Stuart Hookins has been appointed as Estates Director for the UK & Ireland at Whitbread PLC

Stuart joins Whitbread following the decision of Simon Hobbs to retire after nearly 20 years with the business. He takes over responsibility for one of the UK’s largest hospitality property portfolios, comprising more than 845 Premier Inn hotels and over 86,000 trading bedrooms across the UK and Ireland.

The appointment comes at an important time for Whitbread as it works to unlock further value from its predominantly freehold hotel and restaurant estate.  

As part of its Five-Year Plan, announced on 30 April 2026, Whitbread intends to recycle £1.5bn of freehold property by FY31 while continuing to support the growth of Premier Inn and create additional value through redevelopment, asset intensification and the active management of its property portfolio.

Stuart brings more than 25 years of experience in senior property leadership and corporate finance roles. Most recently, he served as Group Property Director at Royal Mail Group, where he was responsible for a nationwide estate of more than 1,800 properties and led major programmes of investment, acquisitions and disposals.

Prior to joining Royal Mail, Stuart spent 17 years at The Co-operative Group, progressing through a series of senior property roles before being appointed Managing Director of Property.

Simon Hobbs formally retires from Whitbread on 1^st September 2026.

During his time with the business, Simon played a key role in Whitbread’s transformation from a diversified leisure company into a pure-play hotel business focused on Premier Inn. He also helped shape and deliver initiatives to generate value from the company’s estate, including its asset intensification programme, sale and leasebacks of select trading hotels, and the active management of under-utilised land assets.

Supporting information

• Stuart Hookin trained as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG before entering corporate finance roles at Siemens (1999 to 2005)
• During a 17-year career at the Co-Operative Group (2005 to 2022) Stuart rose from Head of Acquisitions and Disposals to Managing Director of Property
• The full title of Stuart’s role at the Royal Mail Group was Group Director of Property and Facilities Solutions which he held from December 2022 to August 2026.
• Stuart will report to Mark Anderson, Managing Director for Property and International, and will lead Whitbread’s estates, facilities and energy teams across the UK and Ireland.