Issue
Whitbread identified a gap in the urban compact hotel market and launched hub by Premier Inn, a digitally led, city-centre brand targeting tech-savvy travellers. The identity needed to clearly differentiate from Premier Inn while staying aligned with the broader portfolio architecture.

Insight
hub’s audience valued design, connectivity and control. The identity, therefore, had to express modernity and simplicity while operating consistently across app, digital, estate and marketing environments. Alignment between the digital experience and the physical hotel environment was critical.

Idea
As brand guardian, I acted as the bridge between IM London, the in-house studio team I led and cross-functional stakeholders to embed and operationalise the identity. I aligned hub’s visual principles with group brand architecture, integrated structured guidelines across digital and estate applications, and ensured cohesion between the app experience and the physical stay. My role focused on translating creative intent into scalable governance, ensuring the brand could be implemented confidently across all touchpoints.

Impact
hub launched with a distinctive, cohesive identity that translated consistently across digital platforms and the physical estate. Strong governance enabled sustainable rollout across major UK cities while protecting brand integrity and customer experience.