Beefeater-to-Pizza Hut group Whitbread says it is cutting 250 jobs as part of a restructuring of its central operation.

Details of the job losses at the company's headquarters at Luton emerged as Whitbread said underlying profits for the six months to September 1 rose 11 per cent to £102.9m, helped by a 13.4 per cent rise in overall sales.

The group, which also runs chains such as Brewers Fayre and Costa Coffee, benefited from the acquisition of hotels business Premier Lodge for £500m. Stripping out this deal, like-for-like sales were ahead 0.4 per cent. Whitbread said it expected the consumer environment to remain challenging, but added that it had been encouraged by high occupancy rates at its hotels, as well as stabilisation of membership levels at its David Lloyd Leisure clubs and continued growth for Costa Coffee.

It warned that reversing the downward trend for its pub restaurants, where underlying earnings were 11.5 per cent lower, would take time.

The jobs being lost will save around £25 million a year from the running of the Luton office where the company employs around 1,000 people.