As the UK’s largest hotel chain with over 800 hotels – as well as a growing footprint in Germany – we’re fortunate enough to be able to support some of the most complex issues affecting the world today, a responsibility we take very seriously as part of our Force for Good programme.
How we’ve been supporting the people of Ukraine
Premier Inn bedding donations
As well as pledging to raise at least £500,000 in support of The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and their international humanitarian effort, we’ve been working together with our incredible transport partners in order to donate over 50,000 duvet and pillow sets to help those affected by the war in Ukraine. Bedding is being taken from Premier Inn hotels across the country to support displaced people following the outbreak of war, and Whitbread – together with Delivered UK, Maritime Transport and Essex-based Hope and Aid Direct – are working hard to deliver these supplies to those who need it most.
Hope and Aid Direct Trustee Steve Walsh said
“Hope and Aid Direct is very pleased to be working with Whitbread and its transport partners on this very important project to supply bedding to a huge number of Ukrainian families. All of the partners in this operation are committed to ensuring that the bedding is donated both to families who have managed to cross into neighbouring countries and others who are internally displaced within Ukraine”.
The Middlesbrough Premier Inn team
So far, our Premier Inn bedding replacement scheme has allowed us to donate bedding from all over the UK to those in need, and our hotel teams across the country have been taking part.
The first trucks have arrived at their destinations, delivering pillows and duvets to people in unimaginable circumstances and over the coming weeks, over 50,000 more items will be delivered too. We’d like to thank our amazing hotel teams and transport partners for their incredible work on this emotional and logistically complicated project, the likes of which we’ve never seen before.
Jamie Barker, Sales Director at Delivered UK, said
“In any kind of crisis situation, the real value of modern logistics comes to the fore. We’re very glad that our expertise in consolidation and domestic transport could help this very worthwhile project get essential goods to the people that need them most.”
The Middlesbrough Premier Inn team
Hope and Aid Direct has already delivered 11 truckloads to various NGO’s, including essentials such as water trailers, hospital beds, medical supplies, hygiene items and food.
Maritime Transport’s distribution division has been collecting full truck loads from locations in Scotland and England, with the first four Maritime vehicles having already set off on the 3,400-mile round-trip to Romania. A further ten Maritime trucks are planned to leave the UK over the coming weeks where non-governmental-organisation (NGO) partners in Poland, Romania and Ukraine will ensure that the bedding is distributed to those most in need of the supplies.
Alex Williams, Managing Director of Distribution at Maritime Transport, said
“We are incredibly proud to be part of this project, delivering aid to the people and families whose lives have been so cruelly changed. The entire Maritime community stands with Ukraine, and we’re all behind our drivers who have volunteered to drive across Europe to complete these important deliveries.”
The Middlesbrough Premier Inn team
The donations come as part of our routine sustainable bedding replacement scheme, which sees bedding including pillows and duvets being replaced at our Premier Inn hotels across the UK. Usually, 92% of this bedding would go on to be recycled, but these unprecedented events have led to our hotel teams sorting and packing bedding of an appropriate quality to be diverted to Ukraine. The donations are in direct response to an urgent request from Hope and Aid Direct for bedding to support displaced people.
Simon Jones, Managing Director of Premier Inn and Restaurants, said:
“The ongoing events in Ukraine are devastating and we are proud to be part of our project that seeks to provide some semblance of normality in such appalling times. I’d like to thank our hotel teams and transport partners for getting behind the effort – we sincerely hope it helps in a small way”.
As part of our Force for Good strategy, Whitbread also pledged to raise funds of at least £500,000 in support of The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and their international humanitarian effort.