Chief Executive Alan Parker (Whitbread PLC)

Alan Parker was appointed Chief Executive of Whitbread PLC in June 2004 having been Managing Director of Whitbread Hotel Company for the previous twelve years and a member of the Whitbread PLC Board since 2000.

Whitbread is the UK's No 1 hotel and restaurant company with leading brands such as Premier Inn, Costa Coffee and Beefeater.

Alan was educated at the University of Surrey (BSc in Hotel Management), where he is now a Visiting Professor. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Programme, a Director and ex-Chairman of the British Hospitality Association, a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, an Executive Committee Member of the World Travel & Tourism Council and Non-Executive Director of Jumeirah Group LLC.

Before joining Whitbread in 1992, Alan was Senior Vice President of Holiday Inn Europe, Middle East and Africa based in Brussels, and prior to that, Managing Director Europe of Crest Hotels based in Frankfurt.

Alan's career started as a boy in the hotel and catering industry in the family's London restaurant.