‘limited assurance’ engagement is substantially less in scope than a reasonable assurance engagement in relation to both the risk assessment procedures, including an understanding of internal control, and the procedures performed in response to the assessed risks. The procedures performed in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and timing from, and are less in extent than for, a reasonable assurance engagement. As a result, the level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is substantially lower than the assurance that would have been obtained had a reasonable assurance engagement been performed. Accordingly, we do not express a reasonable assurance opinion about whether the Sustainability Subject Matter Information has been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Applicable Criteria.

Our independence and quality control

We have complied with the independence and other ethical requirements of the Financial Reporting Council’s (‘FRC’s’) Revised Ethical Standard and the ethical pronouncements in the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (‘ICAEW’) Code of Ethics which are founded on the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.

RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP applies the International Standard on Quality Management (UK) 1 ‘Quality Management for Firms that Perform Audits or Reviews of Financial Statements, or other Assurance or Related Services Engagements’ (‘ISQM (UK) 1’), which requires RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP to design, implement and operate a system of quality management including policies or procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Summary of work performed

The work we perform depends on our professional judgement and included inquiries, observation of processes performed, inspection of documents, analytical procedures, recalculation, reperformance and confirmations. We are required to obtain an understanding of the Underlying Subject Matter, the Entity, its environment and the internal controls relevant to the Underlying Subject Matter, sufficient to identify the risk of material misstatement of the Sustainability Subject Matter Information and to design and perform procedures to address the assessed risks of material misstatement in order to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence to support our limited assurance conclusion. In doing so, we:

made inquiries of Whitbread’s management about the control environment, information systems and results of Whitbread’s risk assessment process;
considered the suitability for the engagement circumstances of Whitbread’s use of the Applicable Criteria as the basis for preparing the Sustainability Subject Matter Information;
assessed the appropriateness of the Sustainability Subject Matter which is measured or evaluated against the Applicable Criteria;
performed limited substantive testing on a selective basis of the Underlying Sustainability Subject Matter to check that the information had been appropriately measured, recorded, collated, and reported, including:
- agreed or reconciled the Sustainability Subject Matter to underlying records;
- reviewed the data collection and consolidation processes used to compile the Subject Matter, including the data scope and reporting boundaries;
- agreed a selection of the Sustainability Subject Matter to corresponding source documents, including third party data;
- reperformed calculation of the Subject Matter;
- vouched emission factors used to independent external sources;
- performed analytical procedures by comparing year on year movements and making inquiries of management to obtain explanations for significant differences from our developed expectations;
- evaluated whether the Sustainability Subject Matter Information adequately refers to the Applicable Criteria; and
- considered the disclosure and presentation of the Sustainability Subject Matter Information.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the Report, other than the Sustainability Subject Matter Information and our limited assurance report thereon. The Directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Report. Our limited assurance conclusion does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information to identify material inconsistencies, if any, with the Sustainability Subject Matter Information or our limited assurance report. If, on reading the other information, we identify such material inconsistencies or become aware of a material misstatement of fact in that other information that is unrelated to matters appearing in the Sustainability Subject Matter Information or our limited assurance report, we discuss the matter with the Directors and take further action as appropriate.

Use and distribution of our report

This report, including our conclusion, has been prepared solely for the confidential use of the Directors of Whitbread in accordance with our engagement letter dated 8 August 2025, and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Directors of Whitbread as a body and Whitbread for our work, for this limited assurance report or for the conclusions we have formed. This report is released to the Directors on the basis that it shall not be copied, referred to or disclosed (in whole or in part) or used, distributed or made available (in whole or in part) to any other party (save as otherwise permitted by agreed written terms), without our express prior written consent.

Without assuming or accepting any responsibility or liability in respect of this report to any party other than the Directors of Whitbread as a body and Whitbread PLC, we acknowledge that the Directors may choose to make this report publicly available. Any other party that chooses to rely on this report (or any part of it) will do so at their own risk and RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP neither owes nor accepts any responsibility or duty to those parties, and shall not be liable for any loss, damage or expense of whatever nature caused by their reliance on this report for any purpose or in any context.

Signed RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP
25 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB
29 April 2026

Appendix A: Subject Matter Information

The Sustainability Subject Matter Information subject to limited assurance procedures is set out below. The Sustainability Subject Matter Information are the reported results for selected Sustainability Report performance measures for the 2026 reporting period. Whitbread’s Basis of Preparation 2026 lists out the Sustainability Report performance measures, and reported results, as well as the Reporting Criteria used to prepare and report on the Sustainability Subject Matter Information.

Pillar	Sustainability Report metrics provided for testing	2026 Reported Sustainability Report (Sustainability Subject Matter Information)
Opportunity	In our leadership population: 40.4% of female representation (UK and Germany); 7.4% of ethnic minority representation (UK only) Leadership population is defined as all roles at Worker Level 2+.	In our leadership population: 40.4% of female representation (UK and Germany); 7.4% of ethnic minority representation (UK only) Leadership population is defined as all roles at Worker Level 2+.
Opportunity	In our workforce population (UK only): % of female representation: Female 63.1% Male 36.9% % of ethnic minority representation: Asian/Asian British 10.9% Black/African 4.5% Other ethnicity 5.3% White 69.1%	In our workforce population (UK only): % of female representation: Female 63.1% Male 36.9% % of ethnic minority representation: Asian/Asian British 10.9% Black/African 4.5% Other ethnicity 5.3% White 69.1%
Opportunity	% employee engagement score based on a composite of four survey questions: (1) Overall, I am satisfied with my experience working for Whitbread; (2) I am enthusiastic about my job; (3) I am proud to say I work for Whitbread; (4) I would recommend Whitbread as a great place to work.	[Data provided in report]

Community

12.4% salt reduction based on 2017 baseline 12.4% salt reduction based on 2017 baseline
23.6% sugar reduction based on 2015 baseline 23.6% sugar reduction based on 2015 baseline
4.0% calorie reduction based on 2017 baseline 4.0% calorie reduction based on 2017 baseline

INDEPENDENT LIMITED ASSURANCE REPORT CONTINUED to the Directors of Whitbread PLC

GOVERNANCE

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 147

Pillar Sustainability Report metrics provided for testing 2026 Reported Sustainability Report (Sustainability Subject Matter Information)

Responsibility	39.5% food waste reduction based on 2018/2019 baseline year data
Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint	56,245 tonnes
Scope 1 and 2 GHG reductions based on intensity metrics based on 2016/2017 baseline year data	63.0%
Reduction in water use per sleeper since 2019/2020	18.0%
Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint	64,407 tonnes

The basis of preparations for the above Sustainability Subject Matter information are held on the Whitbread PLC website within the Sustainability Reports and Policies sub-section of the Environmental and Social section Appendix A: Subject Matter Information continued

GOVERNANCE

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 148

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

To the members of Whitbread PLC

Report on the audit of the financial statements

1. Opinion

In our opinion:
• the financial statements of Whitbread PLC (the ‘parent company’, the ‘company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘Group’) give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the parent company’s affairs as at 26 February 2026 and of the Group’s profit for the year then ended;
• the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards;
• the parent company financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, including Financial Reporting Standard 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework”; and
• the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We have audited the financial statements which comprise:
• the consolidated income statement;
• the consolidated statement of comprehensive income;
• the consolidated and company statements of changes in equity;
• the consolidated and company balance sheets;
• the consolidated cash flow statement;
• the notes to the consolidated financial statements 1 to 34; and
• the notes to the company financial statements 1 to 9.

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the Group financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom adopted international accounting standards. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the parent company financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 101 “Reduced Disclosure Framework” (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

2. Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (‘ISAs (UK)’) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group and the parent company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the Financial Reporting Council’s (the ‘FRC’s’) Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. The non-audit services provided to the Group and parent company for the year are disclosed in note 5 to the financial statements. We confirm that we have not provided any non-audit services prohibited by the FRC’s Ethical Standard to the Group or the parent company. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

3. Summary of our audit approach

Key audit matters: The key audit matter that we identified in the current year was:
• impairment and impairment reversals of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets

Materiality: The materiality that we used for the Group financial statements was £22 million (2025: £25 million), which represents 4.6% of adjusted profit before tax, as defined in note 6.

Scoping: Our approach to audit scoping included performing audit procedures over 89.8% of the Group’s revenue and 99.4% of the Group’s assets.

Significant changes in our approach: There were no significant changes in our overall approach in the current year.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 149

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

4. Conclusions relating to Going Concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Our evaluation of the directors’ assessment of the Group’s and parent company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting included:
• obtaining an understanding of the processes and controls underpinning the directors’ forecasting of financial performance and cashflow;
• obtaining confirmation of the financing facilities including the nature of the facilities, repayment terms and covenants;
• obtaining an understanding of how the directors identify, monitor and manage the principal risks facing the business;
• assessing the reasonableness of the assumptions used in the business plan, including performing a retrospective review of previous assumptions and considering the impact of the macroeconomic environment;
• considering the amount of headroom in the business plans with regards to liquidity and covenants;
• assessing management’s sensitivity analysis performed, alongside the levels of headroom in the relevant period of the Group’s five-year plan in response to changes in the key assumptions;
• assessing the appropriateness of the Group’s going concern assessment and disclosure concerning the going concern basis of preparation.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group’s and parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

In relation to the reporting on how the Group has applied the UK Corporate Governance Code, we have nothing material to add or draw attention to in relation to the directors’ statement in the financial statements about whether the directors considered it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

5. Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period and include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) that we identified. These matters included those which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the engagement team. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.

5.1. Impairment and impairment reversals of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets

Key audit matter description: As described in Note 14 (Impairment), Note 13 (Property, plant and equipment), and Note 22 (Lease arrangements), the Group held £4,884.4 million (2025: £4,677.4 million) of property, plant and equipment and £3,838.1 million (2025: £3,662.7 million) of right-of-use assets at 26 February 2026. These assets have been impacted by the Group’s announced proposal to extend its Accelerating Growth Plan (‘AGP’). Further details of this are set out on page 16 of the Strategic Report.

Overall: Under IAS 36 “Impairment of Assets”, the Group is required to complete an impairment review of its site portfolio where there are indicators of impairment. The net impairment charge for the year of £162.5 million is comprised of £16.5 million charge on sites in Germany and £146.0 million charge on UK sites, of which £130.5 million relates to sites impacted by the AGP, and has been recognised through the consolidated income statement, within Adjusting items (Note 6). Estimation and judgement is required in determining the recoverable amount of the Group’s portfolio of sites.There is a risk that the carrying value of sites, including the property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets, may be higher than the recoverable amount, which would indicate an impairment is required. Where an impairment review is performed, the recoverable amount is determined based on the higher of value-in-use or fair value less costs of disposal, which is determined through the use of either a discounted cash flow method using a market-based discount rate or an industry valuation methodology.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 150

Key audit matter description continued

Proposed extension of the AGP
The Group has continued with their existing AGP programme whereby a number of food and beverage sites will continue to be disposed of through agreed transactions or future sales, with further sites being converted into new hotel rooms as part of the extension programme. Following the FY26 year-end, the Group has announced an extension to the AGP programme covering the remainder of sites with branded food and beverage offerings (‘extension of AGP’). The Group has recognised a net impairment charge of £75.4m relating to disposal sites impacted by the extension of the AGP.

With regards to the sites covered by the extension programme, judgement and estimation is required to evaluate the impact of the AGP on the future forecast performance of individual sites, as well as in determining the point at which the Group becomes committed to the change in use and should therefore reassess the remaining useful economic life and recoverable amount of the relevant property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets.

For sites that are planned for partial disposal under the proposed extension to the AGP, the Group has determined that these sites do not meet the classification criteria as held for sale at the balance sheet date under IFRS 5 “Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations”. Therefore, recoverability of these assets is assessed in line with IAS 36 and further judgement is required to assess the planned methodology of recoverability and whether this is through cash flows arising from use or sale.

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

5. Key audit matters continued

5.1. Impairment and impairment reversals of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets continued

Key estimates and judgements
Estimates and judgement are required in assessing the appropriate treatment under IAS 36, IFRS 5, and IFRS 13 “Fair Value Measurement” which are set out below:
* determining which cash-generating units (“CGUs”) show indicators of impairment or impairment reversal;
* assessing management’s judgement that cash flows from continuing use are negligible for sites identified for disposal that do not meet the criteria for classification as held for sale under IFRS 5, and that the assets’ value is expected to be realised primarily through sale;
* estimating future trading cash flow projections, including the impact of the extension of AGP;
* estimating the fair value and cost of disposal of property assets to be disposed; and
* considering the appropriateness of the valuation methodology, as well as inputs to these.

The Group’s accounting policy on impairment, the critical judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in relation to impairment testing are disclosed in Note 2 in the financial statements. In addition, impairment testing of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets is also a significant matter considered by the Audit Committee, as discussed on page 110.

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT CONTINUED

To the members of Whitbread PLC

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 151

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

How the scope of our audit responded to the key audit matter
Our audit procedures in response to the identified key audit matter included:
* obtaining an understanding of the relevant controls relating to the impairment review process and determination of cash flow forecasts;
* assessing the appropriateness of the valuation methodologies adopted and the valuation results used by management to identify impairment indicators, including the consistency of these with the requirements of IAS 36, IFRS 5 and IFRS 13;
* evaluating the mechanical accuracy of the impairment calculations;
* assessing the appropriateness of the impairment assessment of sites impacted by the AGP through comparison to board-approved plans; this was done with reference to historical forecasting accuracy and external market data such as industry forecasts;
* for assets within a CGU that are expected to be realised through sale, challenging management’s judgement that cash flows from trading are negligible by comparing net trading cash flows with the expected future cashflows (including the fair value of the disposal proceeds and costs to sell), taking into account the specific circumstances of individual sites;
* inquiring with key management personnel and inspecting relevant board minutes to assess the completeness of management’s assessment; and
* assessing the completeness and accuracy of disclosures within the financial statements with reference to relevant IFRS requirements.

Key observations
Based on the audit procedures performed, we are satisfied that the impairment and impairment reversals recognised in the year are appropriate. We consider the disclosures, including the sensitivities in Note 14, to be appropriate.

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

5. Key audit matters continued

5.1. Impairment and impairment reversals of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets continued

6. Our application of materiality

6.1. Materiality

We define materiality as the magnitude of misstatement in the financial statements that makes it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable person would be changed or influenced. We use materiality both in planning the scope of our audit work and in evaluating the results of our work. Based on our professional judgement, we determined materiality for the financial statements as a whole as follows:

	Group financial statements	Parent company financial statements
Materiality	£22.0 million (2025: £25.0 million)	£18.7 million (2025: £21.2 million)
Basis for determining materiality	We have determined materiality to be £22.0 million based on 4.6% (2025: 4.8%) of adjusted profit before tax (as defined in Note 6).	Materiality was determined on the basis of the parent company’s net assets. This was then capped at 85% of Group materiality. In the prior year, this was also capped at 85% of Group materiality.
Rationale for the benchmark applied	In determining the benchmark for the current year, we have considered the focus of the users of the financial statements on the Group’s trading performance and determined that adjusted profit before tax is the most appropriate benchmark, consistent with our approach in the prior year.	The entity is non-trading and contains investments in all the Group’s trading components and as a result, in line with prior year, we have determined materiality using net assets as our benchmark for the current year.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 152

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

6. Our application of materiality continued

6.1. Materiality continued

Adjusted PBT	Group Materiality
Adjusted PBT £483.1m	Group materiality £22.0m
Component performance materiality range	£6.2m to £14.6m
Audit Committee reporting threshold	£1.1m

6.2. Performance materiality

We set performance materiality at a level lower than materiality to reduce the probability that, in aggregate, uncorrected and undetected misstatements exceed the materiality for the financial statements as a whole.

	Group financial statements	Parent company financial statements
Performance materiality	70% (2025: 70%) of Group materiality	70% (2025: 70%) of parent company materiality

Basis and rationale for determining performance materiality
In determining performance materiality, we considered the following factors:
* our understanding of the entity and its environment, including our assessment of the Group’s overall control environment;
* our cumulative knowledge of the Group, including the nature, quantum and volume of corrected and uncorrected misstatements in prior periods; and
* our understanding of accounting issues that require significant judgement.

6.3. Error reporting threshold

We agreed with the Audit Committee that we would report to the Committee all audit differences in excess of £1.1 million (2025: £1.3 million), as well as differences below that threshold that, in our view, warranted reporting on qualitative grounds. We also report to the Audit Committee on disclosure matters that we identified when assessing the overall presentation of the financial statements.

7. An overview of the scope of our audit

7.1. Identification and scoping of components

Our Group audit was scoped by obtaining an understanding of the Group and its environment, including Group-wide controls and assessing the risks of material misstatement at the Group level. The Group has three (2025: three) segments and the financial statements reflect a consolidation of entities covering centralised functions, operating units, and non-trading legal entities. Components were selected on a segment level to provide an appropriate basis for undertaking audit work to address the risks of material misstatement. Our scoping consisted of performing a risk-based approach considering both quantitative and qualitative factors to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to address the risk of material misstatement over the Group financial statements. Based on our assessment, we have focused our audit on the UK & Ireland business as well as the Central business function, which were subject to audits of their entire financial information.Additionally, we performed audit procedures on specified classes of transactions, account balances or disclosures for the German business. The Group audit team performed all audit work, and the scope of our audit procedures covered 89.8% of the Group’s revenues and 99.4% of total assets within the Group. Our audit procedures were performed to component performance materialities ranging from £6.2 million (2025: £7.0 million) to £14.6 million (2025: £16.6 million). At the Group level, we also tested the consolidation process and have performed analytical review procedures on other wholly owned and joint venture businesses.

	Full audit scope	Review at group level
Revenue	90%	10%
Total assets	>99%	<1%

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT CONTINUED

To the members of Whitbread PLC

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 153

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

7. An overview of the scope of our audit continued

7.2. Our consideration of the control environment

The Whitbread IT landscape contains a number of IT systems, applications and tools used to support business processes and for reporting. In line with our scoping of components (refer to section 7.1) our work in relation to IT controls focused on the UK component. We performed an independent risk assessment of the systems, applications and tools to determine those which are of greatest relevance to the Group’s financial reporting, including those that contain system-configured automated controls that host financially relevant data and associated reports. In addition, we tested the relevant manual business controls alongside the automated controls.

With involvement from our IT specialists, we performed testing of General IT Controls (“GITCs”) of these systems, typically covering controls over user access management, change management and interfaces with other systems relating to in scope IT systems (including Oracle Fusion) as well as controls over key reports generated from the IT systems and their supporting infrastructure (database and operating system). We also performed certain procedures over the hotel management system implemented last year.

In order to evaluate IT controls, we performed walkthrough procedures of relevant controls in key business cycles, including revenue, property, plant and equipment, right-of-use assets, and lease liabilities to understand whether the purpose of the control was effectively designed to address the IT-related risk. We then performed testing of the relevant controls across the audit period, to determine whether the control had been consistently applied as designed. Our procedures enabled us to place reliance on IT controls, as planned, in the audit approach across a number of business cycles, where audit quality and effectiveness are enhanced by doing so.

Based on the testing performed, we adopted a controls reliance approach over the processes supporting revenue, right-of-use assets, lease liabilities, and additions to property, plant and equipment. The Board’s discussion of the internal controls and risk management framework is set out on page 94.

7.3. Our consideration of climate-related risks

As described on pages 74 to 87, the Group has assessed the risks and opportunities associated with various future climate-related scenarios. The Group’s full Task Force on Climate-related financial disclosures report outlines the process they have taken to identify the principal climate-related issues which have affected and will potentially affect the business. We have considered the Group’s assessment of the impact of these risks and the opportunities on the financial statements and their conclusion that there is no material impact on the financial performance and position of the Group (as described in Note 2 to the financial statements). As part of our risk assessment procedures, we have performed the following:

obtained an understanding of the Group’s process and controls in considering the impact of climate risks;
performed enquiries of management and those charged with governance to understand the impact of climate-related risks;
assessed whether the risks identified by the entity are complete and consistent with our understanding of the entity;
performed a review of the climate change risk assessment and related documentation prepared by management including the basis for the quantification of risks and opportunities, and read the Task Force on Climate-related financial disclosures report on pages 74 to 87 to consider whether they are materially consistent with the financial statements and our knowledge obtained in the audit; and
evaluated whether appropriate disclosures have been made in relation to climate-related risks in the financial statements.

8. Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, strategic report on pages 1 to 87 and the governance reports on pages 88 to 147, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 154

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

9. Responsibilities of Directors

As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibility statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s and the parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the Group or the parent company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

10. Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the FRC’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

11. Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below.

11.1. Identifying and assessing potential risks related to irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we considered the following:

the nature of the industry and sector, control environment and business performance including the design of the Group’s remuneration policies, key drivers for directors’ remuneration, bonus levels and performance targets;
results of our enquiries of management, internal audit, the directors and the Audit Committee about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, including those that are specific to the Group’s sector;
any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the Group’s documentation of their policies and procedures relating to:
- identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
- detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; and
- the internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations;
the matters discussed among the audit engagement team and relevant internal specialists, including tax, valuations, financial instruments, pensions, IT, real estate, and industry specialists regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud.As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following area: impairment and impairment reversals of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override of controls. We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework within which the Group operates, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the UK Companies Act, Listing Rules, pensions legislation, UK corporate governance legislation, tax legislation and health and safety legislation. In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the Group’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT CONTINUED

To the members of Whitbread PLC

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 155
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Report on the audit of the financial statements continued

11. Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud continued

11.2. Audit response to risks identified

As a result of performing the above, we identified impairment and impairment reversals of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets as a key audit matter related to the potential risk of fraud. The key audit matters section of our report explains the matter in more detail and also describes the specific procedures we performed in response to that key audit matter.

In addition to the above, our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following:
* reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;
* enquiring of management, the Audit Committee and General Counsel concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;
* performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;
* reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance, reviewing internal audit reports and reviewing correspondence with relevant tax authorities; and
* in addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members including internal specialists, and remained alert to any indications of fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements

12. Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
* the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
* the strategic report and the directors’ report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the parent company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified any material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report.

13. Corporate Governance Statement

The Listing Rules require us to review the directors’ statement in relation to going concern, longer-term viability and that part of the Corporate Governance Statement relating to the Group’s compliance with the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified for our review. Based on the work undertaken as part of our audit, we have concluded that each of the following elements of the Corporate Governance Statement is materially consistent with the financial statements and our knowledge obtained during the audit:
* the directors’ statement with regards to the appropriateness of adopting the going concern basis of accounting and any material uncertainties identified set out on page 142;
* the directors’ explanation as to its assessment of the Group’s prospects, the period this assessment covers and why the period is appropriate set out on page 72;
* the directors’ statement on fair, balanced and understandable set out on page 112;
* the board’s confirmation that it has carried out a robust assessment of the emerging and principal risks set out on page 64;
* the section of the annual report that describes the review of effectiveness of risk management and internal control systems set out on page 112; and
* the section describing the work of the Audit Committee set out on page 109.

14. Matters on which we are required to report by exception

14.1. Adequacy of explanations received and accounting records

Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
* we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
* adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
* the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns.

We have nothing to report in respect of these matters.

14.2. Directors’ remuneration

Under the Companies Act 2006 we are also required to report if in our opinion certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration have not been made or the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited is not in agreement with the accounting records and returns.

We have nothing to report in respect of these matters.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 156
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements continued

15. Other matters which we are required to address

15.1. Auditor tenure

Following the recommendation of the Audit Committee, we were appointed by members on 21 June 2015 to audit the financial statements for the year ending 3 March 2016 and subsequent financial periods. Following a further competitive tender process, we were reappointed by members at the 2024 Annual General Meeting, to audit the financial statements for the year ending 26 February 2026 and subsequent financial periods. The period of total uninterrupted engagement including previous renewals and reappointments of the firm is 11 years covering the years ending 3 March 2016 to 26 February 2026.

15.2. Consistency of the audit report with the additional report to the Audit Committee

Our audit opinion is consistent with the additional report to the Audit Committee we are required to provide in accordance with ISAs (UK).

16. Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

As required by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rule (DTR) 4.1.15R – DTR 4.1.18R, these financial statements form part of the Electronic Format Annual Financial Report filed on the National Storage Mechanism of the FCA in accordance with DTR 4.1.15R – DTR 4.1.18R. This auditor’s report provides no assurance over whether the Electronic Format Annual Financial Report has been prepared in compliance with DTR 4.1.15R – DTR 4.1.18R.

