Whitbread & Co

Whitbread PLC

Type	Public limited company
Traded as	:  FTSE 100 Component
Industry	Leisure Hospitality
Founded	1742; 276 years ago (1742) London, England
Founder	Samuel Whitbread and Thomas Shewell
Headquarters	Houghton Regis, England, UK
Area served	China, Dubai, Europe, India, Republic of Ireland, Russia, United Kingdom
Key people	Richard Baker (Chairman) Alison Brittain (CEO)
Revenue	£2.921 billion (2016)
Operating income	£58.1 million (2016)
Net income	£37.3 million (2016)
Number of employees	50,000 (2016)
Divisions	Beefeater Brewers Fayre Costa Coffee Premier Inn Table Table
Website	www.whitbread.co.uk

Whitbread PLC is a multinational hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, United Kingdom. The company has its origins in brewing.

Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with over 750 hotels and 65,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has 3,401 shops across 31 countries and is the world's second-largest international coffee shop chain behind Starbucks. Its other brands include the restaurant chains Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table Table.

Whitbread is listed on the and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

The business was formed in 1742 when Samuel Whitbread formed a partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell and acquired a small brewery at the junction of Old Street and Upper Whitecross Street and another brewhouse for pale and amber beers in Brick Lane, Spitalfields. Godfrey Shewell withdrew from the partnership as Thomas Shewell and Samuel Whitbread bought the large site of the derelict King's Head brewery in Chiswell Street in 1750. The new brewery was for the production of porter, and was renamed the Hind Brewery after the Whitbread family coat of arms.

From the outset, Whitbread was the leading financial partner, and solely responsible for management, and in 1761, Whitbread acquired Shewell's share of the business for £30,000. It was the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. In 1796 the company produced 202,000 barrels of porter. The firm struggled after the death of Samuel Whitbread Sr, and saw ownership transfer to his son, also called Samuel Whitbread. The company adopted the name Whitbread & Co Ltd in 1799.