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Premier Inn owner Whitbread was hit by lower demand for its budget hotel rooms over the summer, with fresh industry data suggesting that travellers are trading up to more expensive options as cost of living pressures ease.

The FTSE 100 group reported a 13 per cent decline in adjusted pre-tax profit to £340mn for the six months to August 29, which it blamed on “a slightly softer UK demand environment”.

Although revenue remained unchanged at £1.6bn given growth from new rooms, like-for-like accommodation sales in the UK dropped 2 per cent.

In its London hotels, occupancy fell from 84 per cent in the same period in 2023 to 81.5 per cent, while the revenue per available room was down 4 per cent, a bigger drop than the overall 2 per cent decline for the UK.

“Last year was a little bit of a catch-up year, and this year, we’ve seen the patterns go back more to pre-pandemic [times], which actually [is] normalisation,” chief executive Dominic Paul told the Financial Times, adding that there was a larger dip in business travel over the summer than the previous year.

Industry data suggests that consumers are opting for more expensive hotel stays as inflation and the cost of living pressures moderate — to the detriment of budget chains.

Accountancy firm RSM UK said this week that while the occupancy of luxury and mid-market UK hotels increased in August, that of less expensive rivals declined from 83 per cent in 2023 to 80 per cent. In London, budget hotels experienced an even bigger drop of 7 percentage points to 79 per cent.

“Last year, we saw more people opting for budget hotels in order to cut costs, leading the middle market to feel the biggest squeeze, but there are clear signs that trend has now reversed,” said Chris Tate, head of hotels and accommodation at RSM UK. Meanwhile, UK inflation fell to 1.7 per cent in September.

Premier Inn is the largest budget brand in the UK, with 855 hotels, but Paul shrugged off the concern for the low-cost accommodation sector. “Even if customers are feeling like they have a bit more money in their pocket, we are a great option, because customers know they’re going to get a good experience,” he said, adding that the group’s Premier Plus offer, which gives added perks in rooms, is for “customers who want to trade up”.

“Overall outlook [for the segment] is very positive . . . we see this as a once-in-a-decade opportunity for our business,” he added, arguing that many independent hotels left the UK market following the pandemic, which means there is room for growth for Whitbread.

Whitbread said the UK was improving “after a soft start to September”.

The group, which also owns dining chains including Beefeater, plans to grow adjusted pre-tax profit by at least £300mn in the next five years by adding more rooms and closing loss-making restaurants.

The company said it would generate more than £2bn in shareholder returns by 2029 as it increased its interim dividend and announced £100mn in share buybacks.

Its shares were up 5 per cent on Wednesday morning.

AN expert has revealed the foods you should never put in the fridge if you want to prolong their lifespan.

Storing your food correctly could reduce the chance of you being sick, improve the quality of your meals, and help you save money.

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Plumbworld, the bathroom and kitchen expert, has highlighted the top five foods which should never be stored in the fridge.

The foods they listed were tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, and bread which should be kept elsewhere to prolong their life-span.

The expert said: “Storing food correctly isn’t just about taste—it can also save you money and prevent waste – the less often you have to replace spoiled items, the more you can stretch your grocery budget.

“Proper storage keeps your food fresher for longer, meaning fewer trips to the supermarket and more value from what you buy.”

Knowing which foods to keep at room temperature could therefore cut your food bill by a huge sum across the year.

For example – if your food was to last two weeks rather than one you could slash your spending by half.

You should also remember that prices will depend where you shop, and food will last different amounts of time based on its quality, country of origin and sell by date.

You should always check the sell by date on your items before you buy so that you’re not disappointed by food that goes off quickly.

It always helps to reach for the items at the back of the shelf as these are usually the most recently stocked and the most fresh.

To learn how to make your cash stretch further, read the expert’s top tips below.

Tomatoes

Plumbworld revealed that tomatoes kept in the fridge can lose their flavour and texture.

This is because cold temperatures stop them from ripening and developing their sweet flavour and causes them to develop a wrinkly texture.

