Whitbread to unveil jump in pension deficit
Whitbread, owner of the Premier Inns budget hotel chain and Costa Coffee shops, will unveil a large jump in its pension fund deficit when it reports full-year results next week.
Pension funding levels have fallen due to current economic uncertainty, meaning that the aggregate position of pension schemes has moved from a surplus of £15bn at the start of 2008, to a deficit of £23bn.