Premier Inn is the UK's largest hotel brand, with over 40,500 rooms and more than 600 hotels. Originally opening under the "Travel Inn" brand name in 1987, it has been owned by Whitbread

Whitbread

Whitbread PLC is a global hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with around 580 hotels and over 40,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has around 1,600 stores across 25...

 during its entire operation and was set up to compete with the Travelodge

Travelodge UK

Travelodge Hotels Limited is a private company operating in the hotels and hospitality industry throughout the United Kingdom. Branded simply as Travelodge or Travelodge UK, it is the second largest in the budget hotel sector and third biggest hotel chain in the UK by number of bedrooms...

 brand which was at the time owned by Forte. The company provides 70% of the total earnings of Whitbread.
The chain started trading in 1987 as 'Travel Inn'.