Whitbread PLC (LSE:WTB), the FTSE 100 hospitality group behind the Premier Inn hotel chain, has unveiled a sweeping five-year strategic plan designed to transform the business into a higher-margin, lower capital-intensity operation, following a detailed review prompted by surging employment costs and business rates. The plan, which targets £2 billion of free cash flow available for shareholder returns by financial year 2031, centres on recycling £1.5 billion of freehold property to fund future growth, reducing gross capital expenditure by £1 billion and cutting net capital spend to between £200 million and £250 million per year.