William Smith, FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)
For and on behalf of Deloitte LLP
Statutory Auditor
London, UK
29 April 2026

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT CONTINUED
To the members of Whitbread PLC
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 157
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

	Notes	52 weeks to 26 February 2026			52 weeks to 27 February 2025
		Adjusted £m	Adjusting items (Note 6) £m	Total £m	Adjusted £m	Adjusting items (Note 6) £m	Total £m
Continuing operations
Revenue	3	2,920.2	—	2,920.2	2,921.9	—	2,921.9
Other income	4	6.6	2.6	9.2	6.5	0.9	7.4
Operating costs	5	(2,282.6)	(187.3)	(2,469.9)	(2,303.5)	(116.5)	(2,420.0)
Operating profit before joint ventures		644.2	(184.7)	459.5	624.9	(115.6)	509.3
Share of profit from joint ventures	16	4.7	—	4.7	4.7	—	4.7
Operating profit	3	648.9	(184.7)	464.2	629.6	(115.6)	514.0
Finance costs	8	(200.3)	—	(200.3)	(188.5)	—	(188.5)
Finance income	8	34.5	—	34.5	42.3	—	42.3
Profit before tax	3	483.1	(184.7)	298.4	483.4	(115.6)	367.8
Tax expense	9	(123.2)	37.7	(85.5)	(134.4)	20.3	(114.1)
Profit for the year		359.9	(147.0)	212.9	349.0	(95.3)	253.7

Earnings per share (Note 10)	52 weeks to 26 February 2026			52 weeks to 27 February 2025
	Adjusted pence	Adjusting items pence	Total pence	Adjusted pence	Adjusting items pence	Total pence
Basic	208.5	(85.2)	123.3	194.6	(53.1)	141.5
Diluted	207.0	(84.6)	122.4	193.4	(52.8)	140.6

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 158
CONSOLIDATED# STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Year ended 26 February 2026

	Notes	52 weeks to 26 February 2026 £m	52 weeks to 27 February 2025 £m
Profit for the year		212.9	253.7
Items that will not be reclassified to the income statement:
Remeasurement loss on defined benefit pension scheme	32	(11.3)	(51.7)
Current tax on defined benefit pension scheme	9	(1.7)	(1.8)
Deferred tax on defined benefit pension scheme	9	4.3	14.4
		(8.7)	(39.1)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to the income statement:
Net gain on cash flow hedges:
Net fair value movement	25	0.7	5.7
Reclassified and reported in the consolidated income statement	25	1.6	8.8
Deferred tax on cash flow hedges	9	(0.6)	(3.6)
Net (loss)/gain on hedge of a net investment	25	(22.0)	16.1
Current tax on hedge of a net investment	9	3.3	(2.1)
(Credit)/costs in relation to hedging	25	(1.4)	1.1
		(18.4)	26.0
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations		29.2	(20.9)
Current tax on exchange differences on translation of foreign operations	9	(3.5)	2.4
		25.7	(18.5)
Other comprehensive loss for the year, net of tax		(1.4)	(31.6)
Total comprehensive income for the year, net of tax		211.5	222.1

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 159 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

Year ended 26 February 2026

	Share capital £m	Share premium £m	Capital redemption reserve £m	Retained earnings £m	Currency translation reserve £m	Other reserves £m	Total equity £m
At 29 February 2024	151.8	1,031.8	63.5	4,645.3	25.9	(2,398.9)	3,519.4
Profit for the year	—	—	—	253.7	—	—	253.7
Other comprehensive (loss)/income	—	—	—	(39.1)	(3.9)	11.4	(31.6)
Total comprehensive income/(loss)	—	—	—	214.6	(3.9)	11.4	222.1
Ordinary shares issued (Note 27)	0.1	7.0	—	—	—	—	7.1
Loss on ESOT shares issued	—	—	—	(8.1)	—	8.1	—
Accrued share-based payments (Note 31)	—	—	—	16.8	—	—	16.8
Tax on share-based payments	—	—	—	(0.8)	—	—	(0.8)
Equity dividends paid	—	—	—	(178.1)	—	—	(178.1)
Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation	(6.8)	—	6.8	(252.0)	—	—	(252.0)
Conversion of preference share capital	0.1	(0.1)	—	—	—	—	—
At 27 February 2025	145.2	1,038.7	70.3	4,437.7	22.0	(2,379.4)	3,334.5
Profit for the year	—	—	—	212.9	—	—	212.9
Other comprehensive (loss)/income	—	—	—	(8.7)	13.6	(6.3)	(1.4)
Total comprehensive income/(loss)	—	—	—	204.2	13.6	(6.3)	211.5
Ordinary shares issued (Note 27)	0.1	5.1	—	—	—	—	5.2
Loss on ESOT shares issued	—	—	—	(13.8)	—	13.8	—
Accrued share-based payments (Note 31)	—	—	—	16.7	—	—	16.7
Tax on share-based payments	—	—	—	(0.1)	—	—	(0.1)
Equity dividends paid	—	—	—	(168.8)	—	—	(168.8)
Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation	(6.7)	—	6.7	(251.3)	—	—	(251.3)
Purchase of ESOT shares (Note 28)	—	—	—	—	—	(11.3)	(11.3)
At 26 February 2026	138.6	1,043.8	77.0	4,224.6	35.6	(2,383.2)	3,136.4

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 160

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

At 26 February 2026

	Notes	26 February 2026 £m	27 February 2025 £m
Assets
Intangible assets	12	161.0	174.3
Right-of-use assets	22	3,838.1	3,662.7
Property, plant and equipment	13	4,884.4	4,677.4
Investment in joint ventures	16	54.0	54.4
Deferred tax assets	9	3.0	—
Derivative financial instruments	25	0.1	—
Defined benefit pension surplus	32	131.9	134.6
Total non-current assets		9,072.5	8,703.4
Inventories	17	11.0	17.1
Derivative financial instruments	25	—	19.9
Current tax assets		6.2	—
Trade and other receivables	18	136.7	127.1
Cash and cash equivalents	19	233.7	909.0
Total current assets		387.6	1,073.1
Assets classified as held for sale	15	108.5	128.2
Total assets		9,568.6	9,904.7
Liabilities
Borrowings	20	—	450.0
Lease liabilities	22	175.6	167.0
Provisions	23	22.4	27.6
Derivative financial instruments	25	—	1.4
Current tax liabilities		1.7	12.2
Trade and other payables	26	689.7	660.8
Total current liabilities		889.4	1,319.0
Borrowings	20	943.0	942.4
Lease liabilities	22	4,347.5	4,066.8
Provisions	23	6.1	7.2
Derivative financial instruments	25	9.5	—
Deferred tax liabilities	9	236.7	234.8
Total non-current liabilities		5,542.8	5,251.2
Total liabilities		6,432.2	6,570.2
Net assets		3,136.4	3,334.5

	Notes	26 February 2026 £m	27 February 2025 £m
Equity
Share capital	27	138.6	145.2
Share premium	28	1,043.8	1,038.7
Capital redemption reserve	28	77.0	70.3
Retained earnings	28	4,224.6	4,437.7
Currency translation reserve	28	35.6	22.0
Other reserves	28	(2,383.2)	(2,379.4)
Total equity		3,136.4	3,334.5

Dominic Paul Chief Executive 29 April 2026 Hemant Patel Chief Financial Officer
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 161 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

Year ended 26 February 2026

	Notes	52 weeks to 26 February 2026 £m	52 weeks to 27 February 2025 £m
Cash generated from operations	29	1,072.6	1,004.5
Payments against provisions		(21.9)	(15.5)
Defined benefit pension payments	32	(6.3)	(17.9)
Interest paid on lease liabilities	22	(177.0)	(166.7)
Interest paid on other items		(43.6)	(26.0)
Interest received		28.7	33.5
Corporation taxes paid		(99.7)	(50.2)
Net cash flows from operating activities		752.8	761.7
Cash flows used in investing activities
Cash paid in advance for purchase of property related assets		(21.8)	(12.2)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment	3	(655.7)	(466.4)
Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment		30.7	81.0
Proceeds from sale and leaseback of property		282.2	55.5
Investment in intangible assets	3	(19.7)	(19.6)
Payment of deferred and contingent consideration		—	(1.9)
Distributions received from joint ventures	16	1.4	1.2
Net cash flows used in investing activities		(382.9)	(362.4)
Cash flows used in financing activities
Proceeds from issue of ordinary shares		5.2	7.1
Proceeds from issuance of debt		—	398.3
Payment of facility fees and costs of long-term borrowings		—	(3.1)
Net lease incentives (paid)/received		(3.1)	2.7
Payment of principal of lease liabilities		(172.9)	(148.7)
Drawdown of RCF facility (short-term)	20	50.0	—
Repayment of RCF facility (short-term)	20	(50.0)	—
Repayment of bonds	20	(450.0)	—
Net settlement of cross-currency swaps		(3.8)	—
Net settlement of FX swaps		8.8	—
Dividends paid	11	(168.8)	(178.1)
Purchase of own shares, including transaction costs for buy-back programme	27	(250.4)	(264.3)
Purchase of own shares for ESOT	28	(11.3)	—
Net cash flows used in financing activities		(1,046.3)	(186.1)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents	21	(676.4)	213.2
Opening cash and cash equivalents	21	909.0	696.7
Foreign exchange differences	21	1.1	(0.9)
Closing cash and cash equivalents	19	233.7	909.0

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 162

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Year ended 26 February 2026

1. General information and authorisation of consolidated financial statements

The consolidated financial statements of Whitbread PLC for the year ended 26 February 2026 were authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 29 April 2026. Whitbread PLC is a public company limited by shares incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act and is registered in England and Wales. The Company’s ordinary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. The address of the registered office is shown on page 142. Whitbread PLC and its subsidiaries and joint ventures operate hotels and restaurants located in the UK and internationally.

2. Accounting policies

Basis of accounting and preparation
The consolidated financial statements of Whitbread PLC and all its subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and UK-adopted International Accounting Standards. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, except for certain financial instruments that are measured at fair value at the end of each reporting period, assets classified as held for sale and the defined benefit pension scheme as explained in the accounting policies below. The consolidated financial statements are presented in pounds sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand except when otherwise indicated. The financial year represents the 52 weeks to 26 February 2026 (prior financial year: 52 weeks to 27 February 2025).

Going concern
The Group’s and Company’s (the “Group”) business activities, together with the factors likely to affect future development, performance and position, are set out in the Strategic Report. The Group’s financial position, cash flows, liquidity and borrowing facilities are described in the Financial Review. The principal risks and uncertainties faced by the Group are detailed in the Risk Management section and Note 24 to the financial statements includes the Group’s financial Risk Management objectives, its financial instruments and hedging activities, exposure to liquidity risk and details of its capital structure. The Directors have considered these areas alongside the principal risks and the potential impact on the Group’s ability to continue as a Going Concern. Details of the Group’s available and drawn facilities are provided in Note 20. At the year end, the Group held cash and cash equivalents of £233.7m and had access to committed borrowing facilities of £775.0m, of which £nil had been drawn. The Group’s forecasts demonstrate that it is expected to maintain significant financial resources and operate within its covenant for at least 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements. In the event that additional funding was required, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that such funding could be secured through existing financing channels. The Directors have also considered the potential impact of climate-related factors on cash flows and liquidity over the period of the assessment and do not expect these to materially affect the Group’s ability to continue to operate.After due consideration of all relevant factors, the Directors are satisfied that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, being a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing these financial statements. Accordingly, the financial statements have been prepared on a Going Concern basis.

Changes in accounting policies

The accounting policies adopted in the preparation of these consolidated financial statements are consistent with those followed in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 27 February 2025, except for the adoption of the new standards and policies applicable for the year ended 26 February 2026. The significant accounting policies adopted during the year are set out below. They have been assessed as not having a material financial impact.

The Group has applied the following standards and amendments for the first time for the annual reporting period commencing 1 March 2025:

Amendments to IAS 21 – Lack of Exchangeability (effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025). These amendments did not have a material impact on the Group’s financial statements.

Standards issued by the IASB not effective for the current year and not early adopted by the Group

The Group intends to apply the Amendment to IFRS 9 as issued by the IASB in May 2024 for the first time retrospectively in next year’s Annual Report and Accounts therefore would disclose 2026 year-end cash at bank and in hand as shown in the table in Note 19:

Amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7 – Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments (effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026).

The impact of the following is under assessment:

IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements, which will become effective in the consolidated Group financial statements for the financial year ending 26 February 2028.

Whilst the following standards and amendments are relevant to the Group, they have been assessed as not having a material impact nor additional disclosure requirements at this time:

Annual improvements to IFRS – volume 11 (effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026).
IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures (effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027).

The Group does not intend to early adopt any of these new standards or amendments.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 163 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements incorporate the accounts of Whitbread PLC and all its subsidiaries, together with the Group’s share of the net assets and results of joint ventures incorporated using the equity method of accounting. These are adjusted, where appropriate, to conform to Group accounting policies. The financial statements of significant trading subsidiaries are prepared for the same reporting year as the parent company.

A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the Group. Control is achieved when the Company:

has power over the investee;
is exposed, or has rights, to variable returns from its involvement with the investee; and
has the ability to use its power to affect its returns.

The Company reassesses whether or not it controls an investee if facts and circumstances indicate that there are changes to one or more of the three elements of control listed above.

Apart from the acquisition of Whitbread Group PLC by Whitbread PLC in 2000/01, which was accounted for using merger accounting, acquisitions by the Group are accounted for under the acquisition method and any goodwill arising is capitalised as an intangible asset. The results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the year are included in the consolidated financial statements from, or up to, the date that control passes respectively.

All intra-Group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation. Unrealised losses are also eliminated, unless the transaction provides evidence of an impairment of the asset transferred.

Business combinations

Acquisitions of businesses are accounted for using the acquisition method. The consideration transferred in a business combination is measured at fair value, which is calculated as the sum of the acquisition-date fair values of assets transferred by the Group, liabilities incurred by the Group to the former owners of the acquiree and any equity interest issued by the Group in exchange for control of the acquiree. Acquisition-related costs are recognised in the consolidated income statement as incurred.

When the consideration transferred by the Group in a business combination includes contingent consideration, the contingent consideration is measured at its acquisition-date fair value and included as part of the consideration transferred in a business combination. Changes in fair value of the contingent consideration that qualify as measurement period adjustments are adjusted retrospectively, with corresponding adjustments against goodwill. Measurement period adjustments are adjustments that arise from additional information obtained during the ‘measurement period’ (which cannot exceed one year from the acquisition date) about facts and circumstances that existed at the acquisition date. Changes in the fair value of the contingent consideration at subsequent reporting dates that do not qualify as measurement period adjustments are recognised within finance costs in the consolidated income statement, unless the contingent consideration is classified as equity.

If the initial accounting for a business combination is incomplete by the end of the reporting period in which the combination occurs, the Group reports provisional amounts for the items for which the accounting is incomplete. Those provisional amounts are adjusted during the measurement period (see above), or additional assets or liabilities are recognised, to reflect new information obtained about facts and circumstances that existed as of the acquisition date that, if known, would have affected the amounts recognised as of that date.

During this and the previous year, the Group has purchased a number of properties; the legal form of the transactions varies between acquisition of the property or acquisition of the company holding title of the property, as well as noting that a number of properties are purchased in a condition that means they do not meet the definition of a business on acquisition. For the remaining properties which do meet the definition of being a business on acquisition, these transactions have been accounted for as asset acquisitions under IFRS 3 Business Combinations as the fair value of the assets is concentrated in a single group of similar assets in each deal analysed. The transactions form part of the Group’s strategic priorities over both international growth and continued UK market share gains.

Goodwill

Goodwill arising on acquisition is capitalised and represents the excess of the fair value of consideration over the value of the Group’s interest in the identifiable assets and liabilities of a subsidiary, at the date of acquisition. Goodwill is not amortised but reviewed for impairment annually, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may be impaired. On disposal of a subsidiary, the attributable amount of goodwill is included in the determination of the profit or loss on disposal.

Intangible assets

Intangible assets are carried at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Intangible assets acquired separately from a business are carried initially at cost. An intangible asset acquired as part of a business combination is recognised at fair value, separately from goodwill if the asset is separable, or arises from contractual or other legal rights, and its fair value can be measured reliably.

Amortisation of IT software and technology is calculated on a straight-line basis over the estimated life which varies between three and ten years. The carrying values are reviewed for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate that they may not be recoverable.

Software as a Service (SaaS) arrangements

SaaS arrangements are service contracts providing the Company with the right to access the cloud provider’s application software over the contract period. Costs incurred to configure or customise, and the ongoing fees to obtain access to the cloud provider’s application software, are recognised as operating expenses when the services are received.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 164 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

2. Accounting policies continued

Intangible assets continued

Some of these costs incurred are for the development of software code that enhances or modifies, or creates additional capability to, existing on-premise systems and meets the definition of and recognition criteria for an intangible asset. These costs are recognised as intangible software assets and amortised over the useful life of the software on a straight-line basis. The useful lives of these assets are reviewed at least at the end of each financial year, and any change accounted for prospectively as a change in accounting estimate.

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment acquired separately from a business are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment. Gross interest costs incurred on the financing of qualifying assets are capitalised until the time that the assets are available for use. Property, plant and equipment acquired as part of a business combination are recognised at fair value.Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset as follows:
• freehold land is not depreciated;
• freehold and long leasehold buildings are depreciated to their estimated residual values over periods up to 50 years; and
• plant and equipment is depreciated over 3 to 25 years.

The residual values and estimated useful lives are reviewed annually. Profits or losses on disposal of property, plant and equipment reflect the difference between net selling price and carrying amount at the date of disposal and are recognised in the consolidated income statement.

Leases

Right-of-use assets

A contract contains a lease if the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration, these assets are called right-of-use assets. The Group recognises right-of-use assets for hotel and restaurant properties along with other equipment at the commencement date of the lease (i.e. the date the underlying asset is available for use). Right-of-use assets are measured at cost, less any accumulated depreciation and impairment losses, and adjusted for any remeasurement of lease liabilities. The cost of right-of-use assets includes the amount of lease liabilities recognised, initial direct costs incurred, and lease payments made at or before the commencement date, less any lease incentives received. Unless the Group is reasonably certain to obtain ownership of the leased asset at the end of the lease term, the recognised right-of-use asset is depreciated over the shorter of its estimated useful life and lease term.

Lease liabilities

At the commencement date of the lease, the Group recognises lease liabilities measured at the present value of lease payments to be made over the lease term. The lease payments include fixed payments and variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate less any lease incentives receivable. Variable lease payments that do not depend on an index or a rate (e.g. turnover rent) are recognised as an expense in the period over which the event or condition that triggers the payment occurs. The Group incurs service charges on property leases which are non-lease components of the contract under IFRS 16 and therefore these charges are recorded separately within operating costs.

In calculating the present value of lease payments, the Group uses the incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date if the interest rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable. Incremental borrowing rates are determined quarterly and depend on the country, currency and start date of the lease. The incremental borrowing rate is determined based on a series of inputs including: the risk-free rate based on government bond rates; a country-specific risk adjustment; and a credit risk adjustment based on the Group’s credit rating.

After the commencement date, the amount of lease liabilities is increased to reflect lease interest charges and reduced for lease payments made. In addition, the carrying amount of lease liabilities is remeasured if there is a modification or a change in the lease term. Cash outflows relating to lease interest are recorded within net cash flows from operating activities and cash outflows relating to principal repayments are included within net cash flows from financing activities in the consolidated cash flow statement.

Group as a lessor

Leases are classified as finance leases where the terms of the agreement transfer substantially all risks and rewards of ownership to the lessee. All other leases are treated as operating leases, with rental income recognised on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Sale and leaseback

A sale and leaseback transaction occurs when the Group sells an asset and immediately reacquires the use of the same asset in the same state as sold by entering into a lease with the buyer. A sale occurs when control of the underlying asset passes to the buyer. A lease liability is recognised, the associated property, plant and equipment asset is derecognised, and a right-of-use asset is recognised at the proportion of the carrying value relating to the right retained. Any gain or loss arising therefore relates to the rights transferred to the buyer and development of the underlying asset.

Impairment of non-current assets

Property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets

The carrying values of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying values may not be recoverable. Individual assets are grouped into cash generating units (CGUs), for impairment purposes, at the lowest level at which there are identifiable cash flows that are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets.

165 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Impairment of non-current assets continued

Property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets continued

The recoverable amount of an asset or CGU is the greater of its fair value less costs of disposal (FVLCD) and value in use (VIU). For an asset that does not generate largely independent cash inflows, the recoverable amount is determined with reference to the CGU to which the asset belongs. In estimating value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value, using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset. To estimate fair value less costs of disposal, the Group uses a number of techniques including third-party valuations, market multiple approaches and discounted cash flows.

Impairment charges

An impairment loss is recognised if the carrying amount of an asset or CGU exceeds its estimated recoverable amount. Impairment losses recognised in respect of CGUs are allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the units and then to reduce the carrying amounts of other assets in the CGU, on a pro rata basis. Any impairment in the values of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets is charged to the consolidated income statement within operating costs.

Impairment reversals

An assessment is made at each reporting date as to whether there is any indication that previously recognised impairment losses may no longer exist or may have decreased. If such an indication exists, the CGU’s recoverable amount is estimated. A previously recognised impairment loss is reversed only if there has been a change in the estimated future cash flows used to determine the asset’s recoverable amount since the last impairment loss was recognised. If that is the case, the carrying amount of the asset is increased to its recoverable amount. That increased amount cannot exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined, net of depreciation, had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset in prior years. Such a reversal is recognised in the consolidated income statement. After such a reversal, the depreciation charge is adjusted in future periods to allocate the asset’s carrying amount, less any residual value, on a straight-line basis over its remaining useful life.

Central assets

For the purposes of impairment testing, all centrally held assets are allocated in line with IAS 36 to CGUs based on management’s view of the consumption of the asset. Any resulting impairment is recorded against the centrally held asset.

Goodwill

Goodwill acquired through business combinations is allocated to groups of CGUs at the level management monitors goodwill, which is at an operating segment level. The Group performs an annual review of its goodwill to ensure that its carrying amount is not greater than its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is determined as the greater of fair value, less costs of disposal and value in use. Where required, an impairment is then made to reduce the carrying amount to the recoverable amount.

Investments in joint ventures

The Group assesses investments for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. If any such indication of impairment exists, the carrying amount of the investment is compared with its recoverable amount. Where the carrying amount exceeds the recoverable amount, the investment is written down to its recoverable amount.

Assets held for sale

Non-current assets and disposal groups are classified as held for sale only if available for immediate sale in their present condition and a sale is highly probable and expected to be completed within one year from the date of classification. Such assets are measured at the lower of carrying amount and fair value, less the cost of disposal, and are not depreciated or amortised. In accordance with IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, the net results of discontinued operations are presented separately in the consolidated income statement.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Cost is calculated on the basis of first in, first out and net realisable value is the estimated selling price less any costs to sell.

Provisions

Provisions are recognised when the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, it is probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. Provisions are discounted to present value, using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the liability. The amortisation of the discount is recognised as a finance cost. Onerous contracts Present obligations arising under onerous contracts are recognised and measured as provisions.An onerous contract is considered to exist where the Group has a contract under which the unavoidable costs of meeting the obligations under the contract exceed the economic benefits expected to be received under it.

Restructuring costs

A restructuring provision is recognised when the Group has developed a detailed formal plan and has raised a valid expectation, in those affected, that it will carry out the restructuring by starting to implement the plan or announcing its main features to those affected by it. The measurement of a restructuring provision includes only the direct expenditures arising from the restructuring, which are those amounts that are both necessarily entailed by the restructuring and not associated with the ongoing activities of the entity.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
166 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

2. Accounting policies continued

Provisions continued

Property-related remediation
The Group recognises provisions for property-related remediation where it has a present obligation, it is probable that an outflow will be required and a reliable estimate can be made, with amounts measured at the best estimate of expected remediation costs. Matters not meeting these criteria remain as contingent liabilities. While the Group seeks to recover costs from original developers or other responsible parties, no asset is recognised until recovery is virtually certain. The Group has previously disclosed as contingent liabilities property-related topics in relation to Fire Safety (including Cladding Materials) which it has now provided for known items and therefore does not continue to disclose these matters further in the Notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Adjusting items and use of alternative performance measures

We use a range of measures to monitor the financial performance of the Group. These measures include both statutory measures in accordance with IFRS and alternative performance measures (APMs) which are consistent with the way the business performance is measured internally by the Board and Executive Committee. A glossary of APMs and reconciliations to statutory measures is given on pages 227 to 233.

The term ‘adjusted profit’ is not defined under IFRS and may not be directly comparable with adjusted profit measures used by other companies. It is not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, statutory measures of profit. Adjusted measures of profitability are non-IFRS because they exclude amounts that are included in, or include amounts that are excluded from, the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS.

The Group makes certain adjustments to the statutory profit measures in order to derive many of its APMs. The Group’s policy is to exclude items that are considered to be significant in nature and quantum, not in the normal course of business or are consistent with items that were treated as adjusting in prior periods or that span multiple financial periods. Treatment as an adjusting item provides users of the accounts with additional useful information to assess the year-on-year trading performance of the Group. On this basis, the following are examples of items that may be classified as adjusting items:

net charges associated with the strategic review of the Group’s hotel and restaurant property estate;
significant restructuring costs and other associated costs arising from strategy changes that are not considered by the Group to be part of the normal operating costs of the business;
significant pension charges arising as a result of the changes to UK defined benefit scheme practices;
net impairment and related charges for sites which are/were underperforming that are considered to be significant in nature and/or value to the trading performance of the business;
costs in relation to non-trading legacy sites which are deemed to be significant and not reflective of the Group’s ongoing trading results;
transformation and change costs associated with the implementation of the Group’s IT strategic programme;
profit or loss on the sale of a business or investment, and the associated cost impact on the continuing business from the sale of the business or investment;
acquisition costs incurred as part of a business combination or other strategic asset acquisitions;
amortisation of intangible assets recognised as part of a business combination or other transaction outside of the ordinary course of business; and
tax settlements in respect of prior years, including the related interest and the impact of changes in the statutory tax rate, the inclusion of which would distort year-on-year comparability, as well as the tax impact of the adjusting items identified above.

The Group income statement is presented in a columnar format to enable users of the accounts to see the Group’s performance before adjusting items, the adjusting items and the statutory total on a line-by-line basis. The Directors believe that the adjusted profit and earnings per share measures provide additional useful information to shareholders on the performance of the business. These measures are consistent with how business performance is measured internally by the Board and Executive Committee.

Foreign currency translation

Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into functional currency at the rates of exchange quoted at the balance sheet date. Non-monetary items that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are translated using the exchange rates as at the dates of the initial transactions. Day-to-day transactions in a foreign currency are recorded in the functional currency at an average rate for the month in which those transactions take place, which is used as a reasonable approximation to the actual transaction rate. Translation differences on monetary items are taken to the consolidated income statement.

A number of subsidiaries within the Group have a non-sterling functional currency. The financial performance and end position of these entities are translated into sterling in the consolidated financial statements. Balance sheet items are translated at the rate applicable at the balance sheet date. Transactions reported in the consolidated income statement are translated using an average rate for the month in which they occur. The differences that arise from translating the results of foreign entities at average rates of exchange, and their assets and liabilities at closing rates, are dealt with in a separate component of equity. On disposal of a foreign entity, the deferred cumulative amount recognised in equity relating to that particular foreign operation is recognised in the consolidated income statement. All other currency gains and losses are dealt with in the income statement.

167 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Revenue recognition

Revenue is recognised at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the Group expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring goods or services to a customer. Consideration is net of discounts, allowances for customer loyalty and other promotional activities and amounts collected on behalf of other parties, such as value added tax. Revenue includes duties which the Group pays as principal.

The Group has analysed its business activities and applied the five-step model prescribed by IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers to each material line of business, as outlined below:

Sale of accommodation
The contract to provide accommodation is established when the customer books accommodation. The performance obligation is to provide the right to use accommodation for a given number of nights, and the transaction price is the room rate for each night determined at the time of booking. The performance obligation is met when the customer is given the right to use the accommodation, and so revenue is recognised for each night as it takes place, at the room rate for that night.

Sale of food and beverage
The contract is established when the customer orders the food or beverage item and the performance obligation is the provision of food and beverage by the outlet. The performance obligation is satisfied when the food and beverage are delivered to the customer, and revenue is recognised at this point at the price for the items purchased. Where payment is made on the same day there are no contract assets or liabilities.

Payment terms
Customers may pay in advance for accommodation, food and beverage. In this case the Group has received consideration for services not yet provided. This is treated as a contract liability, net of VAT, until the performance obligation is met. The Group has taken advantage of the practical expedient in IFRS 15 to not adjust the consideration for the effects of a financing component as the period between payment and the performance obligation is less than one year. Payment terms for corporate customers are generally 30 days with amounts recorded in trade and other receivables once the performance obligations have been met.

Contract costs
The Group applies the practical expedient in paragraph 94 of IFRS 15 and consequently contract costs incurred related to contracts with an amortisation period of less than one year have been expensed as incurred.

Variable consideration
The Group makes an estimate, based on historical information, of amounts that will be refunded to customers. The refund liability represents variable consideration under IFRS 15 with revenue recognised reduced by this amount and a corresponding liability recognised in other payables in the consolidated balance sheet.Certain restaurants within the Group offer customer loyalty programmes where the customer can earn vouchers for historic purchases which are redeemable as discounts on future purchases. The loyalty points issued by the Group are a separate performance obligation providing a material right to a future discount. The sales price of goods is allocated to the loyalty points and the goods sold based on their relative standalone selling prices, with the loyalty points, standalone price based on the value of the points to the customer, adjusted for expected redemption rates. The amount allocated to loyalty points is deferred as a contract liability within trade and other payables. Revenue is recognised as the points are redeemed by the customer.

Finance income

Interest income is recognised as the interest accrues, using the effective interest method.

Finance costs

Borrowing costs are recognised as an expense in the period in which they are incurred, except for gross interest costs incurred on the financing of major projects, which are capitalised until the time that the projects are available for use.

Retirement benefits

In respect of the defined benefit pension scheme, the surplus recognised in the consolidated balance sheet represents the fair value of scheme assets, reduced by the present value of the defined benefit obligation. Where the calculation results in a surplus to the Group, the recognised asset is limited to the present value of any future available refunds from the plan. The cost of providing benefits is determined using the projected unit credit actuarial valuation method. Remeasurements are recognised in full in the period in which they occur in the statement of comprehensive income and are not reclassified to the consolidated income statement in subsequent periods.