The best way to keep them fresh is by storing them at room temperature and away from sunlight.

You can place them in a cooler spot in your kitchen if they are very ripe, but you should pretty much avoid the fridge at all costs.

Tomatoes can typically last up to two weeks when stored correctly.

A pack of tomatoes usually costs around £1, with six classic round tomatoes selling for 95p in Tesco and a family pack from Aldi costing £1.29.

If you bought tomatoes every week you would spend approximately £52 a year – whereas if you did this every two weeks you’d spend £26.

It also helps not to cut open a tomato unless you plan to use the whole thing, as exposing it to air can cause it to expire quickly.

Plumbworld recommended: “If you’ve got a batch of tomatoes that are almost too ripe, make them into a sauce or soup straight away.”

This will mean you don’t have to throw anything out and provide you with meals for the week.

Potatoes

According to Plumbworld potatoes are best stored in a cool, dark and dry place – like a pantry or cellar.

The expert said this was because: “Storing potatoes in the fridge can cause their starch to turn into sugar more quickly.”

This causes them to develop a dark colour and an overly sweet and gritty texture.

You should also make sure you put them in a breathable bag (such as a paper or mesh) to prevent any moisture building up causing them to sprout.

A bag of potatoes typically lasts one to two months and costs £1.35 for 2KG in Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

But left in the fridge they last only one to two weeks, according to Eatingwell.com.

Onions

Plumbworld warned that onions tend to absorb moisture which means they easily become mushy and mouldy in the fridge.

It said: “To keep onions fresh and crunchy, store them in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated area.”

The expert also warned not to store them near potatoes as the gases and moisture they release can cause each other to spoil.

Onions stored correctly in a cool dry place typically last two to three months.

And according to Allrecipes.com they can last up to eight months in the freezer.

You can buy 1KG of brown onions from Aldi for 99p and 1KG of red onions for 71p in Lidl.

This makes it a cheap option for your dinners, but doesn’t also mean you shouldn’t also save each week where you can.

Garlic

A garlic can cost as little as 24p in Sainsbury’s and will last up to six months.

However the moist environment of the fridge can cause garlic to sprout, develop mould or become rubbery, according to Plumbworld.

The expert recommended: “The best way to store garlic is in a cool, dark place with good air circulation.

“A dry spot in your pantry or a garlic keeper works well to maintain its flavour and texture for longer.”

A garlic keeper is a pot which allows airflow and provides the perfect conditions for storage.

You can buy one from Dunelm for £8 or Amazon for £9 – which is more expensive than just finding a cool place but can also be a stylish addition to your kitchen.

Bread

Keeping your bread fresh in the fridge might seem like a good idea, but Plumbworld said this isn’t the case.

It said: “The reality is that cold temperatures cause bread to go stale much faster.

“The fridge accelerates the process of starch crystallisation, which dries out the bread and makes it tough and hard.”

Instead the expert recommended storing bread at room temperature in a bread box or a paper bag to maintain its softness.

It also recommended freezing bread if you have more than you can eat within the few days of its life-span.

It said: “The freezer will preserve its freshness without the texture changes caused by refrigeration.”

A bread bin is a useful investments and costs £15 in Tesco – which over the year would save you money on bread waste.

According to the charity Love Food Hate Waste, UK households waste approximately 20 million slices (equivalent to around one million large loaves) of bread every day.

Other ways to keep your food fresh for longer

These aren’t the only foods which can be stored efficiently.

Plumbworld also recommended: “To avoid waste, try creating a rotation system for all room-temperature foods.

“Keep newer items behind older ones so you use up what’s ripest first.”

In August The Sun wrote an article on the best ways to store food according to Robert Morris, managing director of food safety consultants, Complete Food Safety.

Salad items (besides tomatoes) should be kept in the drawer at the bottom of your fridge.

Whereas anything which grows in soil is more susceptible to bacteria so should be kept separate from salad ingredients.

Meanwhile it always helps to keep food in its supermarket packaging before you use it to keep it thriving for longer.

