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Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn, has expanded its Thrive programme to the Liverpool City Region and plans to offer support to an additional 36 students annually.
Thrive is a pioneering initiative that helps young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) into work and has supported hundreds of young people in securing employment at Premier Inn hotels and beyond.
The company already has a decade-long partnership with Derwen College in Oswestry and Hereward College in Coventry, where they have purpose-built mini-Premier Inn hotels on site, identical in every way to an operational Premier Inn. This serves as a training facility for students to gain real-world experience within the hospitality industry, encompassing everything from guest relations to housekeeping.
“We couldn’t be more delighted to bring Thrive to the Liverpool City Region. Thrive shows how businesses can lead the way in making jobs more accessible to everyone,” said Simon Ewins, Managing Director of Premier Inn UK Hotels & Restaurants. “We believe there should be no barriers to entry and no limits to ambition. Thrive shows how the private sector can meet the moment: It’s not just a corporate initiative—it’s a real-world demonstration of how inclusive employment can work at scale.”
Premier Inn training facility
The expansion includes a new mini-Premier Inn training facility at Wirral Met College, where students gain hands-on experience in hospitality roles.
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Completely indistinguishable from a regular hotel, right down to ‘do not disturb’ signs on the doors and the tea and coffee-making facilities Premier Inn guests are familiar with, it features three en-suite bedrooms, a reception desk, a corridor, and a linen room.
Gill Banks, Principal and CEO of Wirral Met College, said: “We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Whitbread to bring the Thrive programme to Wirral Met College and the Liverpool City Region. This collaboration between education and industry provides young people with SEND the opportunity to develop practical, real-world skills in a setting where they feel safe, supported and valued.
“With access to the fully equipped, on-site Premier Inn training facility at our Conway Park Campus, students will build confidence and gain the experience they need to take meaningful steps towards employment. It’s a wonderful step forward in creating a more inclusive future for everyone.”
With only 4.8% of people with learning difficulties in paid employment, Thrive offers a scalable, practical model for how businesses can help close the disability employment gap. The programme helps scores of young learners nationwide. It puts Whitbread firmly on the path to achieving its ambition of 100 supported internships from special needs educational establishments into paid employment every year.
Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, added: “I’m delighted to see a major company like Whitbread finding innovative ways to help close the disability employment gap and unlock the huge benefits of work for disabled people. Alongside our historic £1 billion investment in disability employment support, programmes such as Thrive show that together, business and government can break down barriers and give disabled people the opportunities they deserve.”