For defined benefit plans, the employer’s portion of the past and current service cost is charged to operating profit, with net interest costs reported within finance costs. In addition, all administration costs, other than those relating to the management of plan assets or taxes payable by the plan itself, are charged as incurred to operating costs in the consolidated income statement. Net interest is calculated by applying the opening discount rate to the opening net defined benefit obligation, taking into account the expected contributions and benefits paid. Curtailments and settlements relating to the Group’s defined benefit plan are recognised in the period in which the curtailment or settlement occurs. Payments to defined contribution pension schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

Year ended 26 February 2026
168 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Share-based payment transactions

Equity-settled transactions

Certain employees and Directors of the Group receive equity-settled remuneration in the form of share-based payment transactions, whereby employees render services in exchange for shares or rights over shares. The cost of these equity-settled transactions is measured by reference to the fair value, determined using a stochastic model, at the date at which they are granted. The cost of equity-settled transactions is recognised, together with a corresponding increase in equity, over the period in which the performance conditions or non-vesting conditions are fulfilled, ending on the relevant vesting date.

Except for awards subject to market-related conditions for vesting, the cumulative expense recognised for equity-settled transactions, at each reporting date until the vesting date, reflects the extent to which the vesting period has expired, and is adjusted to reflect the management’s best available estimate of the number of equity instruments that will ultimately vest. The income statement charge or credit for a period represents the movement in cumulative expense recognised as at the beginning and end of that period. If options are subject to market-related conditions, awards are not cumulatively adjusted for the likelihood of these targets being met. Instead, these conditions are included in the fair value of the awards.

Where an equity-settled award is cancelled, it is treated as if it had vested on the date of cancellation, and any expense not yet recognised for the award is recognised immediately. Where an equity-settled award is forfeited, the related expense recognised to date is reversed. Where an equity-settled award is replaced by newly granted instruments, these are accounted for as a modification of the existing award. When the terms of an equity-settled award are modified, the minimum expense recognised is the grant date fair value of the unmodified award, provided the original vesting terms of the award are met. An additional expense, measured as at the date of modification, is recognised for any modification that increases the total fair value of the share-based payment transaction, or is otherwise beneficial to the employee.

Tax

The income tax charge represents both the income tax payable, based on profit for the year, and deferred income tax. Deferred income tax is recognised in full, using the liability method, in respect of temporary differences between the tax base of the Group’s assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts that have originated but have not been reversed by the balance sheet date. No deferred tax is recognised if the temporary difference arises from the initial recognition of goodwill, or the initial recognition of an asset or liability, in a transaction that is not a business combination and, at the time of the transaction, affects neither the accounting profit nor taxable profit or loss.

Deferred income tax is recognised in respect of taxable temporary differences associated with investments in joint ventures, except where the timing of the reversal of the temporary differences can be controlled and it is probable that the temporary differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future. Deferred income tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profit will be available against which the deductible temporary differences or unused tax losses can be utilised. The carrying amount of deferred income tax assets is reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profit will be available to allow all, or part of, the deferred income tax asset to be utilised.

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the year when the asset is realised or the liability is settled, based on tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date. Income tax is charged or credited to other comprehensive income if it relates to items that are charged or credited to other comprehensive income. Similarly, income tax is charged or credited directly to equity if it relates to items that are charged or credited directly to equity. Otherwise, income tax is recognised in the consolidated income statement.

Investments in joint ventures

Investments in joint arrangements are classified as either joint operations or joint ventures depending on the contractual rights and obligations of each investor. The Group has assessed the nature of its joint arrangements and determined them to be joint ventures. The Group’s investments in joint ventures are accounted for using the equity method. Under the equity method, the investment in a joint venture is initially recognised at cost. The carrying amount of the investment is adjusted to recognise changes in the Group’s share of net assets of the joint venture since the acquisition date. Goodwill relating to joint ventures is included in the carrying amount of the investment.

The consolidated income statement reflects the Group’s share of the results of operations of the joint ventures. Any change in other comprehensive income of those investees is presented as part of the Group’s consolidated statement of comprehensive income. Unrealised gains and losses resulting from transactions between the Group and the joint ventures are eliminated to the extent of the interest in the joint venture. When necessary, adjustments are made to bring the accounting policies in line with those of the Group.

Financial assets

Trade receivables and contract assets

Trade receivables and contract assets are initially measured at fair value. Subsequently they are measured at amortised cost as the objective of the business model is to hold the assets to collect contractual cash flows and the contractual terms of the asset give rise to cash flows on specified dates, which are solely payments of principal and interest. In line with the IFRS 9 Financial Instruments ‘simplified approach’, the Group segments its trade receivables and contract assets based on shared characteristics and recognises a loss allowance for the lifetime expected credit loss for each segment. The expected credit loss is based on the Group’s historical credit loss experience, adjusted for factors that are specific to the debtors, general economic conditions and an assessment of the current and forecast conditions at the reporting date.

169 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Financial assets continued

Credit impaired financial assets

A financial asset is credit impaired when one or more events that have a detrimental impact on the estimated future cash flows of that financial asset have occurred, such as significant financial difficulty of the debtor or default by the debtor. The Group writes off a financial asset where there is no realistic prospect of recovery. Credit losses are recorded within operating costs in the consolidated income statement.# Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank, cash in hand, and deposits (including money market funds) which are short term, highly liquid and not at significant risk of changes in value.

Recognition and derecognition

The recognition of financial assets occurs when the Group becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. The Group derecognises a financial asset only when the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire, or when it transfers the financial asset and substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset to another entity.

Derivatives and hedging

The Group enters into derivative transactions to manage its exposure to interest rate, foreign exchange rate and power commodity price risks. Derivatives are recognised initially at fair value on the date the contract is entered into and subsequently remeasured to their fair value at each reporting date. The resulting gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately unless the derivative is designated and effective as a hedging instrument, in which event the timing of the recognition in profit or loss depends on the nature of the hedge relationship.

A derivative with a positive fair value is recognised as a financial asset, whereas a derivative with a negative fair value is recognised as a financial liability. Derivatives are not offset in the financial statements unless the Group has both the legal right and intention to offset. A derivative is presented as a non-current asset or a non-current liability if the remaining maturity of the instrument is more than 12 months and is not expected to be realised or settled within 12 months. Other derivatives are presented as current assets or current liabilities.

The Group designates certain derivatives as hedging instruments in respect of interest rate, foreign currency and power commodity price risks as either fair value hedges or cash flow hedges. Hedges of foreign exchange risk on firm commitments are accounted for as cash flow hedges.

At the inception of the hedge relationship, the Group documents the relationship between the hedging instrument and the hedged item, along with its Risk Management objectives and its strategy for undertaking various hedge transactions. The Group documents whether the hedging instrument is effective in offsetting the hedged risk, by confirming that:

there is an economic relationship between hedged items and the hedging instrument;
the effect of credit risk does not dominate the value changes that result from that economic relationship; and
the planned ratio of hedge:hedge item is the same as the actual ratio of hedge:hedge item.

The fair value change on qualifying fair value hedges is recognised in profit or loss.

Cash flow hedges

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated as cash flow hedges is recognised in other comprehensive income and accumulated under the cash flow hedging reserve. Any gain or loss relating to the ineffective portion of the hedge is recognised immediately in profit or loss. Amounts previously recognised in other comprehensive income and accumulated in equity are reclassified to profit or loss in the periods when the hedged item affects profit or loss, in the same line as the recognised hedged item.

The Group discontinues hedge accounting when the hedge relationship ceases to meet the qualifying criteria, or when the hedging instrument expires, is sold, terminated or exercised.

Hedges of a net investment

Hedges of a net investment in a foreign operation, including a hedge of a monetary item that is accounted for as part of the net investment, are accounted for in a way similar to cash flow hedges. Gains or losses on the hedging instrument relating to the effective portion of the hedge are recognised in other comprehensive income while any gains or losses relating to the ineffective portion are recognised in the statement of profit or loss. On disposal of the foreign operation, the cumulative value of any such gains or losses recorded in equity is transferred to the consolidated income statement. The Group uses a cross-currency swap as a hedge of its exposure to foreign exchange risk on its investments in foreign subsidiaries. Refer to Note 25 for more details.

Fair value hedges

Derivative financial instruments are classified as fair value hedges when they hedge the Group’s exposure to changes in the fair value of a recognised asset or liability. Changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated as fair value hedges are recognised in the Group income statement within finance income or costs, offset with any changes in the fair value of the hedged item that is attributable to the hedged risk. If the hedge no longer meets the criteria for hedge accounting, the adjustment to the carrying amount of a hedged item is amortised to the Group income statement over the remaining period to maturity.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
170 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Derivatives and hedging continued

Offsetting financial instruments
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, and the net amount reported in the Group balance sheet when there is a current legally enforceable right to offset the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Financial liabilities
Debt and equity instruments are classified as financial liabilities or equity in accordance with the substance of the contractual arrangements. Financial liabilities are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method unless they are required to be measured at fair value through profit or loss or the Group has opted to measure them at fair value through the profit or loss. The effective interest rate method calculates the amortised cost of a financial liability and allocates interest expense to the relevant period.

Borrowings
Borrowings are initially recognised at the fair value of the consideration received, net of any directly associated issue costs. Borrowings are subsequently recorded at amortised cost, with any difference between the amount initially recorded and the redemption value recognised in the consolidated income statement using the effective interest method.

Recognition and derecognition
The recognition of liabilities occurs when the Group becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. The derecognition of financial liabilities occurs when the obligation under the liability is discharged, cancelled or expires. When the Group exchanges with the existing lender one debt instrument into another one with the substantially different terms, such exchange is accounted for as an extinguishment of the original financial liability and the recognition of a new financial liability.

Share buy-back transactions
Shares purchased for cancellation are deducted from retained earnings. The Group uses irrevocable closed period buy-back programmes. A liability to purchase shares is recognised at inception of the programme with any subsequent reduction in the obligation credited back to retained earnings at the end of the programme. Share capital is reduced and credited to the capital redemption reserve once shares are cancelled, maintaining non-distributable reserves.

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported as assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date and the amounts reported as revenues and expenses during the year. Although these amounts are based on management’s best estimates, events or actions may mean that actual results ultimately differ from those estimates, and these differences may be material. These judgements and estimates and the underlying assumptions are reviewed regularly.

The Group has considered the impact of climate-related risks on its financial performance and position, and although the impact represents an uncertainty, it is not considered to be material.

Critical accounting judgements

The following are the critical accounting judgements, apart from those involving estimations (dealt with separately below) that management has made in the process of applying the Group’s accounting policies and which have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements.

Adjusting items
During the year certain items are identified and separately disclosed as adjusting items. Judgement is applied as to whether the item meets the necessary criteria as per the accounting policy disclosed earlier in this Note. This assessment covers the nature of the item, the cause of occurrence and the scale of impact of that item on reported performance. Reversals of previous adjusting items are assessed based on the same criteria. Note 6 provides information on all of the items disclosed as adjusting in the current year and comparative financial statements.

Assets held for sale
As per the accounting policy above assets are classified as held for sale only if the asset is available for immediate sale in its present condition and a sale is highly probable and expected to be completed within one year from the date of classification. As a result of the Group’s Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP) the Group is actively marketing a significant number of sites. Judgement exists on a site-by-site basis as to whether the sale will complete within one year. In exercising its judgement, management has taken into consideration all available information including external market expert advice.### Recognition of German deferred tax asset

The Group, through its market entry in Germany, has generated tax losses that will be available for offset against future taxable profits. These losses have resulted in a material unrecognised deferred tax asset of £77.3m (unrecognised tax losses carried forward of £284.7m (€325.5m)) at this balance sheet date (2024/25: £80.9m). If the Group were to fully recognise the deferred tax asset in this financial year it would have the effect of reducing the Group’s effective tax rate from 28.6% to 2.7%.

171 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

2. Accounting policies continued

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty continued

Critical accounting judgements continued

Recognition of German deferred tax asset continued

The German reportable segment’s results have continued to improve, with this forecast to continue in future reporting periods. However, the forecasts used to support whether sufficient positive evidence exists to recognise the deferred tax asset are instead based on the German taxable profits profile. Following this assessment, the Group has judged that at the balance sheet date there remains to be insufficient convincing other evidence, as required under IAS 12, that it will have sufficient taxable profits to realise the above deferred tax asset at this time.

In July 2025, the German legislator substantively enacted a reduction to the corporate income tax rate by 1 percentage point per annum over a five-year period, commencing in 2028 and concluding in 2032. This phased reduction will lower the statutory corporate income tax rate from 15% to 10% by 2032. Trade taxes have not been amended and as a result the blended deferred tax rate applied to German losses under IAS 12 has reduced from 31.9% (2024/25) to 27.2% (2025/26). The unrecognised deferred tax asset above has been calculated accordingly.

Key sources of estimation uncertainty

The following are the key areas of estimation uncertainty that may have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.

Defined benefit pension
Defined benefit pension plans are accounted for in accordance with actuarial advice using the projected unit credit method. The Group makes significant estimates in relation to the discount rates, mortality rates and inflation rates used to calculate the present value of the defined benefit obligation. Note 32 describes the assumptions used together with an analysis of the sensitivity to changes in key assumptions.

Impairment testing – Property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets
The performance of the Group’s impairment review requires management to make a number of judgements and estimates which are presented together below for ease of understanding but identified separately:

Estimates within impairment testing: Inputs used to estimate value in use
The estimate of value in use is most sensitive to the following inputs:
* Forecast period cash flows – the initial five-year period’s cash flows are drawn from the five-year business plan.
* Discount rate – judgement is required in estimating the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) of a typical market participant and in assessing the specific country and currency risks associated with the Group. The rate used is adjusted for the Group’s gearing, including equity, borrowings and lease liabilities.
* Maturity profile of individual sites – judgement is required to estimate the time taken for sites to reach maturity and the sites’ trading level once they are mature.

Methodology used to estimate fair value
Fair value is determined using a range of methods, including present value techniques using assumptions consistent with the value in use calculations and market multiple techniques using externally available data. To assess the fair value for disposal sites the Group has sought property expert valuations based on insight into specific local market factors.

Judgements within impairment testing: Strategic impact on composition of CGUs
The Group exercises judgement in assessing the impairment of assets identified for disposal, particularly when they do not yet meet the criteria for classification as held for sale under IFRS 5. For such individual assets, where their value is primarily expected to be realised through sale and cash flows from continuing use are negligible, the Group applies IAS 36 to impair them to their fair value less costs of disposal. This approach reflects that the economic value of these assets is predominantly derived from their impending sale, even if they form part of a larger cash-generating unit.

Identification of indicators of impairment and reversal
The Group assesses each of its CGUs for indicators of impairment or reversal at the end of each reporting period and, where there are indicators of impairment or reversal, management performs an impairment assessment.

Useful economic life review – AGP site extensions and conversions
Where site extensions or conversions are committed as part of Whitbread’s Accelerating Growth Plan, the Group commences accelerated depreciation on assets that will no longer be used after the site redevelopment. The Group’s key judgement here has been assessing that the trigger point for commitment to the extension or conversion is from the date that the site has both planning permission and an approved internal business case to proceed. From this point, the remaining useful life of affected assets is reassessed with an estimated end date aligned with when the asset will no longer be used. The resulting depreciation charge, along with any write-offs of similar assets that have been disposed of as at the balance sheet date, are treated as adjusting items.

Key estimates and sensitivities for impairment of assets are disclosed in Note 14.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
172 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

3. Segment information

The Group provides services in relation to accommodation, food and beverage both in the UK and internationally. Management monitors the segment performance separately for the purpose of making decisions about allocating resources and assessing performance. Segment performance is measured based on segment adjusted profit/(loss), defined below. Included within central and other in the following tables are the costs of running the public company, other central overhead costs and share of profit from joint ventures.

The following tables present revenue and profit information regarding business operating segments for the years ended 26 February 2026 and 27 February 2025.

Revenue	52 weeks to 26 February 2026				52 weeks to 27 February 2025
	UK and Ireland¹ (£m)	Germany² (£m)	Central and other (£m)	Total (£m)	UK and Ireland¹ (£m)	Germany² (£m)	Central and other (£m)	Total (£m)
Accommodation	2,024.9	220.8	—	2,245.7	2,010.1	197.6	—	2,207.7
Food and beverage	594.8	32.5	—	627.3	646.4	26.7	—	673.1
Other	39.6	7.6	—	47.2	34.8	6.3	—	41.1
Revenue	2,659.3	260.9	—	2,920.2	2,691.3	230.6	—	2,921.9

Profit/(loss)	52 weeks to 26 February 2026				52 weeks to 27 February 2025
	UK and Ireland¹ (£m)	Germany² (£m)	Central and other (£m)	Total (£m)	UK and Ireland¹ (£m)	Germany² (£m)	Central and other (£m)	Total (£m)
Adjusted operating profit/(loss)	660.3	18.9	(30.3)	648.9	653.1	9.9	(33.4)	629.6
Segmental royalty fees³	(7.0)	5.9	1.1	—	(1.0)	—	1.0	—
Segment adjusted operating profit/(loss)	653.3	24.8	(29.2)	648.9	652.1	9.9	(32.4)	629.6
Net finance (costs)/income	(154.3)	(22.8)	11.3	(165.8)	(145.3)	(21.2)	20.3	(146.2)
Segment adjusted profit/(loss) before tax	499.0	2.0	(17.9)	483.1	506.8	(11.3)	(12.1)	483.4
Adjusting items before tax (Note 6)				(184.7)				(115.6)
Profit before tax				298.4				367.8

1 The UK and Ireland segment includes operations of the Group within Crown Dependencies. Royalty fees are charged between the geographies within this segment.
2 The Germany segment includes operations of the Group within Austria.
3 Royalty fees are charged from the UK to other geographies, prior to this financial year inter-segmental royalty fees were waived for the Germany segment.

173 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

3. Segment information continued

Other segment information	52 weeks to 26 February 2026				52 weeks to 27 February 2025
	UK and Ireland (£m)	Germany (£m)	Central and other (£m)	Total (£m)	UK and Ireland (£m)	Germany (£m)	Central and other (£m)	Total (£m)
Capital expenditure: Property, plant and equipment – cash basis	567.3	88.4	—	655.7	399.6	66.8	—	466.4
Property, plant and equipment – accruals basis (Note 13)	595.9	111.7	—	707.6	402.0	63.3	—	465.3
Intangible assets (Note 12)	18.2	1.5	—	19.7	18.9	0.7	—	19.6
Cash outflows from lease interest and payment of principal of lease liabilities	289.5	60.4	—	349.9	262.4	53.0	—	315.4
Depreciation – property, plant and equipment (Note 13)	168.4	16.0	—	184.4	162.7	14.6	—	177.3
Depreciation – right-of-use assets (Note 22)	164.9	43.7	—	208.6	152.8	41.5	—	194.3
Amortisation (Note 12)	32.8	0.4	—	33.2	30.1	0.1	—	30.2

Segment assets and liabilities are not disclosed because they are not reported to, or reviewed by, the Chief Operating Decision Maker.

The Group’s revenue and non-current assets¹, split by country in which the legal entity resides, is as follows:

Geographical information	Group revenue		Group non-current assets¹
	2025/26 (£m)	2024/25 (£m)	2026 (£m)	2025 (£m)
United Kingdom	2,611.0	2,649.1	7,224.4	7,063.3
Germany	256.8	226.3	1,387.3	1,219.4
Ireland	35.9	29.6	217.6	179.4
Other	16.5	16.9	108.2	106.7
	2,920.2	2,921.9	8,937.5	8,568.8

1 Non-current assets exclude derivative financial instruments, deferred tax assets and the surplus on the Group’s defined benefit pension scheme.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
174 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

4.Other income An analysis of the Group’s other income is as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Rental income	4.7	5.5
Other	1.9	1.0
Other income before adjusting items	6.6	6.5
Legal claim settlements and insurance proceeds (Note 6)	2.6	0.9
Other income	9.2	7.4

5. Operating costs

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Cost of inventories recognised as an expense 1,2	215.1	225.7
Employee benefits expense 2 (Note 7)	801.6	818.7
Amortisation of intangible assets (Note 12)	33.2	30.2
Depreciation – property, plant and equipment (Note 13)	184.4	177.3
Depreciation – right-of-use assets (Note 22)	208.6	194.3
Utilities	119.4	134.8
Rates	106.7	105.4
Laundry costs	79.6	78.0
Site repairs and maintenance	131.7	131.5
Marketing and commissions	141.4	127.6
Site operating costs	154.1	157.0
Variable lease payment expenses (Note 22)	3.5	4.0
Net foreign exchange differences	(0.5)	0.5
Other operating charges 2	103.8	118.5
Adjusting operating costs 2 (Note 6)	187.3	116.5
	2,469.9	2,420.0

1 Cost of inventories recognised as an expense includes £8.1m (2024/25: £6.8m) of inventory write downs recorded during the year.
2 Operating costs above are before adjusting items. Adjusting operating costs includes a charge of £nil relating to cost of inventories recognised as an expense (2024/25: £4.4m), a charge for net impairments and write-offs of £162.5m (2024/25: charge of £76.5m), a charge of £1.7m (2024/25: charge of £23.1m) relating to employee benefit expenses and a charge of £23.1m (2024/25: charge of £12.5m) relating to other operating charges (see Note 6).

Fees paid to the Group’s auditor during the year consisted of:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Audit of the Group’s financial statements	1.3	1.3
Audit of the Group’s subsidiaries	0.7	0.7
Total audit fees	2.0	2.0
Audit-related assurance	0.1	0.1
Other non-audit fees	—	0.2
Total non-audit fees	0.1	0.3
Included in other operating charges	2.1	2.3

175 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

6. Adjusting items

As set out in the policy in Note 2, we use a range of measures to monitor the financial performance of the Group. These measures include both statutory measures in accordance with IFRS and APMs which are consistent with the way that the business performance is measured internally. We report adjusted measures because we believe they provide both management and investors with useful additional information about the financial performance of the Group’s businesses. Adjusted measures of profitability represent the equivalent IFRS measures adjusted for specific items that we consider hinder the comparison of the financial performance of the Group’s businesses either from one period to another or with other similar businesses. Adjusting items were as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Other income:
Legal claim settlements and insurance proceeds 1	2.6	0.9
Adjusting other income	2.6	0.9
Operating costs:
Net impairment charges – property, plant and equipment, right-of-use assets and assets held for sale 2	(32.0)	(33.0)
Accelerating Growth Plan-related net impairment charges and write-offs 3	(130.5)	(43.5)
Net gain on disposals of property 4	6.4	40.1
Property and other provisions 5	(14.3)	(4.4)
Strategic IT programme costs 6	(8.0)	(24.8)
Strategic F&B programme costs 7	(4.3)	(19.9)
Strategic supply chain programme costs 8	(2.9)	(24.1)
Employment tax settlement 9	—	2.0
Other restructuring costs 10	(1.7)	(8.9)
Adjusting operating costs before joint ventures	(187.3)	(116.5)
Adjusting items before tax	(184.7)	(115.6)

Tax adjustments included in reported profit after tax, but excluded in arriving at adjusted profit after tax:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Tax on adjusting items 11	35.6	20.3
Impact of change in tax rates 12	2.1	—
Adjusting tax credit	37.7	20.3

1 During the year, the Group received settlements of £2.6m in relation to insurance claims for damaged inventory (2024/25: received settlements for business interruption insurance claims of £0.9m).
2 The Group has identified indicators of impairment and impairment reversal relating to assets held by the Group at the year-end date, including those sites impacted by the Accelerating Growth Plan (see footnote 3 below). For those sites not impacted by the Accelerating Growth Plan, an impairment review of relevant assets was undertaken, resulting in adjusting net impairment charges of £32.0m (2024/25: £33.0m). Further information is provided in Note 14.
3 Included in the amounts recorded during the period are impairments arising from the Group’s continued optimisation of its UK F&B strategy, the Accelerating Growth Plan. The net impairment of £130.5m comprises impairment charges of £102.9m relating to sites and accelerated depreciation of £27.6m (2024/25: Impairment of £43.5m including £1.0m relating to accelerated depreciation). Further information on impairment is provided in Note 14.
4 During the year, the Group recognised net gains of £4.8m on sale and leaseback property disposals (2024/25: £0.1m) and net gains of £1.6m on other property disposals (2024/25: £40.0m). No gains or losses relating to these assets were recognised in other comprehensive income.
5 The Group recorded a £15.2m property-related provision and released £0.9m of provisions in respect of historic tax positions. During the comparative year, the group created a provision in relation to damaged inventory of £4.4m.
6 The Group has assessed the presentation of costs incurred in relation to the current and future implementation of its strategic IT programmes. The programmes in scope are the Group’s Hotel Management System, HR & Payroll System, F&B System and Strategic Network. These represent significant business change costs for the Group rather than replacements of IT systems with the system products being Software as a Service (SaaS). Cash costs incurred on the programmes and presented within adjusting items in the period were £8.0m, with cumulative cash costs to date being £73.7m (2024/25: £65.7m).
7 The Group has incurred legal, advisory and project management costs regarding the announced changes to facilitate the Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP) as well as restructuring costs. This programme represents a significant business change for the Group’s strategic focus in relation to F&B. Cash costs incurred on the programmes and presented within adjusting items in the period were £4.3m, with cumulative cash costs to date being £30.1m (2024/25: £25.8m).
8 As part of the Group’s strategic supply chain programme the Group has incurred costs of £2.9m in relation to associated IT and project management costs (2024/25: £24.1m relating to supplier contract exit fees). This decision allows the Group to make use of a different supply model and it is expected the commercial and strategic benefit will be seen over several years.
9 During the comparative year, the Group received confirmation that a previous enquiry from HMRC on historic taxes has been closed. £2.0m has been released through adjusting items from accruals held in relation to these enquiries.
10 During the year, the Group restructured its UK Contact Centre, resulting in a charge of £1.7m. During the comparative year, restructuring of the UK and Germany Support Centres and site operations in Germany resulted in a charge of £8.9m.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 176 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

6. Adjusting items continued

11 The Group recognised tax credits of £35.6m (2024/25: £20.3m) in relation to its adjusting items in the financial year. This includes a deferred tax charge of £8.4m (2024/25: nil) in the year arising from changes in the recoverability of indexation allowances in relation to property.
12 In July 2025, the German government substantively enacted legislation to reduce the corporate income tax rate by 1% per annum over a five-year period, commencing in 2028 and concluding in 2032. The change has resulted in the remeasurement of certain deferred tax assets and liabilities which are forecast to be utilised or to crystallise from 2028. As a result, a credit of £2.1m is recorded in the income statement.

Summary of adjusting item lines that can be forecast:

	Low range £m	High range £m	Expected year of completion
Accelerating Growth Plan-related net impairment charges and write-offs	50.0	70.0	FY29
Strategic F&B programme costs	20.0	30.0	FY29
Strategic IT programme costs	5.0	10.0	FY27
Forecast adjusting items before tax	75.0	110.0

7. Employee benefits expense

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Wages and salaries	704.6	738.8
Social security costs	75.9	63.5
Defined contribution pension costs	21.1	16.4
	801.6	818.7

The amounts above exclude adjusting items. Wages and salaries excludes a charge of £1.7m (2024/25: charge of £23.1m). Included in wages and salaries is a share-based payments expense of £16.7m (2024/25: £16.8m), which arises from transactions accounted for as equity-settled share-based payments.

Employee costs are split between hourly paid and salaried employees as below:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Employee costs – hourly paid	534.1	548.5
Employee costs – salaried	267.5	270.2
	801.6	818.7

Average number of employees directly employed	2025/26 Number	2024/25 Number
UK and Ireland	30,723	33,157
Germany	1,663	1,543
	32,386	34,700

Employees of joint ventures are excluded from the numbers above.

Directors’ remuneration is disclosed below:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Directors’ remuneration	3.5	3.5
Aggregate contributions to the defined contribution pension scheme	—	—
Aggregate gains on the exercise of share options	0.3	0.3

The number of Directors accruing benefits under the defined benefit pension scheme was nil (2024/25: nil).

