The sites under construction, which account for £55 million of investment by the hotel brand owner Whitbread and its development partners, include a new super-sized 249-bedroom hotel in Glasgow’s St Enoch Square, a 136-bed hotel on Edinburgh’s world-famous Princes Street and Premier Inn’s most northerly hotel in Thurso in the Scottish Highlands.

More than 190 new permanent jobs are expected to be created at the four hotels when they open their doors to guests during this financial year – with the recruitment process at each hotel starting approximately three months ahead of a new site opening.

Alex Flach, UK development director at Whitbread, said: “The challenges currently facing the hospitality industry has not blunted our ambition to continue to grow the Premier Inn brand in Scotland. We have been investing heavily in Scotland for years and these latest hotels continue our strategy of expanding Premier Inn in prime city centre locations, investing in regeneration schemes in well-connected towns and growing our network in popular tourist locations where we do not have a presence.

“The Scottish Government has been clear that construction is important in helping the economy to bounce back from the crisis. Before re-opening our sites in Scotland, we have been working closely with our development and construction partners to ensure we can continue to invest and deliver our new hotels whilst meeting the latest industry guidance on social distancing.

“The sites look different, with fewer workers on-site at any one time, but we’re pleased to be back and progressing with the builds under the new working arrangements.”

In line with the Scottish Government’s phased plan out of lockdown, Whitbread’s development team has put in place additional on-site measures to protect workers and the general public and ensure social distancing.

With the Scottish Government confirming on June 18 that construction sites can return to ‘steady state operations’ with appropriate measures in place, Whitbread is finalising the plans for a phased restart at each site.

Whitbread is planning to open the four Scottish hotels this financial year.