And placing certain foods in zip lock bags or wrapping up the end of a cucumber will prevent it from spoiling due to contaminated air.

To learn more tips read the article here.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Europe would deal a devastating blow to its space ambitions if it adopted recommendations by former Italian premier Mario Draghi to abolish a core principle driving multinational investment, the head of Germany’s space agency has warned.

German Space Agency director-general Walther Pelzer hit out at the suggestion by Draghi that the European Space Agency should ditch the principle of geographic return, whereby member states secure contracts proportionate to their investments in individual space programmes. 

“Georeturn is the backbone of ESA,” he told the Financial Times on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, the annual gathering of the world’s space agencies.

“It makes space attractive to member states with industries that are not as developed in some areas . . . so these countries can develop technologies within the framework of ESA. The advantage for everybody is that the space sector becomes bigger in Europe.”

ESA this summer announced plans to tweak the principle, which has been criticised for awarding work by nationality rather than competitiveness.

Prime contractors will be allowed to choose their own suppliers. Only then would governments be asked to contribute funding proportionate to the contracts awarded to their industry, in a principle being called “fair return”.

But complete abolition of georeturn would lead to less investment in Europe’s space industry, weaken the ESA and jeopardise collaboration, Pelzer warned.

“This would support all the forces which are trying to tear collaboration apart. This would weaken Europe,” he said.

Relations between France and Germany, the two biggest contributors to the ESA budget, have been strained since the agency introduced a competition for launcher development, traditionally dominated by French companies.

The recommendation to abolish georeturn was made in Draghi’s September report for European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, which called on the commission to devise a “new industrial strategy for Europe”. The report found that georeturn “harms the competitiveness” of Europe’s space industry.  

Requirements to procure from specific member countries meant “unnecessary duplication of capacities in relatively small markets, a mismatch between the most competitive industrial actors and the allocation of resources [and] constraints on the choice of suppliers”, said Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank.

ESA is not an EU agency but a multinational organisation of 22 countries including non-EU member states Norway, the UK and Switzerland. Agency officials defended the principle as a bedrock of innovation.

“Georeturn has provided very good value in creating expertise in space and earth observation,” said Simonetta Cheli, ESA director of earth observation. “Today industrial capacity in Europe exists because of georeturn.”

The head of Italy’s space agency, Teodoro Valente, said he was not worried about the impact of abolishing georeturn on Italian industry, which he described as “very competitive”. However he said georeturn was a “very important tool” for countries seeking to expand their space industries.

Pelzer’s comments reflect wider concerns that Draghi’s report could bolster ardent French opposition to georeturn.

In an interview with the FT in May, Philippe Baptiste, head of the French space agency CNES, said georeturn was a “poison” that added unnecessary costs.

French critics of georeturn have blamed the principles for many of the failings on the budget busting Ariane 6, which was led by French companies Airbus and Safran. 

But Pelzer added that such criticism of georeturn was “an excuse for too much political involvement, for not being able to come up with slim industrial structures”.

“Definitely georeturn is not the root cause [of a lack of competitiveness]. We could get rid of georeturn . . . and it wouldn’t change a thing.”

The ESA’s adoption of “fair return” has been welcomed by many member states, but the agency has admitted this is only a first step. The possible exclusion of georeturn from some ESA programmes has been a “hot topic” between the agency’s member states, according to one person close to the discussions. 

Some people close to the talks suspect France may be attempting to push future launcher development out of the ESA’s ambit and into the control and budget of the EU.

This would mean the cost to France, which funds more than half of the Ariane rocket programme, would fall significantly. But with decades of expertise, French companies might still be expected to lead the development of Europe’s next heavy-lift rocket, several people told the FT.

The EU has begun discussions on its next budget round, with the issue of whether some launcher development funding should be included on the agenda.

Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, used his speech at the UN General Assembly last month to brand the Government of National Unity his country’s “second miracle”, marking a growing bullishness that the unlikely coalition will hold.

