Whitbread rebrands

THE Whitbread Group of Hotels is to be rebranded as the Country Club Hotel Group in a bid to give the company a stronger identity in the marketplace.

Over the next two years the rebranding process will be supported by a £5m marketing and advertising programme, which will see the publication of new corporate brochures and directories.

Although Travel Inn will be administered by the Country Club Hotel Group, in marketing and branding terms the new name will integrate only the group's 11 Country Club Hotels and 18 remaining Lansbury Hotels.

The Lansbury name will be phased out over the next six months, while the Country Club Hotels tag will be redesignated as Country Club Resorts.

Head of communications Linda Moore said: "We did some research and people didn't associate hotels with the Whitbread name. We wanted to use a title for the group which has more relevance."

lWhitbread has planning permission to build a 50-bedroom Travel Inn adjoining its TGI Friday's restaurant in Coventry. If taken up it would be the first time the two brands have been brought together on a single site.