177 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 8.| Finance (costs)/income | 2025/26 £m | 2024/25 £m |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Finance costs | | |
| Interest on bank loans and overdrafts | (5.0) | (4.7) |
| Interest on other loans | (42.7) | (24.7) |
| Interest on lease liabilities (Note 22) | (177.0) | (166.7) |
| Interest capitalised (Note 13) | 23.0 | 8.7 |
| Credit/(costs) in relation to hedging (Note 25) | 1.4 | (1.1) |
| | (200.3) | (188.5) |
| Finance income | | |
| Bank interest receivable | 26.8 | 33.5 |
| IAS 19 pension net finance income (Note 32) | 7.5 | 8.3 |
| Other interest receivable | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| | 34.5 | 42.3 |
| Total net finance costs | (165.8) | (146.2) |

Net finance costs include £201.7m (2024/25: £187.4m) finance costs and £26.8m (2024/25: £33.5m) finance income in respect of financial assets and liabilities that are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method.

9. Taxation

Consolidated income statement	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Current tax:
Current tax expense	83.9	51.4
Adjustments in respect of previous periods	(1.2)	(1.1)
	82.7	50.3
Deferred tax:
Origination and reversal of temporary differences	3.8	63.1
Effect of in-year rate differential/change in tax rates	(2.1)	—
Adjustments in respect of previous periods	1.1	0.7
	2.8	63.8
Tax reported in the consolidated income statement	85.5	114.1

Consolidated statement of other comprehensive income	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Current tax:
Defined benefit pension scheme	1.7	1.8
Tax on net movement on hedge of a net investment	(3.3)	2.1
Tax on exchange differences on translation of foreign operations	3.5	(2.4)
	1.9	1.5
Deferred tax:
Cash flow hedges	0.6	3.6
Defined benefit pension scheme	(4.3)	(14.4)
	(3.7)	(10.8)
Tax reported in other comprehensive income	(1.8)	(9.3)

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

Year ended 26 February 2026
178 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

9. Taxation continued

A reconciliation of the tax expense applicable to adjusted profit before tax and profit before tax at the statutory tax rate, to the actual tax expense at the Group’s effective tax rate, for the years ended 26 February 2026 and 27 February 2025 respectively is set out here. All current year items have been tax effected at the UK statutory rate of 25.0% (2024/25: 25.0%) with the exception of the effect of unrecognised losses in overseas companies, which has been tax effected at the statutory rate in the relevant jurisdictions with an adjustment to account for the differential tax rates included in the effect of different tax rates.

	2025/26 Tax on profit £m	2025/26 Tax on adjusted profit £m	2024/25 Tax on profit £m	2024/25 Tax on adjusted profit £m
Profit before tax as reported in the consolidated income statement	483.1	298.4	483.4	367.8
Tax at current UK tax rate of 25.0% (2024/25: 25.0%)	120.8	74.6	120.9	92.0
Effect of different tax rates	(3.3)	(3.1)	(2.7)	(4.5)
Unrecognised losses in overseas companies	5.1	10.4	9.3	17.6
Expenditure not allowable	1.2	1.9	3.3	5.4
Adjustments to current tax expense in respect of previous years	(1.2)	(1.2)	(1.0)	(1.0)
Adjustments to deferred tax expense in respect of previous years	1.0	1.0	0.7	0.7
Impact of deferred tax rate change	—	(2.1)	—	—
Impact of deferred tax related to indexation allowance	0.3	8.7	2.7	2.7
Impact of property disposals	—	(4.0)	—	—
Other movements	(0.7)	(0.7)	1.2	1.2
Tax expense reported in the consolidated income statement	123.2	85.5	134.4	114.1
Effective tax rate	25.5%	28.7%	27.8%	31.0%

Pillar two
The Group is within the scope of the OECD Pillar Two rules. Based on the Group’s current assessment, Pillar Two is not expected to have a material impact on the Group’s tax charge. The Group has applied the mandatory temporary exception in respect of deferred taxes arising from Pillar Two income taxes, as required by IAS 12.

179 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

9. Taxation continued

Deferred tax
The major deferred tax assets/(liabilities) recognised by the Group and movement during the current and prior financial years are as follows:

	Accelerated capital allowances £m	Rolled over gains and property revaluations £m	Pensions £m	Leases 2 £m	Losses £m	Other 3 £m	Total £m
At 29 February 2024	(109.7)	(86.1)	(62.2)	43.8	35.2	(2.1)	(181.1)
(Expense)/credit to consolidated income statement 1	(20.9)	(9.0)	(3.7)	6.0	(33.9)	(2.3)	(63.8)
Credit/(expense) to statement of comprehensive income	—	—	14.4	—	—	(3.6)	10.8
Expense to statement of changes in equity	—	—	—	—	—	(0.8)	(0.8)
Foreign exchange and other movements	—	—	—	0.1	(0.3)	0.3	0.1
At 27 February 2025	(130.6)	(95.1)	(51.5)	49.9	1.0	(8.5)	(234.8)
(Expense)/credit to consolidated income statement 1	(7.6)	(5.4)	(0.5)	12.6	(0.5)	(1.4)	(2.8)
Credit/(expense) to statement of comprehensive income	—	—	4.3	—	—	(0.6)	3.7
Expense to statement of changes in equity	—	—	—	—	—	(0.1)	(0.1)
Foreign exchange and other movements	—	—	0.1	(0.1)	—	0.3	0.3
At 26 February 2026	(138.2)	(100.5)	(47.6)	62.4	0.5	(10.3)	(233.7)

1 The consolidated income statement expense of £2.8m is lower than the prior year charge of £63.8m. This predominantly relates to the utilisation of UK tax losses of £nil (2024/25: charge of £29.6m) and a higher credit arising on fixed asset impairments of £33.2m (2024/25: £10.6m).
2 The Leases category includes an asset of £51.8m (2024/25: £54.8m) for IFRS 16 transitional adjustments and an asset of £13.2m (2024/25: nil) for deferred accounting profits on sale and leaseback transactions.
3 The Other category includes a deferred tax liability of £17.8m (2024/25: £14.8m) in respect of capitalised interest and a deferred tax asset of £5.5m (2024/25: £5.8m) in respect of share-based payments.

The Group recognises UK deferred tax assets to the extent that taxable profits will be available to utilise deductible temporary differences or unused tax losses. At 26 February 2026, no net UK deferred asset is unrecognised (2024/25: £nil). The Group has generated unrecognised tax losses in Germany of £284.7m (€325.5m) (2024/25: £253.6m (€307.3m)) that will be available for offset against future taxable profits. Whilst the gross tax losses have increased, the unrecognised deferred tax asset has fallen to £77.3m (2024/25: £80.9m). This is a result of the substantive enactment of a phased reduction to the corporate income tax rate in Germany from 15% to 10% by 2032. Trade taxes have not been amended and as a result the blended deferred tax rate applied to German losses under IAS 12 has reduced from 31.9% (2024/25) to 27.2% (2025/26). Refer to Note 2 for further information. At 26 February 2026, no deferred tax asset is recognised (2024/25: £nil) on gross temporary differences of £2.0m (2024/25: £2.4m) relating to the accumulated losses of other international subsidiaries as the Group is able to control the timings of the reversal of these temporary differences and it is probable that they will not reverse in the foreseeable future. Tax relief on total interest capitalised amounts to £4.2m (2024/25: £2.0m).

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED

Year ended 26 February 2026
180 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

10. Earnings per share

The basic earnings per share (EPS) figures are calculated by dividing the net profit/(loss) for the period attributable to ordinary shareholders of the parent by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period after deducting treasury shares and shares held by an independently managed employee share ownership trust (ESOT). The diluted earnings per share figures allow for the dilutive effect of the conversion into ordinary shares of the weighted average number of options outstanding during the period. Where the average share price for the period is lower than the option price, the options become anti-dilutive and are excluded from the calculation. The number of shares used for the earnings per share calculations is as follows:

	2025/26 million	2024/25 million
Basic weighted average number of ordinary shares	172.6	179.3
Effect of dilution – share options	1.3	1.2
Diluted weighted average number of ordinary shares	173.9	180.5

The total number of shares in issue at the year end, as used in the calculation of the basic weighted average number of ordinary shares, was 180.1m, less 12.5m treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC and 0.6m held by the ESOT (2024/25: 188.8m, less 12.5m treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC and 0.8m held by the ESOT). The profits used for the earnings per share calculations are as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Profit for the year attributable to parent shareholders	212.9	253.7
Adjusting items before tax (Note 6)	184.7	115.6
Adjusting tax credit (Note 6)	(37.7)	(20.3)
Adjusted profit for the year attributable to parent shareholders	359.9	349.0

	2025/26 pence	2024/25 pence
Basic EPS on profit for the year	123.3	141.5
Adjusting items before tax	107.0	64.4
Adjusting tax credit	(21.8)	(11.3)
Basic EPS on adjusted profit for the year	208.5	194.6
Diluted EPS on profit for the year	122.4	140.6
Diluted EPS on adjusted profit for the year	207.0	193.4

11. Dividends paid and proposed

	2025/26 pence per share	2025/26 £m	2024/25 pence per share	2024/25 £m
Final dividend proposed and paid relating to the prior year	60.60	106.5	62.90	114.7
Interim dividend proposed and paid for the current year	36.40	62.3	36.40	65.2
Unclaimed dividend written back	—	—	N/A	(2.1)
Total equity dividends paid in the year		168.8		177.8
Dividends on other shares:
B shares	—	—	11.40	0.2
C shares	—	—	7.60	0.1
Total dividends paid		168.8		178.1
Proposed for approval at annual general meeting:
Final equity dividend for the current year	60.60	101.3	60.60	106.4

B and C shares were fully converted and cancelled on 16 December 2024; therefore, no such shares were in issue during 2025/26. A final dividend of 60.60p per share amounting to a dividend of £101.3m was recommended by the Directors at their meeting on 29 April 2026. A Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) alternative will be offered.The proposed final dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting and has not been included as a liability in these consolidated financial statements. 181 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

12. Intangible assets

	IT software	Goodwill	Total
Cost	£m	£m	£m
At 29 February 2024	350.1	160.0	510.1
Additions	—	19.6	19.6
Assets written off	—	(12.6)	(12.6)
Foreign currency translation	—	(0.1)	(0.1)
At 27 February 2025	350.1	166.9	517.0
Additions	—	19.7	19.7
Assets written off	—	(21.9)	(21.9)
Foreign currency translation	—	0.3	0.3
At 26 February 2026	350.1	165.0	515.1
Amortisation and impairment
At 29 February 2024	(239.6)	(85.5)	(325.1)
Amortisation during the year	—	(30.2)	(30.2)
Amortisation on assets written off	—	12.6	12.6
Foreign currency translation	—	—	—
At 27 February 2025	(239.6)	(103.1)	(342.7)
Amortisation during the year	—	(33.2)	(33.2)
Amortisation on assets written off	—	21.9	21.9
Foreign currency translation	—	(0.1)	(0.1)
At 26 February 2026	(239.6)	(114.5)	(354.1)
Net book value at 26 February 2026	110.5	50.5	161.0
Net book value at 27 February 2025	110.5	63.8	174.3

Other than goodwill, there are no intangible assets with indefinite lives. IT software and technology assets, which are made up entirely of internally generated assets, have been assessed as having finite lives and are amortised under the straight-line method over periods ranging from three to ten years. Note 14 contains details of the impairment review conducted on goodwill as at the year end date.

Capital expenditure commitments

Capital expenditure commitments in relation to intangible assets at the year end amounted to £1.4m (2024/25: £4.3m).

13. Property, plant and equipment

	Land and buildings	Plant and equipment	Total
Cost	£m	£m	£m
At 29 February 2024	4,110.8	1,787.4	5,898.2
Additions	228.0	237.3	465.3
Interest capitalised	8.7	—	8.7
Net movements to assets held for sale in the year	(261.8)	(62.3)	(324.1)
Disposals	(0.6)	(0.1)	(0.7)
Assets written off	(2.2)	(103.7)	(105.9)
Foreign currency translation	(22.5)	(3.8)	(26.3)
Asset reclassified from right-of-use asset	(3.8)	—	(3.8)
At 27 February 2025	4,056.6	1,854.8	5,911.4
Additions	430.1	277.5	707.6
Interest capitalised	23.0	—	23.0
Net movements to assets held for sale in the year	(234.6)	(52.5)	(287.1)
Assets written off	(20.2)	(117.1)	(137.3)
Foreign currency translation	38.7	6.5	45.2
At 26 February 2026	4,293.6	1,969.2	6,262.8

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 182 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

13. Property, plant and equipment continued

	Land and buildings	Plant and equipment	Total
Depreciation and impairment	£m	£m	£m
At 29 February 2024	(441.9)	(828.4)	(1,270.3)
Depreciation charge for the year	(21.5)	(155.8)	(177.3)
Net impairment charge (Note 14)	(46.2)	(2.1)	(48.3)
Net movements to assets held for sale in the year	120.8	36.3	157.1
Disposals	0.5	0.1	0.6
Depreciation on assets written off	0.3	100.1	100.4
Foreign currency translation	2.3	1.5	3.8
At 27 February 2025	(385.7)	(848.3)	(1,234.0)
Depreciation charge for the year	(23.6)	(160.8)	(184.4)
Net impairment charge (Note 14)	(118.8)	(11.5)	(130.3)
Net movements to assets held for sale in the year	19.7	19.9	39.6
Depreciation on assets written off	20.2	117.1	137.3
Foreign currency translation	(3.8)	(2.8)	(6.6)
At 26 February 2026	(492.0)	(886.4)	(1,378.4)
Net book value at 26 February 2026	3,801.6	1,082.8	4,884.4
Net book value at 27 February 2025	3,670.9	1,006.5	4,677.4

Included above are assets under construction of £827.6m (2024/25: £612.5m) land and buildings and £126.8m (2024/25: £69.7m) plant and equipment. There is a charge in favour of the pension scheme over properties with a market value of £531.5m (2024/25: £531.5m). See Note 32 for further information. Amounts relating to right-of-use assets under IFRS 16 are detailed in Note 22.

Capital expenditure commitments	2026 £m	2025 £m
Capital expenditure commitments for property, plant and equipment for which no provision has been made	370.0	271.8

Capitalised interest
Interest capitalised during the year amounted to £23.0m, using an average rate of 3.4% (2024/25: £8.7m, using an average rate of 2.4%).

14. Impairment

Summary of impairment charges and reversals
During this year, net impairment charges of £162.5m (2024/25: £76.5m) were recognised within operating costs.

Accelerating Growth Plan: Net impairment, write-offs and accelerated depreciation of £130.5m (2024/25: £43.5m) has been recognised in respect of the Group continuing with and proposing an extension to the Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP).

UK: Outside of Accelerating Growth Plan-related impairments, gross impairment charges in the UK of £15.5m (2024/25: £15.8m) and no gross impairment reversals in the UK (2024/25: £5.3m) have been recorded across right-of-use assets and property, plant and equipment.

Germany: The Group continues to make progress through organic and portfolio acquisitions in order to access German markets, with 2025/26 performance reflecting the increased maturity of open sites. Impairment indicators were identified at a small number of German sites, which has resulted in a net impairment charge of £16.5m (2024/25: £22.5m impairment charge).

183 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

14. Impairment continued

Summary of impairment charges and reversals continued
The charges/(reversals) were recognised on the following classes of assets:

2025/26	Impairment charge £m	Impairment reversal £m	Total £m
Impairment charges/(reversals) included in operating costs
Property, plant and equipment¹	132.7	(2.4)	130.3
Accelerating Growth Plan sites	117.6	(2.4)
Rest of estate	15.1	—
Right-of-use assets	21.4	(0.1)	21.3
Accelerating Growth Plan sites	4.5	(0.1)
Rest of estate	16.9	—
Assets held for sale	10.9	—	10.9
Accelerating Growth Plan sites	10.9	—
Total charges/(reversals) for impairment included in operating costs	165.0	(2.5)	162.5

¹ The net impairment charge of £130.3m above includes £27.6m of accelerated depreciation in relation to the Extensions programme.

2024/25	Impairment charge £m	Impairment reversal £m	Total £m
Impairment charges/(reversals) included in operating costs
Property, plant and equipment¹	52.8	(3.5)	49.3
Accelerating Growth Plan sites	30.6	(1.5)
Rest of estate	22.2	(2.0)
Right-of-use assets	29.3	(4.0)	25.3
Accelerating Growth Plan sites	13.2	(0.7)
Rest of estate	16.1	(3.3)
Assets held for sale	7.2	(5.3)	1.9
Accelerating Growth Plan sites	7.2	(5.3)
Total charges/(reversals) for impairment included in operating costs	89.3	(12.8)	76.5

¹ The net impairment charge of £49.3m above includes £1.0m of accelerated depreciation in relation to the Extensions programme.

Property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets – impairment review
The carrying value of property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying values may not be recoverable. The majority of the Group’s trading sites offer a combination of accommodation and food and beverage services, either through a hotel and branded restaurant at the same location or a hotel which offers food and beverage. Due to the high dependency between accommodation and food and beverage cash flows at these locations, each trading site is considered to represent a separate cash-generating unit (‘CGU’). Exceptions to this exist in the form of a small number of sites where a third party provides food and beverage services. In addition, in circumstances where the Group is committed at the balance sheet date to the disposal of a portion of a site, the related proportion is not included in the trading CGU as the economic benefits are expected to be received principally through sale.

The Group exercises judgement in assessing the impairment of assets identified for disposal, particularly when they do not yet meet the criteria for classification as held for sale under IFRS 5. For such individual assets, where their value is primarily expected to be realised through sale and cash flows from continuing use are negligible, the Group applies IAS 36 to impair them to their fair value less costs of disposal. This approach reflects that the economic value of these assets is predominantly derived from their impending sale, even if they form part of a larger cash-generating unit.

In assessing whether an asset has been impaired, the carrying amount of the CGU is compared to its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the higher of its value in use and its fair value less costs of disposal.

Valuation methodology:
The Group calculates a value in use (VIU) for each CGU. The key assumptions used in calculating VIU are set out below. Where the VIU is lower than the carrying value of the CGU, the Group additionally estimates a fair value less costs of disposal (FVLCD) for each site.
* For leasehold sites, FVLCD is estimated based on present value techniques using a discounted cash flow method.
* For freehold sites, FVLCD is estimated based on applying a market multiple to the CGU EBITDAR.

The assumptions applied in estimating fair value for each of the above are set out below. Both estimates of FVLCD rely on inputs not normally observable by market participants and are therefore level 3 measurements in the fair value hierarchy. All of the impairment assessments take account of expected market conditions which include future risks including climate change and related legislation.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 184 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 14.# Impairment continued

Property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets – impairment review continued

Key assumptions: VIU for freehold and leasehold sites:

The key assumptions used by management in estimating VIU were:

Discount rates
The discount rate is based on the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) of a typical market participant, taking into account specific country and currency risks associated with the Group.

	2025/26		2024/25
	UK	Germany	UK	Germany
Average pre-tax discount rate	11.3%	9.5%	11.4%	9.2%
Average post-tax discount rate	9.0%	7.4%	9.1%	7.0%

Approved budget period
Forecast cashflow for the initial five-year period are based on actual cash flows and considered after applying management’s assumptions of the performance of the Group over the next five years. The assumptions used are consistent with those applied in assessing the Group’s longer term viability. The key assumptions used by management in setting the board approved financial budgets for the initial five-year period were as follows:

Forecast period cashflows: The initial five-year period’s cashflows are drawn from the 5-year business plan. Cash flows used in impairment testing reflect the current condition of assets and exclude future enhancements or expansions not already committed.
Forecast growth rates: Forecast growth rates are based on the Group business plan, which includes assumptions around the UK and German economies over the next five years.
Operating profits are forecast based on historical experience of operating margins, adjusted for the impact of inflation and cost saving initiatives.
Local factors impacting the site in the current year or expected to impact the site in future years. Key assumptions include the maturity profile of individual sites, the future potential of immature sites and the impact of increasing or reducing market supply in the local area.

Long-term growth rates
A long-term growth rate of 2.0% (2025: 2.0%) was used for cash flows subsequent to the five-year approved budget/plan period. This long-term growth rate is a conservative rate and is considered to be lower than the long-term historical growth rates of the underlying territories in which the CGUs operate and the long-term growth rate prospects of the sectors in which the CGUs operate.

FVLCD for leasehold sites:

The key assumptions used by management in estimating the FVLCD on a discounted cashflow method were similar to those used in the VIU assessment, modified to reflect estimated cost of disposal and lease payments.

	2025/26		2024/25
	UK	Germany	UK	Germany
Average pre-tax discount rate for FVLCD for leaseholds	11.5%	9.9%	12.1%	10.0%

FVLCD for freehold sites:

The key assumption used by management in estimating the FVLCD for freehold sites is an EBITDAR multiple.

EBITDAR multiple
An EBITDAR multiple is estimated based on a normalised trading basis, with reference to market data obtained from external sources. This resulted in a multiple in the range of 9 to 11 times.

185 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 14. Impairment continued

Methodology in relation to the Group’s Accelerating Growth Plan

As set out in detail on page 16 of the Strategic Report, the Group has announced a proposed extension to the Accelerating Growth Plan. When considered together, the existing and proposed extension to AGP have had the following impact on the Group’s impairment review:

Extensions programme:
As part of the Group’s Extensions programme, certain branded restaurant units are being repurposed, with smaller areas dedicated to integrated food and beverage services and where appropriate the remaining space converted to additional hotel rooms. The composition of the CGU remains unchanged. During the year, planning applications were submitted for a number of sites, with approvals received for some locations. The useful economic lives of relevant buildings and FF&E have been reassessed based on the status of planning approvals and commencement of works. Where all relevant internal and external approvals have been obtained, the carrying value of the related assets is written down accordingly. During the year, £27.6m was written off. The Group expects to incur further charges of between £50.0m and £70.0m over the coming financial years.

Disposal sites:
Disposal sites that were actively marketed at the year end, with a valid expectation of disposal within 12 months of the balance sheet date, have been classified as assets held for sale. As the economic benefits of these sites are expected to be realised principally through sale rather than continuing use, they have been measured at the lower of carrying value and fair value less costs of disposal. The remaining net book value of £39.2m (2024/25: £68.0m) is presented within assets held for sale.

The Group has announced its proposed extension to AGP, and there is an expectation that the committed plan to dispose of a further group of sites to third parties will take place. These disposal sites do not meet the criteria for classification as assets held for sale, but are measured at the lower of carrying value and net realisable value as the individual assets’ VIU is estimated to be close to its now measurable fair value less costs of disposal. In these cases, net realisable value is represented by FVLCD. With the announcement of the proposed extension to the Accelerating Growth Plan the Group has recorded an impairment of £75.4m.

Sensitivity to changes in assumptions

The level of impairment is predominantly dependent upon estimates used in arriving at future growth rates and the discount rates applied to cash flow projections. The incremental impact on the net impairment charge of applying a reasonably possible change in assumptions to the growth rates used in the five-year business plans, long-term growth rates, pre-tax discount rates, EBITDAR multiple and FV of disposal is as follows:

	Total £m
Incremental increase/(decrease) to the net impairment charge
Increase to net impairment charge if year one’s cash flows reduced by 10%	1.3
Decrease to net impairment charge if year one’s cash flows increased by 10%	(1.3)
Increase to net impairment charge if discount rates increased by 2%	5.8
Decrease to net impairment charge if discount rates reduced by 2%	(3.8)
Increase to net impairment charge if the fair value of AGP disposal sites reduced by 20%	18.7
Decrease to net impairment charge if the fair value of AGP disposal sites increased by 20%	(13.4)
Increase to net impairment charge if long-term growth rates reduced by 1%	8.7
Increase to net impairment charge if EBITDAR multiple reduced by 10%	8.8

The above sensitivity analyses are based on a reasonably possible change in an assumption (in line with disclosure requirements) whilst holding all other assumptions constant. In practice, this is unlikely to occur and changes in some of the assumptions may be correlated.

Goodwill – impairment review

Following the impairment assessment over property, plant and equipment and right-of-use assets, the Group completed an impairment review of goodwill. Goodwill acquired through business combinations is allocated to groups of CGUs at an operating segment level, being the level at which management monitors goodwill. As a result of the German goodwill being impaired in previous years, all of the Group’s goodwill is allocated to the UK and Ireland segment. The recoverable amount is the higher of FVLCD and VIU using the same assumptions as those used in the site level impairment reviews. The future cash flows are based on assumptions from the approved budget and cover a five-year period. These forecasts include management’s most recent view of medium-term trading prospects. Cash flows beyond this period are extrapolated using a 2.0% (2024/25: 2.0%) growth rate. The pre-tax discount rate applied to cash flow projections is 11.5% (2024/25: 11.4%). Given the level of headroom within the UK segment, there is no reasonably possible change that could result in a further material impairment of goodwill.

Assets held for sale – impairment review

In addition to impairments on assets transferred to held for sale in the year, an impairment charge of £10.9m (2024/25: £1.9m) was recorded in relation to assets which had previously been classified as held for sale as a result of a reduction in expected sales proceeds.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 186 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

15. Assets classified as held for sale

The following table presents the major classes of assets and liabilities classified as held for sale:

	2026	2025
	£m	£m
Property, plant and equipment	109.2	128.8
Right-of-use assets	1.4	1.1
Lease liabilities	(2.1)	(1.7)
Assets classified as held for sale	108.5	128.2

At the year end, there were 86 sites with a combined net book value of £108.5m (2024/25: 107 with net book value of £128.2m) classified as assets held for sale (AHFS). There are no gains or losses recognised in other comprehensive income with respect to these assets. The value and number of assets held for sale are both heightened by the Group’s continued commitment to the Accelerating Growth Plan. Sites are classified as held for sale only if they are available for immediate sale in their present condition and a sale is highly probable and expected to be completed within one year from the date of classification. Where there has been a delay in disposing of a site, the Group remains committed to its plan to sell the asset. If a site no longer meets this criteria at future reporting dates it is transferred back to property, plant and equipment.Included within assets held for sale are assets which were written down to fair value less costs to sell of £62.5m (2024/25: £56.4m). The fair value of property assets was determined based on current prices in an active market for similar properties or from independent market valuations of the assets by management’s experts. Where such information is not available management considers information from a variety of sources including current prices for properties of a different nature or recent prices of similar properties, adjusted to reflect those differences. This is a level 3 measurement as per the fair value hierarchy set out in Note 25. The key inputs under this approach are the property size and location.

16. Investment in joint ventures

Movement in investment in joint ventures	2026 £m	2025 £m
Opening investment in joint ventures	54.4	50.8
Share of profit for the year	4.7	4.7
Foreign exchange movements	(3.7)	0.1
Distributions received from joint ventures	(1.4)	(1.2)
Closing investment in joint ventures	54.0	54.4

Premier Inn Hotels LLC

The Group holds a 49% interest in Premier Inn Hotels LLC, a joint venture which operates Premier Inn branded hotels in the United Arab Emirates. The investment forms part of the Group’s international growth strategy. Premier Inn Hotels LLC holds a 49% investment in Premier Inn Qatar Limited.

During the year, Premier Inn Hotels LLC repatriated £1.4m (2024/25: £1.2m) to the Group as a return of capital contributed to the joint venture. The Group continues to exercise significant influence over the entity. During the year, the Group also charged a franchise fee aggregating to £1.1m (2024/25: £1.0m) which has been repatriated by Premier Inn Hotels LLC and recorded in the Group’s Income Statement. Subsequent to the balance sheet date, there has been military escalation in the region in which the joint venture operates (UAE and Qatar). The potential impact on operations and financial performance will be assessed in the next financial reporting period.

