Chair candidates battle to verify in at Premier Inn-owner Whitbread

Two chairs of FTSE-100 firms are vying to succeed Adam Crozier on the prime of Whitbread, the London-listed group behind the Premier Inn lodge chain.

Sky Information has learnt that Christine Hodgson, who chairs water firm Severn Trent, and Andrew Martin, chair of the testing and inspection group Intertek, are the main contenders for the Whitbread job.

Mr Crozier, who has chaired the leisure group since 2018, is anticipated to step down later this 12 months.

The search, which has been happening for a number of months, is anticipated to conclude within the coming weeks, in keeping with one Metropolis supply.

Beneath Mr Crozier’s stewardship, Whitbread has been radically reshaped, promoting its Costa Espresso subsidiary to The Coca-Cola Firm in 2019 for almost £4bn.

The corporate has additionally seen off an activist marketing campaign spearheaded by Elliott Advisers, whereas Mr Crozier orchestrated the appointment of Dominic Paul, its chief government, following Alison Brittain’s retirement.

It stated final 12 months that it sees potential to develop the community from 86,000 UK bedrooms to 125,000 over the following decade or so.

Mr Crozier is one in every of Britain’s most seasoned boardroom figures, and now chairs BT Group and Kantar, the market analysis and knowledge enterprise backed by Bain Capital and WPP Group.

He beforehand ran the Soccer Affiliation, ITV and – in between – Royal Mail Group.

On Friday, shares in Whitbread closed at £25.41, giving the corporate a market capitalisation of about £4.5bn.

Whitbread declined to remark this weekend.