It was quite a claim to make for a grand political bargain in which the African National Congress is sharing power with its ideological foe, the pro-market Democratic Alliance, and eight other parties after the ANC’s share of the vote fell to 40 per cent in May’s election.

The “first miracle”, the party’s largely peaceful ascent to power in 1994 after the hated apartheid system collapsed, is the stuff of legend for the ANC faithful. As the GNU moves past its first 100 days in office this week, ministers and investors are confident the coalition will also have an enduring significance, overriding political divisions to boost the economy over its five-year term.

“Even within our ranks there were people who thought you cannot work with the enemy,” Paul Mashatile, the deputy president, told the Financial Times, saying some ANC rank-and-file members still considered the DA, traditionally the party of white and other minority voters, to be anti-worker.

“There is excitement that the situation is stable,” Mashatile said. “The GNU is not quarrelling, we are focused and we are ensuring that we run a tight ship.”

Investors, he said, had picked up on the new atmosphere in South Africa. Since the GNU was announced, the stock market has risen nearly 20 per cent in dollar terms and the rand has strengthened 6 per cent against the dollar. Ramaphosa has forecast economic output can nearly triple to more than 3 per cent next year.

Many in the ANC baulked at the idea of working with a party they considered antagonistic to its agenda of income redistribution and government intervention. Some had openly called for a deal with Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters or former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, both radical ANC splinter groups.

On the DA’s side, some officials worried that by joining the coalition their party risked providing a figleaf for the ANC’s pervasive corruption, mismanagement and failed policies that stalled economic growth for 15 years. They worried that in accepting a taste of power, the DA would lose its electoral identity.

Tony Leon, a former DA leader, said the party made huge compromises in coalition negotiations, getting only six seats in the cabinet when its voting share merited nine. The DA also complains that the ANC reneged on giving it the powerful trade and industry portfolio.

But business had been spooked, urging the DA not to pull out of talks and instead conclude a deal to stop the ANC allying with the EFF or MK, Leon said.

“We were a trump card short in negotiations,” he said.

Signs of friction have already surfaced including over a controversial amendment to the education law, which would give the government, rather than schools, the power to determine language policy in classrooms— disadvantaging Afrikaans-only schools. 

The DA insists it is unconstitutional in part because it threatens schools’ right to educate children in their home language.

Initially, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the law would “endanger the future of the government of national unity”. Ramaphosa signed the bill but held out an olive branch by delaying the implementation of clauses on language and school admission policies.

Siviwe Gwarube, the education minister and the only female Black DA cabinet member, told the FT that the ANC would be playing a dangerous game if it consistently overrode the DA’s concerns over the legislative agenda.

“If that happens, and the DA withdraws, the ANC would have to account to South Africans for why they ruined the country’s best chance of salvaging our economy,” she said.

“They could try to put together the government without the DA — and we’d be happy to take our seats in the opposition benches — but ultimately, there is a strong sentiment from all parties to make it work.”

Gwarube defied convention by skipping the signing of the law in what was considered by some as a snub to the president’s authority. But like Mashatile, she said the coalition could weather the storm.

“Given the history of the DA and ANC, we cannot expect that within three months we’re going to agree on everything. But what we do need are cool heads,” she said. “Political differences within grand coalitions of this nature are not fatal — they are somewhat to be expected.”

Yet some within the DA have concluded that the ANC’s apparent determination to push ahead with the education amendment, and another controversial law on national health insurance, showed that Ramaphosa’s party intended to ride roughshod over the DA.

Dean Macpherson, the DA’s public works and infrastructure minister, said that while the ANC played nice in public, its proxies were still attacking the DA behind the scenes and at the local government level.

“The foghorns that exist within the ANC need to turn down the volume,” he said. “No party can say it’s my way or the highway.”

Still, he said, while Ramaphosa remained ANC president — a position he will hold until 2027 — there was enough common ground and mutual self-interest to keep the coalition together.

“If the ANC didn’t want us to succeed, they’d be land-mining their own electoral prospects,” he said. “If we don’t succeed, the government doesn’t succeed.”