Lancaster is set to get a new 110-bedroom Premier Inn in the city centre. Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn brand, has signed an agreement for lease with Maple Grove Developments for a hotel on Edward Street, in the city’s Canal Quarter. The project still needs planning permission.
Maple Grove, the commercial development arm of the Lancashire-based Eric Wright Group, plans to replace a group of derelict industrial buildings with a hotel built to Premier Inn’s latest design. Lancaster City Council has marked the Canal Quarter for long-term regeneration.
A second Premier Inn for Lancaster
Whitbread runs 842 Premier Inn hotels in the UK and Ireland and has been looking for a city centre site in Lancaster for some time. Its only hotel in the city right now is an 81-bedroom Premier Inn on Caton Road, on the outskirts.
According to the company, strong demand at its existing hotels and rising visitor numbers in Lancashire and Cumbria led to the decision to open a second one.
“We have long targeted the city centre as a priority location, and this new Premier Inn will deliver attractive financial returns and meet clear demand for high-quality, affordable accommodation,” said Jill Anderson, acquisition manager at Whitbread.
45,000 guests a year expected
Using average occupancy figures from across its estate, Whitbread expects the hotel to welcome around 45,000 guests a year once it is fully established. Most are expected to spend time in the city centre eating out, visiting attractions or on business.
In a 2024 study, Premier Inn found that guests spend an average of £143 per room per night outside the hotel. More than half of that is spent in the area around the hotel.
Brick, stone and slate design
The hotel would stand on the corner of Moor Lane and Edward Street. The entrance and ground-floor restaurant would face both Edward Street and a new public space. The plans use light and dark brick, stone tiles and a slate roof, a nod to the area’s industrial past.
“Signing the agreement for lease with Whitbread brings certainty to the change we are seeking to deliver at the Canal Quarter, ultimately transforming a collection of derelict industrial buildings into a high-quality hotel,” said James Scott, managing director of Maple Grove Developments. He added that the developer plans to submit the planning application shortly.
Councillor Peter Jackson, Lancaster City Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and the local economy, called the plans “a huge vote of confidence in Lancaster.” He said the Canal Quarter Masterplan aims to turn the area into a place where people can live, work and visit.
Timeline and jobs
If planning permission is granted, construction is expected to take about 18 months. Whitbread says the hotel will create around 30 permanent jobs, all employed directly by the company.
The Lancaster project is part of Whitbread’s wider investment in north-west England. Earlier in 2026, the company also secured planning permission for a new Premier Inn in Carlisle city centre.