187 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

16. Investment in joint ventures continued

Premier Inn Hotels LLC continued

Summary of joint ventures’ balance sheets	2026 Premier Inn Hotels LLC £m	2025 Premier Inn Hotels LLC £m
Current assets	25.7	20.8
Non-current assets	123.6	132.8
Current liabilities	(14.8)	(13.7)
Non-current liabilities	(24.3)	(29.0)
Net assets	110.2	110.9
Group’s share of interest in joint ventures’ net assets	54.0	54.4
Group’s carrying amount of the investment	54.0	54.4
Within gross balance sheets
Cash and cash equivalents	22.5	17.8
Current financial liabilities	(2.7)	(4.8)
Non-current financial liabilities	(24.3)	(29.0)

Summary of joint ventures’ income statement	2025/26 Premier Inn Hotels LLC £m	2024/25 Premier Inn Hotels LLC £m
Revenue	37.3	35.6
Depreciation and amortisation	(3.2)	(2.9)
Other operating costs	(22.2)	(20.6)
Finance costs	(1.2)	(1.8)
Profit before tax	10.7	10.3
Income tax	(1.1)	(0.7)
Profit after tax	9.6	9.6
Group share Profit after tax	4.7	4.7

At 26 February 2026, the Group’s share of the capital commitments of its joint ventures amounted to £1.2m (2024/25: £1.2m).

17. Inventories

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Finished goods held for resale	9.2	13.9
Consumables	1.8	3.2
	11.0	17.1

The carrying value of inventories is stated net of a provision of £0.3m (2024/25: £0.7m).

18. Trade and other receivables

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Trade receivables	43.3	55.3
Prepayments and accrued income	67.5	53.7
Other receivables	25.9	18.1
	136.7	127.1
Analysed as:
Current	136.7	127.1
Non-current	—	—
	136.7	127.1

Trade and other receivables are non-interest bearing and are generally on 30-day terms. Trade receivables includes £43.2m (2024/25: £49.3m) relating to contracts with customers. The allowance for expected credit loss relating to trade and other receivables at 26 February 2026 was £1.2m (2024/25: £0.9m). During the year, credit write-backs of £0.3m (2024/25: credit write-backs of £0.5m) were recognised within operating costs in the consolidated income statement.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 188 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

19. Cash and cash equivalents

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Cash at bank and in hand (excluding committed payment runs¹)	23.9	62.1
Committed payment runs¹	(69.3)	(60.2)
Cash at bank and in hand	(45.4)	1.9
Money market funds²	278.6	572.1
Short-term deposits³	0.5	335.0
Cash and cash equivalents	233.7	909.0

¹ In line with the Group’s accounting policy, cash at bank is reduced at the point when BACS payment runs are created. In the current year this results in a temporary negative cash at bank and in hand balance of £45.4m that does not represent an overdraft. The payment runs were settled on the day after the year-end, with funding from the day-maturing money market funds. The IASB’s May 2024 Amendment to IFRS 9 requires that the liability should be derecognised and subsequently cash at bank reduced, at the settlement date of the liability. The Group does not intend to apply the optional early derecognition election for financial liabilities under the May 2024 IFRS 9 amendments, contained within paragraph B3.3.8 of IFRS 9. This retrospective application will result in FY26’s cash at bank and in hand being restated to the value of £23.9m, as shown in the table above.

² Money market funds used by the Group are short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value. The Group typically holds MMF investments on a rolling 24 hour maturity to ensure funds are readily available to meet operational cash requirements whilst achieving finance income for the Group.

³ Short-term deposits are made for varying periods of between one day and three months depending on the immediate cash requirements of the Group. They earn interest at the respective short-term deposit rates. The Group does not have material cash balances which are subject to contractual or regulatory restrictions. For the purposes of the consolidated cash flow statement, cash and cash equivalents comprise the amounts as disclosed above.

20. Borrowings

Amounts drawn down on the Group’s borrowing facilities are as follows:

	Current 2026 £m	Current 2025 £m	Non-current 2026 £m	Non-current 2025 £m
Senior unsecured bonds	—	450.0	943.0	942.4
	—	450.0	943.0	942.4

Revolving credit facility and covenant

The Group has a five-year £775.0m multicurrency revolving credit facility agreement, which expires on 25 May 2029. The facility’s terms include variable interest rates, with GBP linked to SONIA and EUR linked to EURIBOR. The revolving credit facility agreement contains one financial covenant ratio, being: Net debt/adjusted EBITDA <3.5x, on a frozen GAAP basis. During the year, the Group utilised the facility for short-term working capital requirements with a maximum drawdown of £50.0m, all of which was fully repaid prior to the reporting date. As at 26 February 2026, the facility was undrawn (2024/25: £nil).

Senior unsecured bonds

The Group has issued senior unsecured bonds with coupons and maturities as shown in the following table:

Title	Year issued	Principal value	Maturity	Coupon
2027 senior unsecured – green use of proceeds bonds	2021	£300.0m	31 May 2027	2.375%
2031 senior unsecured – green use of proceeds bonds	2021	£250.0m	31 May 2031	3.000%
2032 senior unsecured bonds	2025	£400.0m	31 May 2032	5.500%

On 16 October 2025, the Group repaid bonds on maturity with a principal value of £450.0m. As a result of the hedging arrangements in place, the total cash outflow recorded by the Group was £453.8m. Unamortised arrangement fees of £4.0m (2024/25: £5.0m) and unamortised coupon discounts of £1.9m (2024/25: £2.6m) incurred in relation to the bonds are included in the carrying value and are being amortised over the term of the bonds. In addition, £150.0m of the £400.0m 5.500% Bonds are held at fair value following set up of a fair value hedge, resulting in a fair value credit of £1.0m as at the balance sheet date. The bonds contain an early prepayment option which meets the definition of an embedded derivative. 189 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

21. Movements in cash and net debt

Year ended 26 February 2026	27 Feb 2025 £m	Cash flow £m	Share buy-back commitments £m	Net new lease liabilities £m	Foreign exchange £m	Transfers to assets held for sale £m	Impact of fair value hedge £m	Cost of borrowings and premiums/discounts £m	26 Feb 2026 £m
Cash and cash equivalents	909.0	—	(676.4)	—	1.1	—	—	—	233.7
Liabilities from financing activities
Borrowings	(1,392.4)	—	450.0	—	—	—	1.1	(1.7)	(943.0)
Lease liabilities	(4,233.8)	—	172.9	(411.2)	(51.0)	—	—	—	(4,523.1)
Committed share buy-back	—	(250.4)	250.4	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total liabilities from financing activities	(5,626.2)	(250.4)	873.3	(411.2)	(51.0)	—	1.1	(1.7)	(5,466.1)
Less: lease liabilities	4,233.8	—	(172.9)	411.2	51.0	—	—	—	4,523.1
Less: committed share buy-back	—	250.4	(250.4)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Net debt	(483.4)	—	(226.4)	—	1.1	—	1.1	(1.7)	(709.3)

Year ended 27 February 2025	29 Feb 2024 £m	Cash flow £m	Share buy-back commitments £m	Net new lease liabilities £m	Foreign exchange £m	Transfers to assets held for sale £m	Impact of fair value hedge £m	Cost of borrowings and premiums/discounts £m	27 Feb 2025 £m
Cash and cash equivalents	696.7	—	213.2	—	(0.9)	—	—	—	909.0
Liabilities from financing activities
Borrowings	(994.9)	—	(398.3)	—	—	—	—	0.8	(1,392.4)
Lease liabilities	(4,098.4)	—	148.7	(311.1)	31.6	(4.6)	—	—	(4,233.8)
Committed share buy-back	(12.3)	(252.0)	264.3	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total liabilities from financing activities	(5,105.6)	(252.0)	14.7	(311.1)	31.6	(4.6)	—	0.8	(5,626.2)
Less: lease liabilities	4,098.4	—	(148.7)	311.1	(31.6)	4.6	—	—	4,233.8
Less: committed share buy-back	12.3	252.0	(264.3)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Net debt	(298.2)	—	# FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
## NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
190 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

22. Lease arrangements

The Group leases various buildings which are used as hotels and restaurants. The leases are non-cancellable leases with varying terms, rent review clauses and renewal rights and include variable payments that are not fixed in amount but based upon a percentage of sales. The Group also leases various plant and equipment under non-cancellable lease agreements. An analysis of the Group’s right-of-use assets and lease liabilities is as follows:

Right-of-use assets	Property £m	Other £m	Total £m
At 29 February 2024	3,594.6	2.4	3,597.0
Additions including sale and leaseback of property	323.4	0.5	323.9
Net impairment charge (Note 14)	(25.3)	—	(25.3)
Foreign currency translation	(30.4)	—	(30.4)
Depreciation	(193.1)	(1.2)	(194.3)
Terminations	(1.6)	—	(1.6)
Net movements from assets held for sale in the year	3.7	—	3.7
Reclassification to property, plant and equipment 1	(10.3)	—	(10.3)
At 27 February 2025	3,661.0	1.7	3,662.7
Additions including sale and leaseback of property	354.4	2.1	356.5
Net impairment charge (Note 14)	(21.3)	—	(21.3)
Foreign currency translation	48.1	—	48.1
Depreciation	(207.6)	(1.0)	(208.6)
Terminations	(0.3)	—	(0.3)
Net movements from assets held for sale in the year	1.0	—	1.0
At 26 February 2026	3,835.3	2.8	3,838.1

Lease liabilities	Property £m	Other £m	Total £m
At 29 February 2024	4,096.6	1.8	4,098.4
Additions including sale and leaseback of property	327.6	0.4	328.0
Interest	166.6	0.1	166.7
Foreign currency translation	(31.6)	—	(31.6)
Payments	(313.7)	(1.7)	(315.4)
Terminations	(0.3)	—	(0.3)
Net movements from assets held for sale in the year	4.6	—	4.6
Reclassification to property, plant and equipment 1	(16.6)	—	(16.6)
At 27 February 2025	4,233.2	0.6	4,233.8
Additions including sale and leaseback of property	410.1	2.1	412.2
Interest	177.0	—	177.0
Foreign currency translation	51.0	—	51.0
Payments	(347.8)	(2.1)	(349.9)
Terminations	(1.0)	—	(1.0)
At 26 February 2026	4,522.5	0.6	4,523.1

1 During the comparative year, the Group acquired two properties over which it had previously held a leasehold interest. During the year, the Group had non-cash additions to right-of-use assets and lease liabilities of £269.5m (2024/25: £205.0m) relating to new leases and £87.0m (2024/25: £118.9m) relating to amendments to existing leases. The difference mainly relates to £51.6m of sale and leaseback of properties (2024/25: £4.1m mainly relating to net lease payments). A maturity analysis of gross lease liability payments is included within Note 24.

191 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

22. Lease arrangements continued

Amounts recognised in the Group income statement	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Depreciation expense of right-of-use assets	208.6	194.3
Interest on lease liabilities	177.0	166.7
Expense relating to low-value assets and short-term leases	—	—
Variable lease payment expenses	3.5	4.0
Impairment losses of right-of-use assets (Note 14)	21.3	25.3
Rental income	(4.7)	(5.5)
Net lease expense recognised in the consolidated income statement	405.7	384.8

The Group’s total cash outflow in relation to leases was £353.4m including variable lease payments of £3.5m (2024/25: £319.4m including variable lease payments of £4.0m).

Future possible cash outflows not included in the lease liability

The Group has several lease contracts that include extension and termination options. Set out below are the undiscounted future rental payments relating to periods following the exercise date of extension and termination options that are not included in the lease liability.

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Extension options expected not to be exercised	2,055.0	1,600.8
Termination options expected to be exercised	—	—
	2,055.0	1,600.8

The Group uses judgement in determining whether termination and extension option periods will be included within the lease term. The Group assumes that, unless a decision has been made to exit a lease, termination options will not be exercised as a result of historical practices within the Group. At the outset of a lease, the Group assumes that it will not exercise extension options. Due to the length of the Group’s leases, there is generally insufficient evidence that exercising an extension option is certain. Future increases or decreases in rentals linked to an index or rate (not arising on a sale and leaseback transaction) are not included in the lease liability until the change in cash flows takes effect. Approximately 77% of the Group’s lease liabilities are subject to inflation-linked rentals (with 83% of these leases containing caps) and a further 10% which are subject to open market rent or similar review clauses. Rental changes linked to inflation or rent reviews typically occur on an annual or five-yearly basis.

As at 26 February 2026, the Group was committed to leases with future cash outflows totalling £1,512.0m (2024/25: £1,182.3m) which had not yet commenced and as such are not accounted for as a liability. A liability and right-of-use asset will be recognised for these leases at the lease commencement date.

The Group as a lessor

The Group acts as a lessor in relation to a number of non-trading legacy sites and in subletting space within trading sites. Rental income recognised by the Group during the year is £4.7m (2024/25: £5.5m). Future minimum rentals receivable under non-cancellable operating leases at the year end are as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Within one year	4.0	4.1
After one year but not more than five years	9.9	7.9
More than five years	12.9	12.7
	26.8	24.7

192 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

23. Provisions

	Onerous contracts £m	Property costs £m	Insurance claims £m	Restructuring £m	Other £m	Total £m
At 29 February 2024	—	2.9	5.6	8.3	1.8	18.6
Created	8.6	24.0	0.9	2.0	—	35.5
Utilised	(2.0)	(10.7)	(2.7)	(2.1)	(0.2)	(17.7)
Released	(0.1)	—	(0.4)	(1.0)	—	(1.5)
Foreign exchange	—	—	(0.1)	—	—	(0.1)
At 27 February 2025	6.5	16.2	3.3	7.2	1.6	34.8
Created	0.8	—	15.8	2.0	—	18.6
Utilised	(6.1)	(14.2)	(1.5)	(3.1)	—	(24.9)
Released	—	—	—	—	—	—
Foreign exchange	—	—	—	—	—	—
At 26 February 2026	1.2	2.0	17.6	6.1	1.6	28.5
Analysed as:
Current	1.2	2.0	17.6	—	1.6	22.4
Non-current	—	—	—	6.1	—	6.1
At 26 February 2026	1.2	2.0	17.6	6.1	1.6	28.5
Analysed as:
Current	6.5	16.2	3.3	—	1.6	27.6
Non-current	—	—	—	7.2	—	7.2
At 27 February 2025	6.5	16.2	3.3	7.2	1.6	34.8

Restructuring

During the year, the Group progressed the restructuring programmes announced last year for its UK and Germany Support Centres, as well as its site operations in Germany resulting in a provision created of £0.8m and £6.1m utilised.

Onerous contracts

Onerous contract provisions relate primarily to property, software licences and supplier contracts where the contracts have become onerous. Provision is made for property-related costs for the period that a sublet or assignment of the lease is not possible.

Property related

The amount and timing of the expected cash outflows are subject to variation. The Group utilises the skills and expertise of both internal and external property experts to determine the provision held. Provisions are expected to be utilised over a period of up to ten years. During the year, the Group utilised £0.2m of property-related onerous provisions.

Exit fees

The Group has incurred exit fees in relation to the Group’s strategic decision to exit and change to a new logistics provider. A provision of £24.0m was created in the previous year in relation to these contracts. During the year, the Group utilised the remaining £14.0m of the provision (2024/25: utilised £10.0m).

193 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

23. Provisions continued

Property costs

The Group has established a provision for the performance of property-related remediation works at a small number of the Group’s sites. A provision of £3.3m is brought forward in relation to these costs. During the year £1.5m of the provision has been utilised, and £15.8m was created. The provision is expected to be utilised over the next two years.

Insurance

A provision of £7.2m was brought forward in relation to the estimate of the cost of future claims against the Group from employees and the public. The claims covered typically relate to accidents and injuries sustained within Whitbread’s trading sites. During the year, £3.1m of the provision was utilised and £2.0m was created.

Other

The Group has previously announced its intention to exit hotel operations in South East Asia. The £1.6m provision has been carried forward for risks arising from indemnity agreements. The Group operates leases where it neither anticipates nor intends exiting a lease; therefore, the Group has determined that the circumstances in which these leases would end mean that an outflow of resources is not considered probable. As a result, the Group does not hold a material dilapidations provision.

24. Financial Risk Management objectives and policies

The Group’s principal financial instruments, other than derivatives, comprise bank loans, senior unsecured bonds, cash, short-term deposits, money market funds, trade receivables and trade payables. The Group’s financial instrument policies can be found in the accounting policies in Note 2. The Board agrees policies for managing the financial risks summarised below:

Interest rate risk

The Group’s exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to the Group’s long-term debt obligations. Interest rate swaps are used where necessary to maintain a mix of fixed and floating rate borrowings to manage this risk, in line with the Group treasury policy.At the year end, 100% of Group debt was fixed for an average of 4.4 years at an average interest rate of 3.9% (2024/25: 100% for 3.9 years at 3.7%). In accordance with IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures, the Group has undertaken sensitivity analysis on its financial instruments which are affected by changes in interest rates. This analysis has been prepared on the basis of a constant amount of net debt, a constant ratio of fixed to floating interest rates, and the hedging instruments in place at 26 February 2026 and 27 February 2025 respectively. Consequently, the analysis relates to the situation at those dates and is not representative of the years then ended. The following assumptions were made:

balance sheet sensitivity to interest rates applies only to derivative financial instruments, as the carrying value of debt and deposits does not change as interest rates move; and
gains or losses are recognised in equity or the consolidated income statement in line with the accounting policies set out in Note 2.

Based on the Group’s cash and cash equivalent position at the year end, a 1%pt increase in interest rates would increase the Group’s profit before tax by £2.3m (2024/25: £9.1m).

Liquidity risk

In its funding strategy, the Group’s objective is to maintain a balance between the continuity of funding and flexibility through the use of overdrafts and bank loans. This strategy includes monitoring the maturity of financial liabilities to avoid the risk of a shortage of funds. Excess cash used in managing liquidity is placed on interest-bearing deposit where maturity is fixed at no more than three months. Short-term flexibility is achieved through the use of short-term borrowing on the money markets and through drawings under the Group’s revolving credit facility. The facility is typically utilised for periods of around one month to meet short-term liquidity needs.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 194 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

24. Financial Risk Management objectives and policies continued

Liquidity risk continued

Fair value hedges

The Group presents the time bands below as they reflect the maturity profile that it monitors in its liquidity management activities. The tables below summarise the Group’s financial liabilities at 26 February 2026 and 27 February 2025 based on contractual undiscounted payments, including interest:

26 February 2026	Less than 12 months (£m)	Between 1 and 3 years (£m)	Between 3 and 10 years (£m)	Between 10 and 20 years (£m)	More than 20 years (£m)	Total (£m)	Carrying value (£m)
Non-derivative financial assets/liabilities:
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings	36.6	366.1	760.5	—	—	1,163.2	943.0
Lease liabilities	359.2	728.4	2,434.9	2,351.0	1,780.0	7,653.5	4,523.1
Trade and other payables	197.8	—	—	—	—	197.8	197.8
	593.6	1,094.5	3,195.4	2,351.0	1,780.0	9,014.5	5,663.9
Derivative financial assets/liabilities:
Foreign exchange swaps and forwards
Derivative contracts – receipts	—	—	(574.7)	—	—	(574.7)	—
Derivative contracts – payments	—	—	543.2	—	—	543.2	—
	—	—	(31.5)	—	—	(31.5)	—
Total	593.6	1,094.5	3,163.9	2,351.0	1,780.0	8,983.0	—

27 February 2025	Less than 12 months (£m)	Between 1 and 3 years (£m)	Between 3 and 10 years (£m)	Between 10 and 20 years (£m)	More than 20 years (£m)	Total (£m)	Carrying value (£m)
Non-derivative financial assets/liabilities:
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings	501.8	373.3	790.0	—	—	1,665.1	1,392.4
Lease liabilities	337.8	673.2	2,282.8	2,271.6	1,562.1	7,127.5	4,233.8
Trade and other payables	170.4	—	—	—	—	170.4	170.4
	1,010.0	1,046.5	3,072.8	2,271.6	1,562.1	8,963.0	5,796.6
Derivative financial assets/liabilities:
Cross-currency swaps
Derivative contracts – receipts	(465.2)	—	—	—	—	(465.2)	—
Derivative contracts – payments	439.1	—	—	—	—	439.1	—
	(26.1)	—	—	—	—	(26.1)	—
Total	983.9	1,046.5	3,072.8	2,271.6	1,562.1	8,936.9	—

195 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 24. Financial Risk Management objectives and policies continued

Credit risk

Due to the high level of cash held at the year end, the most significant credit risk faced by the Group is that arising on cash and cash equivalents. The Group’s exposure arises from default of the counterparty, with a maximum exposure equal to the carrying value of these instruments. The Group seeks to minimise the risk of default in relation to cash and cash equivalents by spreading investments across a number of counterparties and dealing in accordance with the Group treasury policy which specifies acceptable credit ratings and maximum investments for any counterparty. Counterparties for cash and cash equivalents and derivatives contracts are required to have a long-term credit rating of A- or better at contract inception from either Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s or Fitch. Exposures to these counterparties are regularly monitored and, if the long-term credit rating falls below A-, management will make a decision on remedial action to be taken. In the event that any of the Group’s banks get into financial difficulty, the Group is exposed to the risk of withdrawal of currently undrawn committed facilities. This risk is mitigated by the Group having a range of counterparties to its facilities. The Group is exposed to a small amount of credit risk attributable to its trade and other receivables. This is minimised by dealing with counterparties with good credit ratings. The amounts included in the balance sheet are net of expected credit losses, which have been estimated by management based on prior experience and any known factors at the balance sheet date. The Group’s maximum exposure to credit risk arising from trade and other receivables, derivatives and cash and cash equivalents is £303.0m (2024/25: £1,002.3m).

Foreign currency risk

The Group operates internationally and is exposed to foreign currency risk arising from net investments in foreign operations. See Note 25 for more details. At 26 February 2026, the Group has an exposure in relation to euro denominated net assets that are not hedged against of £142.1m, primarily relating to operations in Germany and the Republic of Ireland. The Group’s functional currency is GBP. The Group manages foreign currency risk by using natural hedges and derivative instruments. Where appropriate, the Group designates certain assets and liabilities as hedges of net investments in foreign operations under IFRS 9. The objective is to minimise volatility in equity arising from exchange rate movements. The following table illustrates the impact on equity of a reasonably possible change in the EUR/GBP exchange rate at the reporting date, assuming all other variables remain constant. A 10% strengthening or weakening of the euro against sterling has been considered reasonable based on historical volatility.

Impact on equity	Change in EUR/GBP	(£m)
+10% (euro strengthens)		11.4
-10% (euro weakens)		(15.8)

The sensitivity analysis is based on €162.5m net assets translated at a closing rate of €1.14:£1.00. There is no material impact on profit or loss as the exposure relates to net investments in foreign operations. The Group applies hedge accounting for certain euro-denominated borrowings designated as hedges of net investments in foreign operations. The effectiveness of these hedges is assessed regularly and was continually effective throughout the financial year

Capital management

The Group’s primary objective in regard to capital management is to ensure that it continues to operate as a Going Concern and has sufficient funds at its disposal to grow the business for the benefit of shareholders. The Group seeks to maintain a ratio of debt to equity that balances risks and returns and also complies with the Group’s net debt to EBITDA covenant. See pages 18 to 29 of this report for the policies and objectives of the Board regarding capital management, analysis of the Group’s credit facilities and financing plans for the coming years. The Group aims to maintain sufficient funds for working capital and future investment in order to meet growth targets. The management of equity through share buy-backs and new issues is considered as part of the overall leverage framework balanced against the funding requirements of future growth. In addition, the Group may carry out a number of sale and leaseback transactions to provide further funding for growth. The Group has access to a £775.0m multicurrency revolving credit facility with a final maturity date on 25 May 2029. There is one financial covenant ratio, being net debt/adjusted EBITDA <3.5x, on a frozen GAAP basis. The above matters are considered at regular intervals and form part of the business planning and budgeting processes. In addition, the Board regularly reviews the Group’s dividend policy and funding strategy.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 196 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 25.# Financial instruments

The carrying values of financial assets and liabilities at each reporting date are as follows:

At 26 February 2026	Amortised cost Financial assets (£m)	Amortised cost Financial liabilities (£m)	Hedging instruments (£m)	Other (£m)	Carrying value (£m)
Trade and other receivables	69.2	—	—	—	69.2
Cash and cash equivalents	(44.9)	—	—	278.6	233.7
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings	—	(794.0)	—	(149.0)	(943.0)
Lease liabilities	—	(4,523.1)	—	—	(4,523.1)
Derivative financial instruments	—	—	(9.4)	—	(9.4)
Trade and other payables	—	(197.8)	—	—	(197.8)

At 27 February 2025	Amortised cost Financial assets (£m)	Amortised cost Financial liabilities (£m)	Hedging instruments (£m)	Other (£m)	Carrying value (£m)
Trade and other receivables	73.4	—	—	—	73.4
Cash and cash equivalents	336.9	—	—	572.1	909.0
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings	—	(1,392.4)	—	—	(1,392.4)
Lease liabilities	—	(4,233.8)	—	—	(4,233.8)
Derivative financial instruments	—	—	18.5	—	18.5
Trade and other payables	—	(170.4)	—	—	(170.4)

Fair values

IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement requires that the classification of financial instruments at fair value be determined by reference to the source of inputs used to derive the fair value. The classification uses the following three-level hierarchy:
* level 1 – quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;
* level 2 – other techniques for which all inputs, which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value, are observable, either directly or indirectly; and
* level 3 – techniques which use inputs, which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value, that are not based on observable market data.

For assets and liabilities that are recognised in the financial statements at fair value on a recurring basis, the Group determines whether transfers have occurred between levels in the hierarchy by reassessing categorisation (based on the lowest-level input that is significant to the fair value measurement as a whole) at the end of each reporting period.

197 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

25. Financial instruments continued

Fair values continued

Financial assets and liabilities measured at amortised cost
The carrying values of trade and other receivables, cash and cash equivalents and trade and other payables are considered to be reasonable approximations of their fair values largely due to the short-term maturities of these instruments. The fair value of the Group’s borrowings is estimated at £926.9m (2024/25: £1,344.8m). The fair value of the Group’s borrowings is based on level 1 valuation techniques where there is an active market for the instrument and on level 2 valuation techniques otherwise.

Financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value

	2026 (£m)	2025 (£m)
Financial assets
Derivative financial instruments – level 2	0.1	19.9
Financial liabilities
Derivative financial instruments – level 2	(9.5)	(1.4)

During the year ended 26 February 2026, there were no transfers between fair value measurement levels.

Derivative financial instruments include £0.1m assets (2024/25: £nil) due after one year, £nil assets (2024/25: £19.9m) due within one year, £nil liabilities (2024/25: £1.4m) due within one year and £9.5m liabilities (2024/25: £nil) due after one year. The fair value of derivative instruments classified as level 2 is calculated by discounting all future cash flows by the relevant market discount rate at the balance sheet date. The fair values of money market funds within cash and cash equivalents classified as level 1 are calculated by reference to their active market values at 26 February 2026.

Derivative financial instruments

Hedge of net investment in foreign operations
The Group maintains a strategy of hedging its net investment in its German operations against movements in the GBP:EUR exchange rate. The cross-currency swaps entered into in October 2019 matured and settled in October 2025. Upon maturity, the Group entered into new FX swap arrangements to maintain this hedge position. Also within the financial year, the Group entered into FX forward arrangements to increase the hedging of its net investment in its German operations as well as a portion of its Irish operations. There is an economic relationship between the hedged item and the hedging instrument as the net investment creates a translation risk that will match the foreign exchange risk on the cross-currency swaps. The Group has established a hedge ratio of 1:1 as the underlying risk of the hedging instrument is identical to the hedged risk component. The hedge ineffectiveness will arise if the amount of the investment in the foreign subsidiary was to become lower than the nominal amount of the swaps. The net investment hedges were assessed to be highly effective at 26 February 2026 and a net unrealised loss of £15.4m (2024/25: gain of £16.7m) has been recorded in the translation reserve. The Group has recorded credit of hedging of £1.4m (2024/25: costs of hedging of £1.1m) within finance costs in the consolidated income statement as a result of the foreign currency basis spread within the hedging instrument.

