David Lloyd Leisure showed the strongest performance within the Whitbread group last year, reporting 5.8 per cent growth in the first 50 weeks of the financial year, while Marriott hotels was 0.2 per cent behind its previous year’s performance.

Travel Inn is faring slightly better than Marriott, with growth of 3.6 per cent, but this has slowed since November, when the budget hotel chain reported 3.7 per cent growth.

DLL has also seen growth slow down since November, when it was 6.5 per cent up. Conversely, Marriott has improved in the last three months, rising from being 0.5 per cent behind.

Beefeater has shown a steady 4 per cent growth over a year which saw 24 sites converted to a new format and changes made to improve the estate as a whole, which chief executive, David Thomas, said indicates that Beefeater ‘is on track to succeed’.

Brewers Fayre/Brewsters has seen slower growth than Beefeater, but is still up 1.5 per cent, though this is down from 2.2 per cent reported in November.

Overall, total group like for like sales and total group sales were up 2.4 per cent and Thomas said the company’s brands were performing well and that he was ‘comfortable’ with current expectations head of issuing the company’s full year results.

Full year preliminary results are due in May, when, according to Reuters, Whitbread is expected to reveal pre-tax profits of £243m, up from £214m last year.