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Lion Yard office space to become 125-bedroom Premier Inn hotel




A vacant office space above the Lion Yard shopping centre is set to be converted into a 125-bedroom Premier Inn hotel.

Premier Inn intergrated ground floor check-in terminals (62728588)
Premier Inn intergrated ground floor check-in terminals (62728588)

Whitbread, who own the Premier Inn brand, has agreed a lease with investment and asset manager abrdn to convert the space.

Construction work is due to start this month with owners expecting to welcome the hotel’s first guests in mid-2024.

The hotelier expects 30 new jobs to be created when the hotel opens and says recruitment will be locally focused.

When it opens the hotel will be Premier Inn’s first in the centre of Cambridge and its fourth location across the historic city.

Paul Smith, acquisitions manager for Whitbread, said: “We have an excellent track record of converting former office spaces into vibrant and successful Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn hotels.

“We were able to take this experience to abrdn and work with them to develop plans to convert a redundant office above the popular Lions Yard shopping centre into a latest format Premier Inn hotel.

Lion Yard, Cambridge . Picture Keith Heppell. (6707531)
Lion Yard, Cambridge . Picture Keith Heppell. (6707531)

“This acquisition will allow our business and leisure customers to stay in a unique location in

the very heart of historic Cambridge. Our partner abrdn also benefits from a secure, indexed-linked income stream from Whitbread and our expertise at converting existing spaces into thriving hotels. “We are looking for other similar opportunities across the country as we grow our network towards our target of 125,000 Premier Inn and hub bedrooms.”

The Cambridge Lion Yard Premier Inn will feature the brand’s latest format ‘standard’ and enhanced Premier Plus bedrooms, as well as its integrated ground floor food and beverage space.

Premier Plus bedroom (62728612)
Premier Plus bedroom (62728612)

Whitbread currently operates 82,000 Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn bedrooms in the UK and Ireland and has a long-term target to achieve 125,000 UK and Ireland rooms.

The company was advised by Cambridge-based property consultants MP Real Estate on the Lion Yard acquisition and it continues to search for new locations in Cambridge and across the eastern region for its popular hotel brands.



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