Cash flow hedges
Commodity price risk
The Group is exposed to the impact of changes in gas and power prices. In the UK, the Group manages this risk by entering into physical supply agreements with an energy supplier. As at 26 February 2026, the Group did not designate any financial instruments as cash flow hedges for commodity price risk (2024/25: the Group had fixed prices in respect of approximately 80% of its gas and power requirements for the next financial year).

Interest rate risk
The Group maintains hedge relationships to manage the variability of GBP cash flows arising from changes in floating interest rates on its GBP-denominated floating rate debt. These hedging relationships are in place for a period of two years and are executed through a partial-term interest rate hedge.

Fair value hedges
The Group maintains fixed rate debt as part of its strategy to manage interest rate fluctuations on the income statement, aiming for no less than two-thirds of total debt. The Group issued GBP debt with a fixed coupon of 5.50% and is exposed to changes in the fair value of this debt. The Group meets its objective of having effective GBP floating rate debt by entering into an interest rate swap, which hedges the fair value risk. There is an economic relationship between the hedged item and the hedging instrument as the terms of the interest rate swap match the terms of the fixed rate loan. The Group has established a hedge ratio of 1:1 for the hedging relationships as the underlying risk of the interest rate swap is identical to the hedged risk component.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 198 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

25. Financial instruments continued

Derivative financial instruments continued

Fair value hedges continued

The impact of the hedging instruments and hedged items on the statement of financial position is as follows:

At 26 February 2026	Notional amount (£m)	Carrying amount (£m)	Line item in statement of financial position	Change in fair value used for measuring ineffectiveness for the year (£m)	Change in fair value of hedged item (£m)
Net investment in foreign operations
Foreign exchange swaps	478.0	(9.0)	Derivative financial instruments	(9.0)	Net investment in foreign subsidiaries 9.0
Foreign exchange forwards	95.6	(0.5)	Derivative financial instruments	(0.5)	Net investment in foreign subsidiaries 0.5
Cash flow hedges
Interest rate swaps	150.0	1.1	Derivative financial instruments	1.1	Highly probable forecast net interest payments (1.1)
Fair value hedges
Interest rate swaps	150.0	(1.0)	Derivative financial instruments	(1.0)	£150m of £400m 5.50% Guaranteed Notes 1.0

At 27 February 2025	Notional amount (£m)	Carrying amount (£m)	Line item in statement of financial position	Change in fair value used for measuring ineffectiveness for the year (£m)	Change in fair value of hedged item (£m)
Net investment in foreign operations
Cross-currency swaps	450.0	19.9	Derivative financial instruments	16.1	Net investment in foreign subsidiaries (16.1)
Cash flow hedges
Power commodity swaps	4.5	(1.4)	Derivative financial instruments	5.7	Highly probable forecast future power usage N/A – future usage

The impact of the hedging instruments in the consolidated income statement and consolidated statement of comprehensive income is as follows:

2025/26	Total hedging gain/(loss) recognised in OCI (£m)	Amount reclassified from OCI to profit or loss (£m)	Line item in the consolidated income statement	Accumulated cash flow hedge reserve (£m)
Power commodity swaps	—	—	N/A - future usage	—

2024/25	Total hedging gain/(loss) recognised in OCI (£m)	Amount reclassified from OCI to profit or loss (£m)	Line item in the consolidated income statement	Accumulated cash flow hedge reserve (£m)
Power commodity swaps	5.7	8.8	N/A – future usage	(1.4)

199 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 25.# Financial instruments continued

Derivative financial instruments continued

Impact of hedging on equity

Set out below is the reconciliation of each component of equity and the analysis of other comprehensive income:

	Foreign currency translation reserve £m	Cash flow hedge reserve £m
At 29 February 2024	(11.6)	25.9
Net fair value movement recognised in other comprehensive income:
– Power commodity swaps	5.7	—
Reclassified and reported in the consolidated income statement:
– Power commodity swaps	8.8	—
Foreign exchange arising on consolidation	—	(20.9)
Fair value movement on derivatives designated as net investment hedges	—	16.7
Net current tax credit	—	0.3
Deferred tax charge	(3.6)	—
At 27 February 2025	(0.7)	22.0
Net fair value movement recognised in other comprehensive income:
– Power commodity swaps	(0.2)	—
– Interest rate swaps	0.9	—
Reclassified and reported in the consolidated income statement:
– Power commodity swaps	1.6	—
Foreign exchange arising on consolidation	—	29.2
Fair value movement on derivatives designated as net investment hedges	—	(15.4)
Net current tax charge	—	(0.2)
Deferred tax charge	(0.6)	—
At 26 February 2026	1.0	35.6

The foreign currency translation reserve includes an accumulated gain of £1.9m (2024/25: gain of £17.3m) relating to derivatives designated as net investment hedges.

26. Trade and other payables

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Trade payables	81.0	96.1
Other taxes and social security	68.0	73.8
Contract liabilities	186.2	183.3
Accruals	237.7	233.3
Other payables	116.8	74.3
	689.7	660.8

Analysed as:
Current	689.7	660.8
Non-current	—	—
	689.7	660.8

Included with contract liabilities is £183.8m (2024/25: £180.0m) relating to payments received for accommodation where the stay will take place after the year end and £2.4m (2024/25: £3.3m) revenue deferred relating to the Group’s restaurant customer loyalty programmes. During the year, £180.0m presented as a contract liability at 26 February 2026 has been recognised in revenue (2024/25: £177.1m). Trade payables typically have maturities up to 60 days depending on the nature of the purchase transaction and the agreed terms.

27. Share capital

Ordinary share capital

Allotted, called up and fully paid ordinary shares of 76.80 pence each (2024/25: 76.80 pence each)

	million	£m
At 29 February 2024	197.5	151.8
Issued on exercise of employee share options	0.1	0.1
Conversion of preference share capital	0.1	0.1
Cancellations following share buy-back	(8.9)	(6.8)
At 27 February 2025	188.8	145.2
Issued on exercise of employee share options	0.1	0.1
Cancellations following share buy-back	(8.8)	(6.7)
At 26 February 2026	180.1	138.6

Employee share options

During the year, options over 0.1m (2024/25: 0.1m) ordinary shares, fully paid, were exercised by employees under the terms of various share option schemes. The Company received proceeds of £5.2m (2024/25: £3.3m) on exercise of these options.

Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation

The Company purchased and cancelled 8.8m (2024/25: 8.9m) shares with a nominal value of £6.7m (2024/25: £6.8m) under the share buy-back programmes running through this financial year. Consideration of £250.4m (2024/25: £264.3m), including associated fees and stamp duty of £1.2m (2024/25: £2.0m), was paid during the year with fees of £0.9m accrued for (2024/25: £nil).

Share forfeiture

The Group has implemented a share forfeiture programme following the completion of a tracing and notification exercise to any shareholders who have not had contact with the Company over the past 12 years, in accordance with the provisions set out in the Company’s articles of association. Under the share forfeiture programme the shares and dividends associated with shares of untraced members have been forfeited. Other than shares issued in the normal course of business as part of the share-based payments schemes, there have been no transactions involving ordinary shares or potential ordinary shares since the reporting date and before the completion of these consolidated financial statements.

28. Reserves

Share premium
The share premium reserve is the premium paid on the Company’s 76.80 pence ordinary shares.

Capital redemption reserve
A capital redemption reserve was created on the cancellation of the Group’s B and C preference shares and also includes the nominal value of cancelled ordinary shares.

Retained earnings
In accordance with IFRS practice, retained earnings include revaluation reserves which arose on transition to IFRS.

Currency translation reserve
The foreign currency translation reserve is used to record exchange differences arising from the translation of the financial statements of foreign subsidiaries, other foreign currency investments and exchange differences on derivative instruments that provide a hedge against net investments in foreign operations.

Other reserves

	Treasury reserve £m	Merger reserve £m	Hedging reserve £m	Excluded component of hedge reserve £m	Total other reserves £m
At 29 February 2024	538.1	1,855.0	11.6	(5.8)	2,398.9
Other comprehensive income – net gain on cash flow hedges (Note 25)	—	—	(14.5)	—	(14.5)
Other comprehensive income – deferred tax on cash flow hedges (Note 25)	—	—	3.6	—	3.6
Other comprehensive income – loss on net investment hedges	—	—	—	0.6	0.6
Costs in relation to hedging	—	—	—	(1.1)	(1.1)
Loss on ESOT shares issued	(8.1)	—	—	—	(8.1)
At 27 February 2025	530.0	1,855.0	0.7	(6.3)	2,379.4
Other comprehensive income – net gain on cash flow hedges (Note 25)	—	—	(2.3)	—	(2.3)
Other comprehensive income – deferred tax on cash flow hedges (Note 25)	—	—	0.6	—	0.6
Other comprehensive income – loss on net investment hedges	—	—	—	6.6	6.6
Credit in relation to hedging	—	—	—	1.4	1.4
Purchase of ESOT shares	11.3	—	—	—	11.3
Loss on ESOT shares issued	(13.8)	—	—	—	(13.8)
At 26 February 2026	527.5	1,855.0	(1.0)	1.7	2,383.2

Treasury reserve

This reserve relates to shares held by an independently managed employee share ownership trust (ESOT) and treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC. The shares held by the ESOT were purchased in order to satisfy outstanding employee share options and potential awards under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) and other incentive schemes.

	Treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC (million)	Treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC (£m)	ESOT shares held (million)	ESOT shares held (£m)
At 29 February 2024	12.5	514.5	0.9	23.6
Exercised during the year	—	—	(0.3)	(8.1)
Purchase of ESOT shares	—	(5.1)	0.2	5.1
At 27 February 2025	12.5	509.4	0.8	20.6
Exercised during the year	—	—	(0.5)	(13.8)
Purchase of ESOT shares	—	—	0.4	11.3
At 26 February 2026	12.5	509.4	0.7	18.1

During the year, 0.4m shares were purchased by the Group’s independently managed Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) for consideration of £11.3m.

Merger reserve
The merger reserve arose as a consequence of the merger in 2000/01 of Whitbread Group PLC and Whitbread PLC.

Hedging reserve
The hedging reserve records movements for effective cash flow hedges measured at fair value.

Excluded component of hedge reserve
The excluded component of hedge reserve records movements in the elements of derivatives used in hedging arrangements that are excluded from the hedge relationship.

29. Analysis of cash flows given in the cash flow statement

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Profit for the year	212.9	253.7
Adjustments for:
Tax expense	85.5	114.1
Net finance costs (Note 8)	165.8	146.2
Share of profit from joint ventures	(4.7)	(4.7)
Depreciation and amortisation	426.2	401.8
Share-based payments	16.7	16.8
Net impairment charge (Note 14)	162.5	76.5
Net gain on disposals of property	(6.4)	(40.1)
Other non-cash items	23.6	35.6
Cash generated from operations before working capital changes	1,082.1	999.9
Decrease in inventories	6.2	4.1
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables	(1.1)	4.1
Decrease in trade and other payables	(14.6)	(3.6)
Cash generated from operations	1,072.6	1,004.5

Other non-cash items include a £0.3m inflow representing bad debt charges (2024/25: £nil), an inflow of £18.7m (2024/25: £33.9m inflow) as a result of net provision-related movements, an inflow of £5.1m (2024/25: £5.1m inflow) representing non-cash pension scheme administration costs, an outflow of £nil (2024/25: £3.6m) in relation to other adjusting item write-offs and an outflow of £0.5m (2024/25: £0.2m inflow) from foreign exchange gains.

30. Contingent liabilities

The Group previously stated that it was involved in legal proceedings in relation to a third-party intellectual property claim, this matter was successfully defended during the current period and the Group no longer deems this to be a contingent liability. The Group has updated it’s accounting policy (Note 2) in relation to property-related remediation, clarifying its accounting treatment in this area, as well as having created related provisions in the financial year (Note 23).

31. Share-based payment plans

Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP)

LTIP awards were made to Directors and senior executives of the Group prior to the adoption of the Restricted Share Plan. Vesting of share awards under the scheme was dependent on continued employment and meeting performance targets over a three-year vesting period. The awards are settled in equity once exercised.

Deferred equity awards

Share awards are made under the Whitbread Directors’ Incentive Scheme implemented during 2004/05.The awards are not subject to performance conditions and will vest in full on the release date subject to continued employment at that date. If the director or senior executive of the Group ceases to be an employee of Whitbread prior to the release date, normally three years after the award, by reason of redundancy, death, injury, ill health, disability or some other reason considered to be a permitted reason by the Remuneration Committee, the awards may be released in full. If employment ceases for any other reason, the proportion of awards which vest depends upon the year in which the award was made and the date that employment ceased. If employment ceases in the first year after an award is made, none of the award vests, between the first and second anniversary, 25% vests, and between the second and third anniversary, 50% vests. The awards are settled in equity once exercised.

R&R Scheme

The R&R Scheme enables Whitbread to make share awards periodically on a flexible basis. There are typically no performance conditions but these can be imposed by Whitbread at time of grant. Vesting of awards under this scheme is dependent on being in employment at date of vesting. If employment at Whitbread ceases prior to the vesting date by reason of resignation or is terminated for cause, all unvested awards will lapse. If employment ceases for any other reason, any vesting will be at the discretion of the Remuneration Committee and if granted will be on a pro-rated basis to the leaving date. The awards are settled in equity once exercised.

Restricted Share Plan (RSP)

At the general meeting held on 6 December 2019, it was agreed that the Restricted Share Plan would replace the Long Term Incentive Plan. Vesting of all shares under the scheme will depend on continued employment and meeting underpin targets over a period of at least three years. Details of the underpin target that apply to RSP awards are included in the remuneration report on page 130. After vesting there is an additional holding period applicable to Directors and senior executives such that the underpin measurement period and holding period are at least five years. If employment at Whitbread ceases prior to the vesting date by reason of resignation or terminated for cause, all unvested shares will lapse. If employment ceases for any other reason, any vesting will be at the discretion of the Remuneration Committee and if granted will be on a pro-rated basis to the leaving date. The awards are settled in equity once exercised.

Movements in the number of share awards are as follows:

52 weeks to 26 February 2026	Outstanding at the beginning of the year	Granted during the year	Exercised during the year	Expired during the year	Outstanding at the end of the year	Exercisable at the end of the year
Long Term Incentive Plan	—	—	—	—	—	—
Deferred equity awards	375,868	114,875	(130,122)	—	360,621	51,578
R&R Scheme	176,352	13,477	(132,654)	(2,121)	55,054	—
Restricted Share Plan	704,761	256,207	(102,995)	(5,008)	852,965	19,093
	1,256,981	384,559	(365,771)	(7,129)	1,268,640	70,671

52 weeks to 27 February 2025	Outstanding at the beginning of the year	Granted during the year	Exercised during the year	Expired during the year	Outstanding at the end of the year	Exercisable at the end of the year
Long Term Incentive Plan	569	—	—	(569)	—	—
Deferred equity awards	310,012	152,385	(62,436)	(24,093)	375,868	1,019
R&R Scheme	383,905	14,996	(210,792)	(11,757)	176,352	123,572
Restricted Share Plan	615,136	187,944	(46,155)	(52,164)	704,761	120,000
	1,309,622	355,325	(319,383)	(88,583)	1,256,981	244,591

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
31. Share-based payment plans continued

Employee Sharesave scheme

The employee Sharesave scheme is open to all employees and provides for a purchase price equal to the market price on the day preceding the date of invitation, with a 20% discount. The shares can be purchased over the six-month period following the third or fifth anniversary of the commencement date, depending on the length chosen by the employee.

The weighted average exercise price (WAEP) of movements in the number of share awards is as follows:

	2025/26 Options	2025/26 WAEP £ per share	2024/25 Options	2024/25 WAEP £ per share
Outstanding at the beginning of the year	1,210,203	23.29	1,213,411	23.79
Granted during the year	335,287	22.06	405,496	23.33
Exercised during the year	(225,660)	22.17	(140,968)	24.93
Expired during the year	(264,668)	23.33	(267,736)	24.76
Outstanding at the end of the year	1,055,162	22.97	1,210,203	23.29
Exercisable at the year end	190,716	20.87	85,757	24.52

Outstanding options to purchase ordinary shares of 76.80 pence between 2026 and 2031 are exercisable at prices between £20.51 and £27.11 per share (2024/25: between 2025 and 2030 at prices between £20.51 and £31.62 per share). The weighted average share price at the date of exercise for options exercised during the year was £22.17 (2024/25: £31.17). The weighted average contractual life of the share options outstanding as at 26 February 2026 is between two and three years.

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Share-based payment plans continued
Employee Sharesave scheme continued

The following tables list the inputs to the model used for years ended 26 February 2026 and 27 February 2025:

26 February 2026	Grant date	Exercise price £	Price at grant date £	Expected term Years	Expected dividend yield %	Expected volatility %	Risk-free rate %	Vesting conditions	Weighted average fair value £ per share
Deferred equity awards	09.05.2025	—	28.10	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	26.52
Deferred equity awards	19.06.2025	—	27.58	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	26.04
Restricted Share Plan	09.05.2025	—	28.10	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Non-market 1,2,3,4	26.47
Restricted Share Plan	19.06.2025	—	27.58	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Non-market 1,2,3,4	26.04
Restricted Share Plan	21.01.2026	—	27.14	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Non-market 1,2,3,4	25.95
R&R awards	09.05.2025	—	28.10	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	26.87
R&R awards	19.06.2025	—	27.58	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	26.84
R&R awards	21.01.2026	—	27.14	2.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	26.23
SAYE – three years	12.12.2025	22.06	24.00	3.21	2.00	29.0	3.74	Service 3	5.93
SAYE – five years	12.12.2025	22.06	24.00	5.21	2.00	29.0	3.97	Service 3	7.15

27 February 2025	Grant date	Exercise price £	Price at grant date £	Expected term Years	Expected dividend yield %	Expected volatility %	Risk-free rate %	Vesting conditions	Weighted average fair value £ per share
Deferred equity awards	30.04.2024	—	31.67	2.15	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	30.36
Deferred equity awards	30.01.2025	—	28.72	2.27	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	27.44
Restricted Share Plan	30.04.2024	—	31.67	3.00	2.00	N/A	N/A	Non-market 1,2,3,4	29.83
Restricted Share Plan	30.01.2025	—	28.72	2.27	2.00	N/A	N/A	Non-market 1,2,3,4	27.44
R&R awards	30.04.2024	—	31.67	1.19	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	30.92
R&R awards	30.01.2025	—	28.72	0.44	2.00	N/A	N/A	Service 3	28.47
SAYE – three years	16.12.2024	23.33	29.42	3.21	2.00	38.8	4.20	Service 3	10.68
SAYE – five years	16.12.2024	23.33	29.42	5.21	2.00	38.8	4.20	Service 3	12.14

1 Return on capital employed.
2 Other performance conditions.
3 Employment service.
4 Lease-adjusted net debt.

The fair value of share options granted is estimated as at the date of grant using a stochastic model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the options were granted. Expected volatility reflects the assumption that historical volatility is indicative of future trends, which may not necessarily be the actual outcome. The risk-free rate is the rate of interest obtainable from government securities over the expected life of the equity incentive. The expected dividend yield is calculated on the basis of publicly available information at the time of the grant date which, in most cases, is the historical dividend yield. No other features relating to the granting of options were incorporated into the measurement of fair value.

Employee share ownership trust (ESOT)

The Company funds an ESOT to enable it to acquire and hold shares for the share-based payment plans noted above. The ESOT held 0.7m shares at 26 February 2026 (2024/25: 0.8m). All dividends on the shares in the ESOT are waived by the Trustee.

Total charged to the consolidated income statement for all schemes	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Deferred equity	5.5	3.5
R&R Scheme	0.9	2.1
Restricted Share Plan	3.5	5.7
Employee Sharesave scheme	6.8	5.5
Equity settled	16.7	16.8

32. Retirement benefits

Defined contribution schemes

The Group operates a contracted-in defined contribution scheme under the Whitbread Group Pension Fund. Contributions by both employees and Group companies are held in externally invested, trustee-administered funds. The Group contributes a specified percentage of earnings for members of the above defined contribution scheme, and thereafter has no further obligations in relation to the scheme. The total cost charged to the consolidated income statement in relation to the defined contribution scheme in the year was £21.1m (2024/25: £16.4m). At the year end, the Group owed outstanding contributions of £3.2m (2024/25: £3.1m) in respect of the defined contribution scheme.

Defined benefit scheme

The defined benefit (final salary) section of the principal Group pension scheme, the Whitbread Group Pension Fund, was closed to new members on 31 December 2001 and to future accrual on 31 December 2009. The Whitbread Group Pension Fund is set up under UK trust law, registered with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and regulated by the Pensions Regulator.The Whitbread Group Pension Fund is governed by a corporate trustee which operates the scheme in accordance with the requirements of UK pensions legislation. The surplus recognised in the consolidated balance sheet in respect of the defined benefit pension scheme is the fair value of the plan assets less the present value of the defined benefit obligation at the end of the reporting period. The IAS 19 pension cost relating to the defined benefit section of the Whitbread Group Pension Fund is assessed in accordance with actuarial advice from, and calculations provided by, Lane Clark & Peacock, using the projected unit credit method. The present value of the defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated future cash outflows using interest rates of high quality corporate bonds that have terms to maturity approximating to the terms of the related pension obligation. Actuarial gains and losses arising from experience adjustments and changes in actuarial assumptions are charged or credited to equity in other comprehensive income in the period in which they arise. As the scheme is closed to future accrual, there is no future service cost. The surplus has been recognised as, under the governing documentation of the Whitbread Group Pension Fund, the Group has an unconditional right to receive a refund, assuming the gradual settlement of the scheme liabilities over time until all members and their dependants have either died or left the scheme, in accordance with the provisions of IFRIC 14 IAS 19 – The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset, Minimum Funding Requirements and their Interaction. With the pensioner buy-in policy purchased in June 2022, the defined benefit scheme has now insured around 50% of pensioners, under which the benefits payable to defined benefit members covered under the policy became fully insured, thus reducing the Group’s exposure to changes in longevity, interest rates, inflation and other relevant factors. The weighted average duration of the defined benefit plan obligation at the end of the reporting period is 11 years (2024/25: 12 years).

207 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

32. Retirement benefits continued

Funding

Expected contributions to be made in the next reporting period total £6.2m (2024/25: £6.7m). In 2025/26, contributions were £5.3m with £5.1m from the employer, and £0.2m of benefits settled by the Group in relation to an unfunded scheme (2024/25: £17.1m with £5.1m from the employer, £11.8m from Moorgate Scottish Limited Partnership (SLP) and £0.2m of benefits settled by the Group in relation to an unfunded scheme). In addition, Whitbread paid £1.0m (2024/25: £0.8m) of investment manager expenses.

A scheme specific actuarial valuation for the purpose of determining the level of cash contributions to be paid into the Whitbread Group Pension Fund was undertaken as at 31 March 2023 by Towers Watson Ltd using the projected unit credit method. The valuation showed a surplus of assets relative to technical provisions of £34.0m (31 March 2020: surplus of £55.0m). As a result, no deficit reduction contributions are due. A scheme specific actuarial valuation of the scheme as at 31 March 2025 is currently being carried out, with the majority of principal assumptions now being substantively agreed by the Trust and Company.

The Trustee holds as security £531.5m of Whitbread’s freehold property. This is expected to remain in place until certain steps are taken in relation to the Scottish Partnership arrangements, with the expectation that these steps will occur during the 2026/27 financial year. Following that, the security held by the Trustee will be the lower of: £500.0m; and 120% of the buy-out deficit and will remain in place until there is no longer a buy-out deficit.

Investment in Moorgate SLP

Up until February 2025, the pension scheme received a share of the partnership profits from its investment in Moorgate SLP, which was established by the Group in the year ended 4 March 2010 (the share in profits was accounted for by the Group as pension contributions at the time of payment). The partnership interests in Moorgate SLP are held by the Group, the general partner and by the pension scheme. Moorgate SLP holds an investment in a further partnership, Farringdon Scottish Partnership (SP), established in the same year. Property assets were transferred from other Group companies to Farringdon SP and are leased back to Whitbread Group PLC and Premier Inn Hotels Limited. The Group retains control over these properties, including the flexibility to substitute alternative properties. However, the Trustee has first charge over the property portfolio and certain other assets with an aggregate value of £228.0m which is included in the charge of £531.5m above. The Group retains control over both partnerships and, as such, they are fully consolidated in these consolidated financial statements.

