Whitbread PLC, the UK’s largest hotel company and owner of Premier Inn, has made a significant freehold hotel acquisition in Central London for its hub by Premier Inn brand. In line with the company’s strategy of expanding its network of budget hotels in London, it has acquired Victory House (30-34
Caddick Construction has been selected as Delamere Health’s preferred bidder for thedevelopment of a £20m addiction clinic on the site of the former Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue HQ in Bestwood. Now in a pre-construction services agreement (PCSA), Caddick will deliver a preliminary package of works to make way for the
Whitbread PLC, the UK’s largest hotel company and owner of Premier Inn, has made a significant freehold hotel acquisition in Central London for its hub by Premier Inn brand. In line with the company’s strategy of expanding its network of budget hotels in London, it has acquired Victory House (30-34 Kingsway, WC2) from a private overseas investor for an undisclosed sum. The location matches Whitbread’s network plan requirement for Covent Garden / Holborn and provides hub by Premier Inn customers with doorstep access to Covent Garden, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the LSE campus and London’s Theatre District all of which are less than a ten-minute walk away. Whitbread intends to convert the 45,000 sq ft office building which is currently occupied until spring 2026 into a hub by Premier Inn hotel of around 200-bedrooms, subject to planning. It plans to introduce the compact hub by Premier Inn bedrooms within the existing floorplates, retaining and respecting the handsome 1920s stone façade facing onto Kingsway. The off-market purchase of Victory House rounds off an especially active year for Whitbread in Central and Inner London where the business is investing heavily. Since February [2025] the company has acquired four former office buildings to convert into Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn hotels – investments totalling more than £100 million. Collectively the buildings, which include Victory House, will add close to 1,000 Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn bedrooms into Whitbread’s secured development pipeline in a market where a significant proportion of their future pipeline is located. Currently 19% of Whitbread’s 85,000 bedrooms are in London. Jonathan Langdon, Senior Acquisition Manager for Whitbread, said: “The vision behind hub by Premier Inn is to offer all the great things about Premier Inn in the most central, accessible and exciting places. Kingsway is one of those stand-out locations being surrounded by London’s best entertainment, restaurants, cultural venues and institutions – somewhere we know our customers will want to stay. “Investing here matches our network plan and complements our trading and pipeline hotels, neatly “bookending” Covent Garden with our St Martin’s Lane hotel to the west. It also rounds off an especially active year for Whitbread in Central and Inner London where we have made four significant purchases and lease commitments, collectively totalling more than £100 million of investment and adding close to 1,000 prime located rooms into our pipeline. “We’re pleased to have secured the Kingsway location quickly off-market and are excited to begin the planning journey with Camden Council next year, with a goal to bring the location onto our trading network in 2028.” Whitbread’s hub by Premier Inn is designed for locations in major cities where property prices are relatively high but, thanks to the brand’s smaller room format, is still able to generate attractive long-term returns whilst providing affordable rooms for guests. Launched on St Martins Lane in Covent Garden in 2014, the brand now offers eighteen hotels and more than 3,000 bedrooms in locations across Central London and Edinburgh City Centre – with four further London locations currently under construction or in the advanced stages of planning, including a flagship 690-room hub on Strand, next to Trafalgar Square. Unique to the location, the Kingsway hub by Premier Inn will offer stunning views over Lincoln’s Inn Fields to the east whilst being on the doorstep of Covent Garden to the west. Whitbread is due to secure vacant possession of the building in April 2026 when the lease comes to an end. In line with Whitbread’s sustainability strategy, the hotel will be all-electric, powered by energy generated from renewable sources – with the building design itself set to incorporate heat recovery systems and air source heat pumps to create a low energy demand. Whitbread was advised on the transaction by Ingleby Trice and the vendor was advised by JLL and Savills. Conversations with Camden Council on the conversion of the eight-storey building are anticipated to begin in early 2026. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Caddick Construction has been selected as Delamere Health’s preferred bidder for thedevelopment of a £20m addiction clinic on the site of the former Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue HQ in Bestwood. Now in a pre-construction services agreement (PCSA), Caddick will deliver a preliminary package of works to make way for the new residential addiction treatment clinic, marking the largest investment of its kind in the UK.Caddick’s initial work on site will include the demolition of Nottingham Fire & Rescue’s former HQ, which is scheduled to begin in early 2026. This will be replaced with a new build clinic comprising 32 residential rooms with supporting treatment spaces. Designed by architects, Anderson Orr, the clinic will offer premium facilities, including awellness suite, fully equipped gym, steam room and sauna, a meditation area and individual and group therapy rooms. Exclusively to the Nottingham site will be other facilities, such as a padel court and a cinema. Once in full contract, the project will add to Caddick’s growing project portfolio in theMidlands, which also includes a range of high rise residential, industrial and commercial developments across the region. Martin Preston, Founder and Chief Executive at Delamere, said: “The site’s development represents a huge investment and opportunity for the borough, and our ambition for what will become the flagship treatment facility in Europe. “At Delamere, we have a clear vision – to provide exemplary care in first class facilities.Identifying the ideal location for our second site has been a rigorous process over several years, and we are excited to work with Caddick to create something the local community can be proud of.” Ray O’Sullivan, Regional Managing Director of Caddick Construction Midlands,commented: “As preferred bidder for Delamere Health’s new development in Bestwood, we are working closely with our client to build a cost and build programme that will deliver on their ambitions for the largest investment in an addiction rehabilitation clinic in the UK. Key to this is understanding the high level of care and rehabilitation the clinic will offer. We look forward to the coming months, and moving towards a full contract early next year.” Neil Parry, CEO & Principal at Anderson Orr said: “We are thrilled to be collaborating on Delamere Health’s new Nottingham development. The design responds to their vision for a safe and welcoming environment that supports recovery, blending contemporary clinical spaces with a warm, domestic character. “Every material and detail has been carefully considered to provide a sense of comfort and homeliness, ensuring the facility feels approachable, nurturing, and conducive to healing. We are delighted to be working with the wider team, and a client who maintains such a passionate and driven vision, setting inspiring new standards for compassionate, person-centred.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals