The UK’s biggest hotel chain has confirmed that it is to open a new hotel in Lisburn.
Premier Travel Inn, operated by Whitbread Plc is set to open within two years, and will be the third Premier Travel Inn to open in Northern Ireland.

The 60 bedroom Premier Travel Inn and Brewers Fayre restaurant will be developed in partnership with the Conway Group at a parkland site off the Hillsborough road in Lisburn.

Local MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, welcomed the £10 m investment, which will also create up to 60 new full and part-time jobs.

Speaking on behalf of the Conway Group, Des Taggart said: “We are very happy to announce that this plan is going to be a reality having signed up a major hotel and restaurant operator. This means that Lisburn will gain a new Premier Travel Inn and Brewers Fayre restaurant in a beautiful setting beside the river Lagan. The site will also provide new parking access and a potential new route into the Lagan Valley Regional park. This will add an excellent new, family-friendly amenity that will be great for tourists and the local population in Lisburn. We are also looking at some new educational elements on the site to highlight the unique wetland environment that the hotel will be placed in and we have also submitted an outline planning application for a new health and wellness centre to complement the hotel, though the development and opening of the hotel is our first priority�

Whitbread PLC is the UK’s leading hospitality business, managing the number one brands in hotels, restaurants and racquets, health and fitness clubs, including Premier Travel Inn, Brewers Fayre, Beefeater, Costa Coffee, T.G.I. Friday’s and David Lloyd Leisure. 10 million customers each month visit one of the Whitbread’s 1,400 outlets across the UK. Premier Travel Inns is the UK’s biggest hotel chain with over 475 locations including its first hotel in Northern Ireland, recently opened in Carrickfergus.

Northern Ireland acquisitions manager for Whitbread plc, Derek Griffin said:
“We’re very excited to be bringing a Premier Travel Inn and Brewers Fayre restaurant to Lisburn, we have a great location and are really looking forward to getting started. The Northern Ireland market provides a very attractive opportunity for us to expand and Lisburn in particular is a city on the up. We’re very confident about our investment here in Lisburn and are hoping to be able to announce further investments in Northern Ireland in the near future.”

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson who met the representatives from Conway Group and Whitbread at a presentation to Lisburn City Council added:
“The city of Lisburn is making progress on so many fronts and this is another excellent piece of news. The fact that the largest hotel chain in the UK has chosen Lisburn as only its third location in Northern Ireland says a lot about the potential of Lisburn as a place to visit, enjoy and work in. This is a very significant investment and the local jobs created are also very welcome. Lisburn has tremendous tourism and business potential but we have suffered from a lack of availability of good quality overnight accommodation and I very much welcome this development and the number of other potential hotel applications that have emerged in recent months. Obviously this development will be subject to the normal planning process which will afford local residents with the opportunity to have their say before a final decision is made.�

A detailed planning application has been submitted for the hotel and restaurant. The site had previously received planning for a hotel development and is designated within Lisburn City Council’s Lagan Corridor Strategic Framework as a potential site for hotel development.

Conway Group’s commercial agent on the scheme is Gerald Eve, Gerald Eve partner in Belfast, Ciaran Hughes said:
“The Northern Ireland market is attracting more and more interest from major hotel groups in Britain and across the world and the city of Lisburn is one of the places that has excellent potential for development. The fact that the UK’s largest hotel group has committed to a superb site on the Hillsborough road is a very positive endorsement for Lisburn and we are confident that this will be a very successful new amenity for the area.�

John Martin of Whitbread’s agents in Northern Ireland, Osborne King added:
“This investment is another indication of the strength of Northern Ireland as a location for hotel development. This is the fifth site here that Whitbread has confirmed its interest in and we will be continuing to search for up to 15 sites across Northern Ireland in the coming months