Whitbread appoints Adam Crozier as chairman amid Costa sale rumours

Current chairman Richard Baker will retire from the board at the end of February, with Crozier promoted from his role as senior independent director, having joined last spring.

Whitbread has been the subject of renewed investor interest since activist hedge fund Sachem Head in early December revealed it had built a 3.4% stake in the FTSE 100 group.

On Thursday, Baker said: "As I now approach my ninth Whitbread year end, we are executing our strategic plan to build a bigger and better Whitbread for the benefit of all stakeholders. We have a well established chief executive and executive team, a refreshed board, and considerable momentum in delivering this plan."

He highlighted Crozier's "long and successful executive career" and that the board has selected "a strong candidate to lead Whitbread through its next era of development".

For his part, Crozier mentioned Whitbread's "two great brands in Premier Inn and Costa" and the "exciting plan to continue to deliver growth in our core UK businesses, whilst developing our international business through growth in Germany, China and Costa Express".

Analysts at Barclays earlier in the week said they had "sensed a more open approach from management regarding corporate activity", though this was felt to be more about the options on an 18-month-plus time horizon rather than anything imminent.

They calculated that if Whitbread were ever to decide to sell Costa and its real estate, such a scenario could result in a sum-of-the-part valuation for the shares of £47 in an upside case or, in a blue-sky scenario, up to £57.