The pension scheme is a partner in Moorgate SLP and, as such, was entitled to an annual share of the profits of the partnership up until February 2026. The underlying agreement will most likely terminate during the next financial year. At the end of this agreement, the partnership capital allocated to the pension scheme partner will, depending on the funding position of the Pension Scheme as at 31 March 2025, be transferred in cash to the pension scheme up to a value of £150.0m. The Group does not currently expect to need to pay out a material value under this clause as the funding position is expected to be in surplus, noting this is dependent on the conclusion of the actuarial valuation of the scheme as at 31 March 2025. Under IAS 19, the investment held by the pension scheme in Moorgate SLP, a consolidated entity, does not represent a plan asset for the purposes of the consolidated financial statements.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026
208 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

32. Retirement benefits continued

Risks

Through its defined benefit scheme, the Group is exposed to a number of risks in relation to the IAS 19 surplus, the most significant of which are detailed below:

Risk	Description	Principal impact on assets and obligation reconciliations
Market volatility	The value of the defined benefit obligation is linked to AA-rated corporate bonds whilst the scheme invests some of its assets in other asset classes (including those denominated in foreign currencies). These assets include private equities, secure income assets, gilts, swaps and cash. This exposes the Group to risks including those relating to interest rates, equity markets, foreign exchange and climate change. As a result, any change in market conditions which impacts the value of the scheme’s assets or the interest rate on AA-rated corporate bonds will lead to volatility in the Group’s net pension surplus on the balance sheet, pension expense in the income statement and remeasurement of movements in other comprehensive income. There is the potential for heightened market volatility through a number of different sources, including the economic impact of geopolitical events (e.g. regional conflicts or the potential for trade wars), and the policy response of central banks to changing economic conditions (e.g. growth and inflation) which could have consequential implications on interest rates, in addition to wider economic impacts. There are also longer-term macroeconomic risks, such as the possible risk of recession and constraints on market liquidity, which could all adversely affect the scheme’s assets.	• Return on plan assets • Actuarial movements in financial assumptions
Inflationary risk	Due to the link between the scheme obligation and inflation, an increase in the expected future rate of inflation will lead to higher scheme liabilities, although this is mitigated by the scheme holding inflation-linked assets which aim to match the increase in liabilities.	• Actuarial movements in financial assumptions
Accounting	The defined benefit obligation is calculated by projecting the future cash flows of the scheme for many years into the future. Consequently, the assumptions used can have a significant impact on the balance sheet position and income statement charge. In practice, future scheme experience may not be in line with the assumptions adopted. For example, an increase in the life expectancy of members would increase scheme liabilities.	• Discount rate: interest income on scheme assets and cost on liabilities • Mortality: actuarial movements in demographic assumptions • Actuarial movements in financial assumptions

209 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

32. Retirement benefits continued

The principal assumptions used by the independent qualified actuaries in updating the most recent valuation carried out as at 31 March 2025 of the UK scheme to 26 February 2026 for IAS 19 Employee Benefits purposes (2024/25: 31 March 2023 of the UK scheme to 27 February 2025) were:

	At 26 February 2026 (%)	At 27 February 2025 (%)
Pre-April 2006 rate of increase in pensions in payment	2.90	3.00
Post-April 2006 rate of increase in pensions in payment	2.00	2.10
Pension increases in deferment	2.90	3.00
Discount rate	5.50	5.50
Inflation assumption	3.00	3.20

Life expectancy assumptions	At 26 February 2026	At 27 February 2025
Retiring at the balance sheet date at age 65 – male	19.9 years	19.7 years
Retiring at the balance sheet date at age 65 – female	23.0 years	22.4 years
Retiring at the balance sheet date in 20 years at age 65 – male	20.8 years	20.7 years
Retiring at the balance sheet date in 20 years at age 65 – female	24.2 years	23.5 years

The mortality assumptions are based on standard mortality tables which allow for future mortality improvements. The mortality improvements assumption has been updated to use the CMI 2024 model with appropriate parameterisation (2024/25: CMI 2023).The amounts recognised in the consolidated income statement in respect of the defined benefit scheme are as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Net interest on net defined benefit surplus	(7.5)	(8.3)
Administrative expense	5.2	5.1
Total income recognised in the consolidated income statement (gross of deferred tax)	(2.3)	(3.2)

The amounts taken to the consolidated statement of comprehensive income are as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Actuarial gains	(13.7)	(59.8)
Return on plan assets lower than discount rate	25.0	111.5
Remeasurement effects recognised in other comprehensive income	11.3	51.7

The amounts recognised in the consolidated balance sheet are as follows:

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Present value of defined benefit obligation	(1,614.0)	(1,641.2)
Fair value of scheme assets	1,745.9	1,775.8
Surplus recognised in the consolidated balance sheet	131.9	134.6

Changes in the present value of the defined benefit obligation are as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Opening defined benefit obligation	1,641.2	1,719.6
Interest cost	87.5	83.7
Remeasurement due to:
Changes in financial assumptions	(35.0)	(95.4)
Changes in demographic assumptions	8.9	26.9
Experience adjustments	12.4	8.7
Benefits paid	(100.8)	(102.1)
Unfunded pension scheme benefits settled by the Group 1	(0.2)	(0.2)
Closing defined benefit obligation	1,614.0	1,641.2

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
210 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
32. Retirement benefits continued

Changes in the fair value of the scheme assets are as follows:

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Opening fair value of scheme assets	1,775.8	1,884.8
Interest income on scheme assets	95.0	92.0
Return on plan assets lower than discount rate 2	(25.0)	(111.5)
Contributions from employer 1	5.1	5.1
Additional contributions from Moorgate SLP 1	—	11.8
Investment manager expenses paid by the employer 1	1.0	0.8
Benefits paid	(100.8)	(102.1)
Administrative expenses	(5.2)	(5.1)
Closing fair value of scheme assets	1,745.9	1,775.8

The major categories of plan assets are as follows:

	2026 Quoted and pooled £m	2026 Unquoted £m	2026 Total £m	2025 Quoted and pooled £m	2025 Unquoted £m	2025 Total £m
Bonds	461.0	—	461.0	38.3	1.2	39.5
Private markets	—	211.1	211.1	—	273.5	273.5
Liability-driven investments (LDI) 3	605.6	—	605.6	981.5	—	981.5
Cash and other 4	22.7	4.5	27.2	20.0	4.1	24.1
Buy-in insurance	—	441.0	441.0	—	457.2	457.2
	1,089.3	656.6	1,745.9	1,039.8	736.0	1,775.8

1 The total of these items equals the cash paid by the Group as per the consolidated cash flow statement. ‘Contributions from employer’ include contributions to cover administration expenses.
2 Includes cost of managing fund assets.
3 Liability-driven investments include UK fixed and index-linked gilts, repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements, interest rate and inflation (RPI) swaps, gilt futures and cash.
4 Other primarily relates to assets held in respect of cash and net current assets.

211 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26
32. Retirement benefits continued

The assumptions in relation to discount rate, mortality and inflation have a significant effect on the measurement of scheme liabilities. The following table shows the sensitivity of the valuation to changes in these assumptions:

	(Increase)/decrease in net defined benefit surplus 2026 £m	(Increase)/decrease in net defined benefit surplus 2025 £m	Decrease/(increase) in gross defined benefit liability 2026 £m	Decrease/(increase) in gross defined benefit liability 2025 £m
Discount rate 1.00% increase to discount rate	(125.0)	(131.0)	158.0	165.0
1.00% decrease to discount rate	152.0	159.0	(189.0)	(199.0)
Inflation 0.25% increase to inflation rate	26.0	23.0	(32.0)	(29.0)
0.25% decrease to inflation rate	(25.0)	(23.0)	31.0	29.0
Life expectancy Additional one-year increase to life expectancy	36.0	38.0	(56.0)	(60.0)

The above sensitivity analyses are based on a change in an assumption whilst holding all other assumptions constant. In practice, this is unlikely to occur and changes in some of the assumptions may be correlated. Where the discount rate is changed this will have an impact on the valuation of scheme assets in the opposing direction. When calculating the sensitivity of the defined benefit obligation to significant actuarial assumptions, the same method (projected unit credit method) has been applied as when calculating the pension surplus recognised within the consolidated balance sheet. The methods and types of assumptions did not change. As the Trustees of the Fund have a strategy in place to hedge the Fund’s liabilities against movements in interest rates and inflation, it is likely that movements in assets and liabilities will offset.

33. Related party disclosure

The Group consists of a parent company, Whitbread PLC, incorporated in the UK, and a number of subsidiaries and joint ventures held directly and indirectly by Whitbread PLC, which operate and are incorporated around the world. Note 9 to the Company’s separate financial statements lists details of the interests in subsidiaries and related undertakings.

The Group holds 6% as a general partnership interest in Moorgate Scottish Limited Partnership (SLP) with Whitbread Pension Trustees holding the balance as a limited partner. Moorgate SLP holds a 67.8% investment in a further partnership, Farringdon Scottish Partnership (SP), which was established by the Group to hold property assets. The remaining 32.2% interest in Farringdon SP is owned by the Group. The partnerships were set up in 2009/10 as part of a transaction with Whitbread Pension Trustees and the Group retains control over both partnerships and, as such, they are fully consolidated in these consolidated financial statements. Further details can be found in Note 32.

Shares in Whitbread Group PLC are held directly by Whitbread PLC. Shares in the other subsidiaries are held directly and indirectly by Whitbread Group PLC.

Related party transactions

	2025/26 Joint ventures £m	2024/25 Joint ventures £m
Sales to a related party	1.1	1.1
Purchases from a related party	—	—
Amounts owed by a related party	1.1	—
Amounts owed to a related party	—	—

Other transactions with joint ventures
The majority of the sales to a related party relate to the £1.1m (2024/25: £1.1m) franchise fee charged by Whitbread to one of its joint ventures. For details of the Group’s investments in and loans to joint ventures, see Note 16; those details are excluded from the table above.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
212 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
33. Related party disclosure continued

Key management personnel
The key management personnel of the Group are defined as the members of the Whitbread PLC Executive Committee. Compensation of key management personnel (including Directors) is set out below.

	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Short-term employee benefits	7.6	7.5
Post-employment benefits	—	—
Share-based payments	5.2	6.0
	12.8	13.5

Terms and conditions of transactions with related parties
Sales to, and purchases from, related parties are made at normal market prices. Outstanding balances at year end are unsecured and settlement occurs in cash. There have been no guarantees provided, or received, for any related party receivables. No adjustment for expected credit loss relating to amounts owed by related parties has been made (2024/25: £nil). An assessment is undertaken, each financial year, through examining the financial position of the related parties and the market in which the related parties operate.

Transactions with other related parties
Details of transactions with Directors are detailed in Note 7.

34. Events after the balance sheet date

Accelerating Growth Plan
The results include the announcement of the proposed extension of the Accelerating Growth Plan to optimise UK F&B to include all of the Group’s remaining branded restaurants.

213 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

COMPANY BALANCE SHEET

Company number: 04120344
At 26 February 2026

	Notes	26 February 2026 £m	27 February 2025 £m
Non-current assets
Investment in subsidiaries	3	2,506.3	2,489.6
Other receivables	4	364.5	273.9
Total non-current assets		2,870.8	2,763.5
Current assets
Other receivables	4	150.0	250.0
Total assets		3,020.8	3,013.5
Current liabilities
Other payables	5	(11.3)	(9.7)
Total liabilities		(11.3)	(9.7)
Net assets		3,009.5	3,003.8
Equity
Share capital	6	138.6	145.2
Share premium	7	1,043.8	1,038.7
Capital redemption reserve	7	77.0	70.3
Retained earnings	7	2,277.6	2,279.6
Treasury reserve	7	(527.5)	(530.0)
Total equity		3,009.5	3,003.8

The profit and loss account of the parent company is omitted from the Company’s accounts by virtue of the exemption granted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006. The profit generated in the year for ordinary shareholders, and included in the financial statements of the parent company, amounted to £415.2 (2024/25: £13.8m).

Dominic Paul Chief Executive 29 April 2026
Hemant Patel Chief Financial Officer
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 214

COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

Year ended 26 February 2026

	Share capital (Note 6) £m	Share premium (Note 7) £m	Capital redemption reserve (Note 7) £m	Retained earnings (Note 7) £m	Treasury reserve (Note 7) £m	Total £m
At 29 February 2024	151.8	1,031.8	63.5	2,687.2	(538.1)	3,396.2
Profit for the year	—	—	—	13.8	—	13.8
Total comprehensive income	—	—	—	13.8	—	13.8
Ordinary shares issued on exercise of employee share options	0.1	7.0	—	—	—	7.1
Loss on ESOT shares issued	—	—	—	(8.1)	8.1	—
Accrued share-based payments	—	—	—	16.8	—	16.8
Dividends paid	—	—	—	(178.1)	—	(178.1)
Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation	(6.8)	—	6.8	(252.0)	—	(252.0)
Conversion of preference share capital	0.1	(0.1)	—	—	—	—
At 27 February 2025	145.2	1,038.7	70.3	2,279.6	(530.0)	3,003.8
Profit for the year	—	—	—	415.2	—	415.2
Total comprehensive income	—	—	—	415.2	—	415.2
Ordinary shares issued on exercise of employee share options	0.1	5.1	—	—	—	— 5.2 Loss on ESOT shares issued — — — (13.8) 13.8 — Accrued share-based payments — — — 16.7 — 16.7 Dividends paid — — — (168.8) — (168.8) Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation (6.7) — 6.7 (251.3) — (251.3) Purchase of ESOT shares — — — — (11.3) (11.3) At 26 February 2026 138.6 1,043.8 77.0 2,277.6 (527.5) 3,009.5

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

215 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Year ended 26 February 2026

1. Basis of accounting

The financial statements of Whitbread PLC for the year ended 26 February 2026 were authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 29 April 2026. The financial year represents the 52 weeks to 26 February 2026 (prior financial year: 52 weeks to 27 February 2025). The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable UK Accounting Standards. The Company meets the definition of a qualifying entity under FRS 100 Application of Financial Reporting Requirements as issued by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). As permitted by FRS 101, the Company has taken advantage of the disclosure exemptions available under that standard in relation to share-based payments, non-current assets held for sale, financial instruments, capital management, presentation of comparative information in respect of certain assets, presentation of a cash flow statement, standards not yet effective, impairment of non-current assets and related party transactions. Where required, equivalent disclosures are given in the consolidated financial statements of the Group.

Going Concern
The Directors have concluded that it is appropriate for the financial statements to be prepared on the Going Concern basis (see Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements).

2. Summary of significant accounting policies

Investments
Investments held as non-current assets are stated at cost less provision for any impairment. The carrying values of investments are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable.

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
In the opinion of the Directors, there are no critical accounting judgements or key sources of estimation uncertainty in relation to the parent company financial statements.

3. Investment in subsidiary undertakings

Investments at cost	2026 £m	2025 £m
Opening investments	2,489.6	2,472.8
Contributions to subsidiaries in respect of share-based payments	16.7	16.8
Closing investments	2,506.3	2,489.6

Significant trading subsidiary undertakings	Principal activity	Country of incorporation	Country of principal operations	% of equity and votes held
Whitbread Group PLC	Hotels and restaurants	England	England	100.0
Premier Inn Hotels Limited	Hotels	England	England	100.0

Whitbread Group PLC, in which the Company has an investment, holds 6% as a general partnership interest in Moorgate Scottish Limited Partnership (SLP) with Whitbread Pension Trustees holding the balance as a limited partner. Moorgate SLP holds a 67.8% investment in a further partnership, Farringdon Scottish Partnership (SP), which was established by the Group to hold property assets. The remaining 32.2% interest in Farringdon SP is owned by Whitbread Group PLC. The partnerships were set up in 2009/10 as part of a transaction with Whitbread Pension Trustees. Further details can be found in Note 32 of the Whitbread PLC consolidated financial statements.

Shares in Whitbread Group PLC are held directly by Whitbread PLC. Shares in the other subsidiaries are held directly or indirectly by Whitbread Group PLC or its subsidiaries. A full list of subsidiaries and related undertakings is provided in Note 9.

4. Other receivables

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Amounts due from subsidiary undertakings	514.5	523.9
	514.5	523.9
Analysed as:
Current	150.0	250.0
Non-current	364.5	273.9
	514.5	523.9

Amounts due from subsidiary undertakings are payable on demand and carry an average quarterly interest rate based upon the group funding.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
216 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

5. Other payables

	2026 £m	2025 £m
Unclaimed dividends	5.5	5.1
Other payable	0.7	—
Corporation tax payable	5.1	4.6
	11.3	9.7

6. Share capital

Ordinary share capital
Allotted, called up and fully paid ordinary shares of 76.80 pence each (2024/25: 76.80 pence each)

	million	£m
At 29 February 2024	197.5	151.8
Issued on exercise of employee share options	0.1	0.1
Conversion of preference share capital	0.1	0.1
Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation	(8.9)	(6.8)
At 27 February 2025	188.8	145.2
Issued on exercise of employee share options	0.1	0.1
Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation	(8.8)	(6.7)
At 26 February 2026	180.1	138.6

Employee share options
During the year, options over 0.1m (2024/25: 0.1m) ordinary shares, fully paid, were exercised by employees under the terms of various share option schemes. The Company received proceeds of £5.2m (2024/25: £3.3m) on exercise of these options.

Share forfeiture
The Group has implemented a share forfeiture programme following the completion of a tracing and notification exercise to any shareholders who have not had contact with the Company over the past 12 years, in accordance with the provisions set out in the Company’s Articles of Association. Under the share forfeiture programme the shares and dividends associated with shares of untraced members have been forfeited.

Share buy-back, commitment and cancellation
The Company purchased and cancelled 8.8m (2024/25: 8.9m) shares with a nominal value of £6.7m (2024/25: £6.8m) under the share buy-back programmes running through this financial year. Consideration of £250.4m (2024/25: £264.3m), including associated fees and stamp duty of £1.2m (2024/25: £2.0m), was paid during the year with fees of £0.9m accrued for (2024/25: £nil).

217 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

7. Reserves

Share premium
The share premium reserve is the premium paid on the Company’s 76.80 pence ordinary shares.

Capital redemption reserve
A capital redemption reserve was created on the cancellation of the Company’s B and C preference shares and the nominal value of cancelled ordinary shares.

Retained earnings
Retained earnings are the net earnings not paid out as dividends, but retained to be reinvested.

Treasury reserve
This reserve relates to shares held by an independently managed employee share ownership trust (ESOT) and treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC. The shares held by the ESOT were purchased in order to satisfy outstanding employee share options and potential awards under the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) and other incentive schemes. The movement in treasury reserves during the year is set out in the table below:

| | Treasury shares held by Whitbread PLC | ESOT shares held | |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| | million | £m | million | £m |
| At 29 February 2024 | 12.5 | 514.5 | 0.9 | 23.6 |
| Exercised during the year | — | — | (0.3) | (8.1) |
| Purchase of ESOT shares | — | (5.1) | 0.2 | 5.1 |
| At 27 February 2025 | 12.5 | 509.4 | 0.8 | 20.6 |
| Exercised during the year | — | — | (0.5) | (13.8) |
| Purchase of ESOT shares | — | — | 0.4 | 11.3 |
| At 26 February 2026 | 12.5 | 509.4 | 0.7 | 18.1 |

Distributable reserves
As at 26 February 2026, Whitbread PLC had distributable reserves of £1,500.0m (2024/25: £1,516.3m).

8. Contingent liabilities

Whitbread PLC is a member of the Whitbread Group PLC VAT group. All members of this group are jointly and severally liable for the VAT liability. At the balance sheet date Group’s liability amounted to £33.7m (2024/25: £42.1m).

9. Related parties

Details of related undertakings are shown below:

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
AIRE HIEX Stuttgart Verwaltungs GmbH	Germany	8 Ordinary EUR 50, 000	—	100.0	100.0
Elm Hotel Holdings Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.10	—	100.0	100.0
Farringdon Scottish Partnership	Scotland	2 N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Leeds City Hotels Limited	England	1 Ordinary £100.00	—	100.0	100.0
London Hotel Holdings Limited	England	1 Ordinary £100.00	—	100.0	100.0
London Hotel Holdings 2 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £100.00	—	100.0	100.0
London Hotel Holdings 3 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £10.00	—	100.0	100.0
London Hotel Holdings 4 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £10.00	—	100.0	100.0
London Hotel Holdings 5 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £10.00	—	100.0	100.0
Manchester Hotel Holdings Limited	England	1 Ordinary £10.00	—	100.0	100.0
Milton (SC) 2 Limited	Scotland	2 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Milton (SC) Limited	Scotland	2 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Milton 1 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Moorgate Scottish Limited Partnership	Scotland	2 N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Newbury Park Hotels Limited	England	1 Ordinary £100.00	—	100.0	100.0
PI Hotels and Restaurants Ireland Limited	Ireland	3 Ordinary EUR 1	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn (Bath Street) Limited	Jersey	5 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
Year ended 26 February 2026
218 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Premier Inn (Guernsey) Limited	Guernsey	15 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn (Isle of Man) Limited	Isle of Man	4 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn (Jersey) Limited	Jersey	5 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn (UK) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn AT Holding GmbH	Austria	17 Ordinary EUR 35,000	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn AT Hotelbetriebsgesellschaft GmbH	Austria	17 Ordinary EUR 35,000	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn AT	Austria

Active related undertakings continued

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Immobilienbesitz GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 35,000	—	100.0 100.0
Königswall GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Hauptbahnhof GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
City GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
City Ostbahnhof GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Eschborn GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Glasgow Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Hamburg Nordanalstrasse GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Holding GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0

9. Related parties continued

Active related undertakings continued

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Premier Inn Hotel GmbH	Germany 8	There are no classes of shares. The total nominal share capital amounts to EUR 300,000 and is divided into two shares, one in the nominal amount of EUR 275,000 and one in the nominal amount of EUR 25,000	—	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Hotels Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Hotels LLC	United Arab Emirates 6	Ordinary	AED 1,000	—	49.0 49.0
Premier Inn Hotels Qatar	Qatar 7	Ordinary	QAR 100.00	—	24.0 24.0
Premier Inn Immo 19 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Immo 20 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Immo 21 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Immo 22 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Immo 23 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Immo 24 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Immo 25 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0

219 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Premier Inn International Development Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Manchester Airport Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Mannheim Quadrate T1 GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn München Frankfurter Ring GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Ochre Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Rostock City Hafen GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Verwaltungsgesellschaft Süd GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 50, 000	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Inn Westminster Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Premier Travel Inn India Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
PT. Whitbread Indonesia	Indonesia 10	Ordinary	USD 1.00	—	100.0 100.0
PTI Middle East Limited	United Arab Emirates 11	Ordinary	AED 1,000	—	100.0 100.0
Quay House Admirals Way Land Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Silk Street Hotels Limited	England 1	Deferred Ordinary	£1.00 USD 0.01	—	100.0 99.1 100.0 100.0
St Andrews Homes Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0

9. Related parties continued

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Swift Hotels Limited	England 1	Ordinary Preference	£1.00 £5.00	—	100.0 99.9 100.0 0.1
T.F. Ashe & Nephew Limited	England 1	Deferred Ordinary	£1.00 £0.01	—	100.0 0.1 100.0 100.0
UNA 312. Equity Management GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
UNA 352. Equity Management GmbH	Germany 8	Ordinary	EUR 25,000	—	100.0 100.0
Wembley Park Holdings Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Whitbread East Pennines Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Whitbread Group PLC	England 1	Ordinary A ordinary	£0.23 £0.25	100.0 100.0	— 50.0 — 50.0
Whitbread Hotel Company Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£0.10	—	100.0 100.0
Whitbread International Sourcing Business Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd	China 9	Ordinary	RMB 1.00	—	100.0 100.0
Whitbread Properties Limited	England 1	5% non-cumulative preference 7% non-cumulative preference Ordinary	£0.50 £0.25 £0.175	— — —	100.0 24.9 100.0 24.9 100.0 58.7
WHRI Development DMCC	United Arab Emirates 12	Ordinary	AED 1,000	—	100.0 24.9
WHRI Holding Company Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	—	100.0 100.0

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026
220 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Dormant related undertakings

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by the parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Advisebegin Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Alastair Campbell & Company Limited	Scotland 14	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Archibald Campbell Hope & King Limited	Scotland 14	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Autumn Days Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Belgrave Hotel Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Brickwoods Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£0.25	100.0	100.0
Belstead Brook Manor Hotel Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Brewers Fayre Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Britannia Inns Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Broughton Park Hotel Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£0.01	100.0	100.0
Carpenters of Widnes Limited	England 1	Ordinary Deferred ordinary	£1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0	100.0 100.0
Cherwell Inns Limited	England 1	A ordinary non-voting Ordinary	£1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0	66.7 33.3
Chiswell Overseas Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Chiswell Properties Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Churchgate Manor Hotel Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Country Club Hotels Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Cromwell Hotel (Stevenage)	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Cymric Hotel Company Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Danesk Limited	Scotland 13	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by the parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
David Williams (Builth) Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Dealend Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Delamont Freres Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Delaunay Freres Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Dome Restaurants Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Dragon Inns and Restaurants Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Dukes Head 1988 Limited	England 1	B ordinary W ordinary	£1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0	100.0 100.0
Duttons Brewery Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
E. Lacon & Co., Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Evan Evans Bevan Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Finite Hotel Systems Limited	England 1	A ordinary B ordinary	£1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0	50.0 50.0
Fleet Wines & Spirits Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Forest of Arden Golf and Country Club Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Gable Care Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Goodhews (Castle)	England 1	A ordinary Ordinary	£1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0	51.0 49.0
Goodhews (Holdings) Limited	England 1	A ordinary B ordinary C ordinary	£1.00 £1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0 100.0	42.2 42.2 15.6
Goodhews (Inns)	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Goodhews (Restaurants)	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Goodhews B. & S. Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Goodhews Enterprises	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Goodhews Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0

9. Related parties continued
221 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

9. Related parties continued

Dormant related undertakings continued

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by the parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)
Gough Brothers Limited	England 1	Deferred ordinary Ordinary	£0.20 £1.00	100.0 100.0	97.6 2.4
Grosvenor Leisure Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Hammock Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
Hart & Co. (Boats) Limited	England 1	1% non-cumulative preference Ordinary 1% non-cumulative preference	£1.00 £1.00 £0.01	100.0 100.0 100.0	99.0 1.0 —
Harveys Leisure Promotions Limited	England 1	A ordinary B ordinary	£1.00 £1.00	100.0 100.0	70.0 30.0
Hunter & Oliver Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
J. Burton (Warwick) Limited	England 1	Ordinary	£1.00	100.0	100.0
J. J.
:---	:---	:---	:---	:---	:---
Norman and England Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
James Bell and Company Limited	England	1 Deferred	—	100.0	96.2
		ordinary £0.25	Ordinary 0.01	—	100.0
Jestbread Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Kingsmills Hotel Scotland Limited	Scotland	16 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Lambtons Ale Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Latewise Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	53.4	53.4
Lawnpark Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Leisure and Retail Resources Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	99.6	99.6
Lloyds Avenue Catering Limited	England	1 3% non-cumulative preference £1.00	—	100.0	50.0
		Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	50.0
London International Hotel Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Mackeson & Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Mackies Wine Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Maredrove Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Marine Hotel Porthcawl Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Marlow Catering Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Meon Valley Golf and Country Club Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Milton 2 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Morans of Bristol Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Morris’s Wine Stores Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	5.4
		5.6% non-cumulative preference £1.00	—	100.0	94.6
New Clapton Stadium Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.05	—	100.0	100.0
Norseman Lager Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Pacific Caledonian Properties Limited	Scotland	13 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Percheron Properties Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Peter Dominic Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
PI Hotels York Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Piquant Caterers Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 222 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of class of shares held by the parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)	% of nominal value (where applicable)
Pizzaland Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn Troon Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Premier Inn Manchester Trafford Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Priory Leisure Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Raybain (Northern) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Raybain (Wine Bars) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Respotel Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Rhymney Breweries Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
S & S Property Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
S.H. Ward & Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Salford Automatics Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Scorechance 1 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Scorechance 12 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Scorechance 17 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Scorechance 25 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Scorechance 8 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Sheffield Automatics Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Shewell Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Silk Street Hotel Liverpool Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Small & Co. (Engineering) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Small & Co. Limited	England	1 7% cumulative preference £1.00	—	100.0	0.7
		Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	99.3
Spring Soft Drinks Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Sprowston Manor Hotel Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Square October 1 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Square October 2 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Square October 3 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
St Andrews Homes (1995) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
St Martins Care Homes Investments Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Stoneshell Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Stripe Travel Inn Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Strong and Co. of Romsey Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Summerfields Care Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Sun Taverns Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Sweetings (Chop House) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swift (Lurchrise) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swift Hotels (1995) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swift Hotels (Management) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swift Inns and Restaurants Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swift Profit Sharing Scheme Trustees Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swift Quest Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Swingbridge Hotel Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Tewkesbury Park Golf and Country Club Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0

9. Related parties continued Dormant related undertakings continued 223 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of class of shares held by the parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)	% of nominal value (where applicable)
The Barcave Group Limited	England	1 7% cumulative preference £1.00	—	100.0	90.9
		Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	9.1
The Dominic Group Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
The Four Seasons Hotel Investments Limited	England	1 8% cumulative preference A £1.00	—	100.0	33.0
		8% cumulative preference B £1.00	—	100.0	28.1
		Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	30.2
		Preferred ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	8.8
The Four Seasons Hotel Investments Management Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
The Four Seasons Hotel Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
The Oyster Spa Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
The Portsmouth and Brighton United Breweries, Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.25	—	100.0	100.0
Thomas Wethered & Sons Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Threlfalls (Liverpool & Birkenhead) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Threlfalls (Salford) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Trentrise Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Uncle Sam’s Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Virlat Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
W. M. Darley, Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	49.8
		Preference £1.00	—	100.0	49.8
		Preferred ordinary £0.01	—	100.0	0.4
W. R. Wines Limited	England	1 Deferred £1.00	—	100.0	99.0
		Ordinary £0.01	—	100.0	1.0
West Country Breweries Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Wentworth Guarantee Company Limited	England	1 N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Wheeler Gate Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread (Condor) Holdings Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.0001	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread (G.C.) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Company Two Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Developments Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Devon Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Directors 1 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.05	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Directors 2 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Dunstable Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Enterprise Centre Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Finance PLC	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Fremlins Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Golf and Country Club Limited	England	1 5% non-cumulative preference £1.00	—	100.0	45.0
		A ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	55.0

9. Related parties continued Dormant related undertakings continued

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS NOTES TO THE COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED Year ended 26 February 2026 224 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of class of shares held by the parent	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent)	% of nominal value (where applicable)
Whitbread Golf Club Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Guarantee Company Two Limited	England	1 N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Whitbread Healthcare Trustees Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Hotel (Bournemouth) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.05	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Hotels (Management) Limited	England	1 Deferred £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
		USD 0.01	—	100.0	—
Whitbread International Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread International Trading Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.25	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Investment Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Investment Company Securities Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread London Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Nominees Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Pension Trustee Directors Company Limited	England	1 N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Whitbread Pension Trustees	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0

Dormant related undertakings continued

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by the parent company	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent company)
Whitbread Pub and Bars Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Pub Partnership Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Pub Restaurants Business Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Quest Trustee Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Restaurants (Australia) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	—
		Ordinary £0.56	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Restaurants Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Scotland Limited	Scotland	14 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Secretaries Limited	England	1 Ordinary £0.05	—	100.0	50.0
		4% preference £0.05	—	100.0	50.0
Whitbread Share Ownership Trustees Limited	England	1 N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Whitbread Spa Company Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Sunderland (1995) Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Sunderland 2 Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	57.0
		5.6% non-cumulative preference £1.00	—	100.0	43.0
Whitbread Sunderland Limited	England	1 Ordinary £5.00	—	100.0	50.0
		Preference £5.00	—	100.0	50.0
Whitbread Trafalgar Properties Limited	England	1 A ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	50.0
		B ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	50.0
Whitbread UK Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Wales Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread Wessex Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Whitbread West Pennines Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0

225 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Dormant related undertakings continued

Company name	Country of incorporation	Class of shares held	% of nominal value (where applicable)	% of class of shares held by the parent company	% of class of shares held by the Group (if different from the parent company)
White Cross Films Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Wiggin Tree Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0
Willhouse Limited	England	1 Deferred £1.00	—	100.0	50.0
		Q ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	25.0
		W ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	25.0
William Overy Crane Hire Limited	England	1 Ordinary £1.00	—	100.0	100.0

The registered office of the above companies is as follows: 1 Whitbread Court, Houghton Hall Business Park, Porz Avenue, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU5 5XE. 2 4th Floor, Saltire Court, 20 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2EN, Scotland. 3 Ground Floor, Two Dockland Central, Guild St, North Dock, Dublin D01 K2C5, Ireland. 4 2nd Floor, St Mary’s Court, 20 Hill Street, Douglas IM1 1EU, Isle of Man. 5 4th Floor, St Paul’s Gate, 22–24 New Street, St Helier JE1 4TR, Jersey. 6 Ground Floor, Premier Inn Dubai Investment Park, P.O. Box 35118, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 7 3rd Floor, Tornado Towers, PO Box 34040, Doha, Qatar. 8 Europa-Allee 22, 60327 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 9 Room 742, 968 West Beijing Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai, China. 10 Gandaria 8 Office Tower, 19th Floor Unit A1, Jalan Sultan Iskandarmuda, Kebayoran Lama, 12240, Indonesia. 11 TMF Services B.V., Nassima Tower, Office 1401, Sheikh Zayed Road, PO Box 213975, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 12 Almas 6C, Almas Tower, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 13 4th Floor, 115 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4JN, Scotland. 14 The Royal Scot Hotel, 111 Glasgow Road, Edinburgh EH12 8NF, Scotland. 15 11 New St, Guernsey GY1 3EG, Guernsey. 16 Swallow Royal Scot Hotel, Glasgow Road, Edinburgh EN12 8NF, Scotland. 17 Hegelgasse 13, 1010 Wien, Austria.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 226 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

GLOSSARY

Basic earnings per share (basic EPS) Profit attributable to the parent shareholders divided by the basic weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year after deducting treasury shares and shares held by an independently managed share ownership trust (ESOT).

