A vacant office space above the Lion Yard shopping centre is set to be converted into a 125-bedroom Premier Inn hotel.

The owner of the Premier Inn hotel brand, Whitbread, has agreed a lease with abrdn to convert the space.

Construction work is due to start this month with first guests anticipated in mid-2024.

The hotel will be Premier Inn’s first in the centre of Cambridge and its fourth location in the city.

Paul Smith, acquisitions manager at Whitbread, said: “We have an excellent track record of converting former office spaces into vibrant and successful Premier Inn and hub by Premier Inn hotels.

“We were able to take this experience to abrdn and work with them to develop plans to convert a redundant office above the popular Lions Yard shopping centre into a latest-format Premier Inn hotel.

“This acquisition will allow our business and leisure customers to stay in a unique location in the very heart of historic Cambridge. Our partner abrdn also benefits from a secure, indexed-linked income stream from Whitbread and our expertise at converting existing spaces into thriving hotels. “We are looking for other similar opportunities across the country as we grow our network towards our target of 125,000 Premier Inn and hub bedrooms.”

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