Cash rent The total of interest paid on lease liabilities, payment of principal of lease liabilities and variable lease payments, adjusted to reflect one year’s rent.

Committed pipeline Sites where the Group has a legal interest in a property (that may be subject to planning/ other conditions) with the intention of opening a hotel in the future. Freehold sites where we currently have a legal interest (either through agreement to purchase subject to conditions, or where we have acquired the land/building), however management have agreed to sell the site, will be removed from the committed pipeline at the point the decision has been made to sell.

Direct bookings/distribution Based on stayed bookings in the financial year made direct to the Premier Inn website, the Premier Inn app, the Premier Inn customer contact centre or hotel front desks.

Food and beverage (F&B) sales Food and beverage revenue from all Whitbread owned restaurants and integrated hotel restaurants.

GOSH Charity Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards.

Lease debt In line with methodology used by our credit rating agency, lease-adjusted net debt includes lease debt. Lease debt is calculated at eight times cash rent.

Occupancy Number of hotel bedrooms occupied by guests expressed as a percentage of the number of bedrooms available in the period.

Operating profit Profit before net finance costs and tax.

OTAs Online travel agents.

Rent expense Rental costs recognised in the income statement prior to the adoption of IFRS 16.

Team retention The number of permanent new starters that we retain for the first 90 days/three months.

Trading site A joint hotel and restaurant or a standalone hotel.

Segment adjusted operating profit/(loss) The adjusted operating profit/(loss) excludes the impact of segmental royalty fees charged from the UK to other segments to aid comparability of segment performance.

WINcard Whitbread In Numbers – balanced scorecard to measure progress against key performance targets.

YourSay Whitbread’s annual employee opinion survey to provide insight with the views of employees.

227 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES

We use a range of measures to monitor the financial performance of the Group. These measures include both statutory measures in accordance with IFRS and alternative performance measures (APMs) which are consistent with the way that the business performance is measured internally. APMs are not defined by IFRS and therefore may not be directly comparable with similarly titled measures reported by other companies. APMs should be considered in addition to, and are not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures.

Adjusted measures of profitability represent the equivalent IFRS measures adjusted for specific items that we consider relevant for comparison of the Group’s business either from one period to another or with similar businesses. We report adjusted measures because we believe they provide both management and investors with useful additional information about the financial performance of the Group’s businesses.

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
Accommodation sales	Revenue	Excludes non-room revenue such as food and beverage	Premier Inn accommodation revenue excluding non-room income such as food and beverage. The growth in accommodation sales on a year-on-year basis is a good indicator of the performance of the business. Reconciliation: Note 3
Average room rate (ARR)	No direct equivalent	Refer to definition	Accommodation sales divided by the number of rooms occupied by guests. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure as this is a commonly used industry metric which facilitates comparison between companies.

RECONCILIATION

	2025/26	2024/25
UK accommodation sales (£m)	2,024.9	2,010.1
Number of rooms occupied by guests (’000)	24,710	25,279
UK AVERAGE ROOM RATE (£)	81.95	79.52
Germany accommodation sales (£m)	220.8	197.6
Number of rooms occupied by guests (’000)	2,811	2,631
GERMANY AVERAGE ROOM RATE (£)	78.53	75.08

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
UK like-for-like accommodation sales growth	Movement in accommodation sales per the segment information (Note 3)	Accommodation sales from non-like-for-like	Year-over-year change in accommodation revenue for outlets open for at least one year with no significant changes in room numbers. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure as it is a commonly used performance metric and provides an indication of underlying revenue trends.

RECONCILIATION

	2025/26	2024/25
UK like-for-like accommodation sales growth	0.2%	(2.0%)
Impact of extensions >5% of rooms	0.1%	—
Contribution from net new hotels	0.4%	2.1%
UK ACCOMMODATION SALES GROWTH	0.7%	0.1%

228 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
Revenue per available room (RevPAR)	No direct equivalent	Refer to definition	Revenue per available room is also known as ‘yield’. This hotel measure is achieved by dividing accommodation sales by the number of rooms available. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure as it is a commonly used performance measure in the hotel industry.

RECONCILIATION

	2025/26	2024/25
UK accommodation sales (£m)	2,024.9	2,010.1
Available rooms (’000)	31,244	31,206
UK REVPAR (£)	64.81	64.42
Germany accommodation sales (£m)	220.8	197.6
Available rooms (’000)	4,074	3,882
GERMANY REVPAR (£)	54.19	50.90

INCOME STATEMENT MEASURES

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
Adjusted operating profit/loss	Profit/loss before tax	Adjusting items (Note 6), finance income/costs (Note 8)	Profit/loss before tax, finance costs/income and adjusting items.

Reconciliation: Consolidated income statement Adjusted tax Tax charge/credit Adjusting items (Note 6) Tax charge/credit before adjusting items.

Reconciliation: Consolidated income statement Adjusted profit/loss before tax Profit/loss before tax Adjusting items (Note 6) Profit/loss before tax and adjusting items.

Reconciliation: Consolidated income statement Adjusted basic EPS Basic EPS Adjusting items (Note 6) Adjusted profit attributable to the parent shareholders divided by the basic weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year after deducting treasury shares and shares held by an independently managed share ownership trust (ESOT).

Reconciliation: Note 10 Profit/PBT margin No direct equivalent Refer to definition Segmental adjusted profit before tax divided by segmental adjusted revenue, to demonstrate profitability margins of the segmental operations.

229 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
BALANCE SHEET MEASURES
Net cash/debt	Total liabilities from financing activities	Excludes lease liabilities, other financial liabilities and derivatives held to hedge financing activities	Cash and cash equivalents after deducting total borrowings. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure of the financing position of the Group.

Reconciliation: Note 21

Adjusted net cash/debt Total liabilities from financing activities Excludes lease liabilities, other financial liabilities and derivatives held to hedge financing activities, adjusted for cash assumed by ratings agencies to not be readily available. Net cash/debt adjusted for cash, assumed by ratings agencies to not be readily available, and excluding unamortised debt-related fees. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure as it is aligned with the method used by ratings agencies to assess the financing position of the Group.

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Net debt	709.3	483.4
Less: unamortised debt costs	5.9	7.6
Less: fair value adjustment to bond carrying value	1.1	-
Restricted cash adjustment	10.0	10.0
ADJUSTED NET DEBT	726.3	501.0

Unamortised debt costs of £5.9m (including unamortised arrangement fees of £4.0m) as well as £1.1m in relation to a fair value credit are included within the carrying value of borrowings.

Lease-adjusted net debt/cash Cash and cash equivalents less total liabilities from financing activities Excludes lease liabilities and derivatives held to hedge financing activities. Includes an adjustment for cash assumed by ratings agencies to not be readily available In line with methodology used by credit rating agencies, lease-adjusted net debt includes Lease debt which is calculated at 8x Cash rent. The directors consider this to be a useful measure as it forms the basis of the Group’s leverage targets.

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Adjusted net debt	726.3	501.0
Lease debt	2,827.2	2,580.8
LEASE-ADJUSTED NET DEBT	3,553.5	3,081.8

Net debt/cash and lease liabilities Cash and cash equivalents less total liabilities from financing activities Refer to definition Net debt/cash plus lease liabilities. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure of the financing position of the Group.

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Net debt	709.3	483.4
Lease liabilities	4,523.1	4,233.8
NET DEBT AND LEASE LIABILITIES	5,232.4	4,717.2

230 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
CASH FLOW MEASURES
Lease-adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDAR for leverage	No direct equivalent	Refer to definition	This measure is a ratio of lease-adjusted net debt compared against the Group’s adjusted EBITDAR. The Directors use this to monitor the leverage position of the Group. This measure may not be directly comparable with similarly titled measures utilised by credit rating agencies; however, on a normalised basis these measures would be expected to move proportionally in the same direction.

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Lease-adjusted net debt	3,553.5	3,081.8
Adjusted EBITDAR	1,073.9	1,029.9
LEASE-ADJUSTED NET DEBT TO ADJUSTED EBITDAR FOR LEVERAGE	3.3x	3.0x

Adjusted operating cash flow Cash generated from operations Refer to definition Adjusted operating profit/loss adding back depreciation and amortisation and after IFRS 16 interest and lease repayments and working capital movement. The Directors consider this a useful measure as it is a good indicator of the cash generated which is used to fund future growth and shareholder returns, tax, pension and interest payments.

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Adjusted operating profit	648.9	629.6
Depreciation – right-of-use assets	208.6	194.3
Depreciation – property, plant and equipment	184.4	177.3
Amortisation	33.2	30.2
ADJUSTED EBITDA (POST-IFRS 16)	1,075.1	1,031.4
Interest paid on lease liabilities	(177.0)	(166.7)
Payment of principal of lease liabilities	(172.9)	(148.7)
Net lease incentives (paid)/received	(3.1)	2.7
Movement in working capital	(9.5)	4.6
ADJUSTED OPERATING CASH FLOW	712.6	723.3

Cash capital expenditure (‘cash capex’) No direct equivalent Refer to definition Cash flows on property, plant and equipment including pre-paid amounts, investment in intangible assets, payments of deferred and contingent consideration, and capital contributions or loans to joint ventures.

ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES CONTINUED 231 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
OTHER MEASURES
Adjusted EBITDA (post-IFRS 16), adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) and adjusted EBITDAR	Operating profit	Refer to definition	Adjusted EBITDA (post-IFRS 16) is profit before tax, adjusting items, interest, depreciation and amortisation. Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) is further adjusted to remove rent expense. Adjusted EBITDAR is profit before tax, adjusting items, interest, depreciation, amortisation, variable lease payments and rental income. The Directors consider this measure to be useful as it is a commonly used industry metric which facilitates comparison between companies. The Group’s RCF covenants include measures based on adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16).

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 £m	2024/25 £m
Adjusted operating profit	648.9	629.6
Depreciation – right-of-use assets	208.6	194.3
Depreciation – property, plant and equipment	184.4	177.3
Amortisation	33.2	30.2
ADJUSTED EBITDA (POST-IFRS 16)	1,075.1	1,031.4
Variable lease payments	3.5	4.0
Rental income	(4.7)	(5.5)
ADJUSTED EBITDAR	1,073.9	1,029.9
Rent expense, variable lease payments and rental income	(348.1)	(323.4)
ADJUSTED EBITDA (PRE-IFRS 16)	725.8	706.5

232 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
OTHER MEASURES CONTINUED
Return on capital employed (ROCE)	No direct equivalent	Refer to definition	Adjusted operating profit/loss (pre-IFRS 16) for the year divided by net assets at the balance sheet date, adding back net debt, right-of-use assets, lease liabilities, taxation liabilities, the pension surplus/deficit and derivative financial assets/liabilities, other financial liabilities and IFRS 16 working capital adjustments. The Directors consider this to be a useful measure as it expresses the underlying operating efficiency of the Group and is used as the basis for remuneration targets.

RECONCILIATION	2025/26 Total £m	2025/26 UK and Ireland £m
Adjusted operating profit	648.9
Depreciation – right-of-use assets	208.6
Rent expense	(349.3)
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT PRE-IFRS 16	508.2	494.2
Net assets	3,136.4
Net debt	709.3
Net current tax assets	(4.5)
Net deferred tax liabilities	233.7
Pension surplus	(131.9)
Derivative financial assets	(0.1)
Derivative financial liabilities	9.5
Lease liabilities	4,523.1
Right-of-use assets	(3,838.1)
IAS 17 rent adjustments	(65.0)
ADJUSTED NET ASSETS	4,572.4	3,886.6
RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED	11.1%	12.7%

ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES CONTINUED 233 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

APM	Closest equivalent IFRS measure	Adjustments to reconcile to IFRS measure	Definition and purpose
OTHER MEASURES CONTINUED
Return on capital employed (ROCE) continued

RECONCILIATION	2024/25 Total £m	2024/25 UK and Ireland £m
Adjusted operating profit	629.6
Depreciation – right-of-use assets	194.3
Rent expense	(324.9)
ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT PRE-IFRS 16	499.0	497.3
Net assets	3,334.5
Net debt	483.4
Current tax liabilities	12.2
Deferred tax liabilities	234.8
Pension surplus	(134.6)
Derivative financial assets	(19.9)
Derivative financial liabilities	1.4
Lease liabilities	4,233.8
Right-of-use assets	(3,662.7)
IAS 17 rent adjustments	(65.0)
ADJUSTED NET ASSETS	4,417.9	3,844.2
RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED	11.3%	12.9%

234 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

OTHER INFORMATION

SHAREHOLDER SERVICES

Useful contacts

Registrars
MUFG Corporate Markets Shareholder Services
Central Square
29 Wellington Street
Leeds LS1 4DL
The website address is www.mpms.mufg.com.
For enquiries regarding your shareholding please telephone +44 (0)344 855 2327.
Alternatively, you can email: [email protected].

Registered office
Whitbread PLC
Whitbread Court
Houghton Hall Business Park, Porz Avenue
Dunstable
Bedfordshire LU5 5XE

General Counsel and Company Secretary
Clare Thomas

Managing your shareholdings
You can manage your shareholdings by visiting www.whitbread-shares.com. This is a secure online site where you can:
• sign up to receive shareholder information by email;
• buy and sell shares via the MUFG Corporate Markets Share Dealing Service;
• view your holding and get an indicative valuation; and
• change your personal details.You will need to have your Investor Code to hand. This can be found on the following documentation:
• share certificate;
• dividend voucher; or
• proxy card.

Please ensure that you advise MUFG Corporate Markets promptly of any change of address.

Share dealing service 1

For MUFG Corporate Markets Share Dealing Services you can telephone +44 (0)371 664 0445. Calls are charged at the standard geographic rate and will vary by provider. Calls from outside the United Kingdom will be charged at the applicable international rate. Lines are open between 8.00am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday excluding public holidays in England and Wales.

Private shareholders

Private shareholders are shareholders who hold their shares in their own name on the Company’s Register of Members. They have full voting rights and have the right to stipulate their communication preferences and bank account preferences on their own holding.

Nominee shareholders

Nominee shareholders are underlying beneficial shareholders who hold their shares through a nominee company. The name of the nominee company will appear on the Company’s Register of Members. It will depend on the terms and conditions of the nominee provider as to whether underlying shareholders receive copies of the annual general meeting (AGM) documents and any other Company documents that are mailed. Dividend options may also be restricted by the nominee. If underlying shareholders wish to receive Company mailings then they have the right to request to be put on the beneficial holders’ information rights register, which can be arranged via their nominee provider.

Corporate Sponsored Nominee

We worked with MUFG Corporate Markets to establish the Whitbread Corporate Sponsored Nominee (CSN). We did this because we know that a number of shareholders prefer not to hold their shares in certificated form, but still wish to receive documents and benefits from the Company. This has been raised by shareholders at previous AGMs.

The CSN allows shareholders to hold their Whitbread shares via a nominee, but also allows Whitbread to have direct access to the underlying register, such that we can ensure that participants receive the documents and benefits that they request.

If you would like to hold your shares in the Whitbread CSN, please log on to www whitbread-shares.com. If you have not registered before then you will need your Investor Code. Your Investor Code is located on your share certificate. On the portal you will find further information in relation to the Whitbread CSN. The terms and conditions and various transfer forms that you will need to review and complete are located there. If you need any assistance with the forms or want any additional support, please email [email protected] outlining what you would like to do and they will email you back with the relevant instructions.

Annual general meeting 2026

The AGM will take place at 2.30pm on Thursday 18 June 2026 at Whitbread Court, Porz Avenue, Dunstable LU5 5XE.

Dividend diary 2026/27 (subject to confirmation)


Ex-dividend date for final dividend	21 May 2026
Record date for final dividend	22 May 2026
DRIP election	12 June 2026
Payment date for final dividend	3 July 2026
Ex-dividend date for interim dividend	29 October 2026
Record date for interim dividend	30 October 2026
DRIP election	13 November 2026
Payment date for interim dividend	4 December 2026

1 These details have been provided for information only and any action you take is at your own risk. If you are in any doubt about what action to take, please consult your own financial adviser. Should you not wish to use these services you could find a broker in your local area, or on the internet, or enquire about share dealing at any high street bank or building society. The availability of this service should not be taken as a recommendation to deal.

235 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 OTHER INFORMATION

Analysis of ordinary shares at 26 February 2026

Shareholder analysis

Shareholding analysis Range (Up to:)	Number of holders	% holders	Holding	% capital
100	13,685	51.4822	496,961	0.2757
200	4,369	16.4359	634,694	0.3521
500	4,425	16.6466	1,422,060	0.7889
1,000	2,023	7.6104	1,423,072	0.7895
2,000	938	3.5287	1,285,452	0.7131
5,000	463	1.7418	1,417,969	0.7866
10,000	162	0.6094	1,122,226	0.6226
50,000	256	0.9631	5,911,468	3.2795
100,000	80	0.3010	5,592,000	3.1022
500,000	118	0.4439	26,856,460	14.8989
1,000,000	31	0.1166	21,933,033	12.1676
5,000,000	26	0.0978	48,635,338	26.9810
10,000,000	2	0.0075	16,643,702	9.2333
50,000,000	4	0.0150	46,882,968	26.0089
99,999,999,999	0	0.0000	0	0
TOTAL	26,582		180,257,403

Capital gains tax

For further information on:
• the market value of shares in the Company as at 31 March 1982;
• the reduction of capital on 10 May 2001; and
• the special dividend and share consolidation in May 2005, or if you require any further information on capital gains tax allocations, please refer to the investors section of the Company’s website: www.whitbread.co.uk.

Dividend Reinvestment Plan

To reinvest your dividend, you will need to sign up for the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). Terms and conditions of the DRIP can be found at www.whitbread-shares.com or can be requested from MUFG Corporate Markets. For enquiries regarding the DRIP please telephone +44 (0)344 855 2327.

Dividend payments by BACS

We can pay your dividends directly to your bank or building society account using the Bankers’ Automated Clearing Service (BACS). This means that your dividend will be in your account on the same day we make the payment. Your tax voucher will be posted to your home address. If you would like to use this method please ring the registrars on +44 (0)344 855 2327.

As mentioned in the Chair’s statement on page 12, we would like to remind you that cash dividend payments made by the Company, starting with the interim dividend, which was paid in December 2025, are now only made by electronic means. We no longer issue payments by cheque. If you haven’t already done so, you will need to register your bank account details to enable payment of cash dividends into your bank account. You can do this using one of the following methods:
• Via the Share Portal: www.signalshares.com. If you have not previously registered with the Share Portal, you will need your Investor Code (a unique number that can be found on shareholder correspondence, such as share certificates or dividend tax confirmations). Once registered, you will be able to register your bank account details and obtain dividend confirmations via the Share Portal. You can also register a preference to receive a notification by email that your cash dividend has been paid into your bank account.
• By calling MUFG Corporate Markets on 0371 664 0300. If you are outside the United Kingdom please call +44 371 664 0300. Opening hours and call charges are as stated earlier in this letter.

Shareholder FAQs

How can I find the current share price?
You can keep up to date with the current share price on the Company’s website: www.whitbread.co.uk.

I have lost my share certificate; how can I get a replacement?
If you have lost your certificate please contact the Company’s registrars, MUFG Corporate Markets, on the shareholder helpline +44 (0)344 855 2327. They will be able to assist you in arranging a replacement.

Am I entitled to shareholder benefits?
Shareholders with a holding of 64 shares or more are eligible to receive a shareholder benefits card. Those shareholders who have previously registered to receive the shareholder benefits card should automatically have received the card with the Annual Report and Accounts mailing. Shareholders who wish to register for a card can do so by contacting MUFG Corporate Markets, whose contact details are shown on page 234.

236 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 OTHER INFORMATION

Unsolicited mail

We are aware that some shareholders have had occasion to complain of the use, by outside organisations, of information obtained from Whitbread’s share register. Whitbread, like other companies, cannot by law refuse to supply such information provided that the organisation concerned pays the appropriate statutory fee. If you are a resident in the UK and wish to stop receiving unsolicited mail then you should register with the Mailing Preference Service; you can register online: www.mpsonline.org.uk.

Shareholder warning

Share and bond scams are often run from ‘boiler rooms’ where fraudsters cold-call investors offering them worthless, overpriced or even non-existent shares or bonds. Boiler rooms use increasingly sophisticated tactics to approach investors, offering to buy or sell shares in a way that will bring a huge return. However, victims are often left out of pocket – sometimes losing all of their savings or even their family home. Even seasoned investors have been caught out, with the biggest individual loss recorded by the police being £6m.

Shareholders are advised to be wary of unsolicited advice, offers to buy shares at a discount or offers of free Company reports. If you receive any unsolicited investment advice:
• make sure you get the correct name of the person or organisation;
• check that it is properly authorised by the FCA before getting involved by visiting www.fca.org.uk and contact the firm using the details on the register;
• report the matter to the FCA either by calling 0800 111 6768 or visiting www.fca.org.uk/scams;
• if the calls persist, hang up; and
• REMEMBER, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

If you deal with an unauthorised firm, you will not be eligible to receive payment under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.

The FCA can be contacted by completing an online form at www.fca.org.uk/scams or you can call the FCA Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (www.actionfraud.police.uk). Details of any share dealing facilities that the Company endorses will be included in Company mailings.More detailed information on this or similar activity can be found on the FCA website, www.fca.org.uk/consumers.

SHAREHOLDER SERVICES CONTINUED

Produced by Design Portfolio www.design-portfolio.co.uk

Whitbread PLC’s commitment to environmental stewardship is reflected in this Annual Report, which has been printed on Revive 100 Silk, which is 100% post-consumer recycled, FSC® certified and totally chlorine free (TCF) paper. Printed in the UK by Park Communications using vegetable-based inks, with 99% of dry waste being diverted from landfill. The printer is a CarbonNeutral® company. Both the mill and the printer are certified to ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management System). Please recycle.

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Whitbread Court
Houghton Hall Business Park
Porz Avenue
Dunstable
Bedfordshire
LU5 5XE

AI assistant

Whitbread PLC — Annual Report 2026

4608_10-k_2026-05-15_49f29d86-2c43-4c58-96a1-06a576e23ec3.xhtml

Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Driving long-term value

Driving long-term value

Strategic report

Governance

Consolidated accounts 2025/26

Whitbread PLC Company accounts 2025/26

Other information

Financial highlights

PURPOSE AND STRATEGY

What sets us apart?

Our strategic pillars

Our purpose

Where we operate

BRANDS AND LOCATIONS

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT? – PREMIER INN

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT? – HUB BY PREMIER INN

OUR TRANSFORMATION

Hotel of the future

Looking ahead 2030/31 results of New Five-Year Plan

BUSINESS MODEL

THE FOUNDATIONS THAT SUSTAIN OUR MODEL

Our operating model Translating operational strength into shareholder returns

THE FOUNDATIONS THAT UNDERPIN OUR MODEL

How our operating model works

WHY INVEST? Investment case

1. Long-term growth opportunity in the UK

2. Unlocking value in Germany

New Five-Year Plan

Differentiated model underpins a market-leading proposition

Asset-backed balance sheet provides stability and enables growth

Group freehold:leasehold mix

UK YouGov BrandIndex Quality & Value

Focused on value creation

CHAIR’S STATEMENT

Financial performance and dividend for 2025/26

Strategic progress

Force for Good

The Board

Annual general meeting

Outlook

Accelerating our strategy to grow returns

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW

2025/26 Financial performance

UK – Continued market outperformance

Germany – Delivering profitability

Our teams

Financial strength

Clear strategy

New Five-Year Plan

UK: Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP)

UK: Network expansion

Germany: Accelerating returns

Capital allocation

2030/31 outcomes

2026/27 outlook and guidance

NEW FIVE-YEAR PLAN

UK: Network expansion (STRATEGIC REPORT 18)

UK: Accelerating Growth Plan (AGP) (STRATEGIC REPORT 19)

Capital Allocation

Germany

Commercial and efficiencies

Performance in 2025/26

New Five-Year Plan actions

2030/31 outcomes vs 2025/26

STRATEGY AND KPIS

Well-positioned to deliver growth

Data-led sustainability supports revenue growth

Grow and innovate in the UK

Focus on our strengths to grow in Germany

STRATEGY AND KPIS CONTINUED

Enhance our capabilities to support long-term growth

STRATEGY IN ACTION: UK

24 Whitbread PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

Unrivalled market position

Consistency is key

Brand refresh

Whitbread PLC Annual Report 2026