Alison Jane Brittain (née Hopkins; born February 1965) is a British businesswoman, chair of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of

Whitbread Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...

. She was previously head of retail banking at

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...

Early life

Alison Jane Hopkins was born in February 1965. She grew up in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and was educated at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

, where she received a degree in business studies, followed by an MBA from the

Cambridge Judge Business School Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is a department of the u ...

. When studying at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, she matriculated at

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

Career

Brittain joined

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

as a graduate trainee, and worked there for 19 years. She joined

Santander UK Santander UK plc (, ) is a British bank, wholly owned by Banco Santander, a Spanish bank. Santander UK plc manages its affairs autonomously, with its own local management team, responsible solely for its performance. Santander UK is one of th ...

in 2007, then

in 2011. In May 2015, it was announced that from January 2016, Brittain would take over from Andy Harrison, who would be retiring, as CEO of

, the parent company of

Premier Inn Premier Inn Limited, a subsidiary of Whitbread, is a British limited-service hotel chain with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. As of 2025, the company owned and operated over 800 h ...

, Whitbread restaurants and

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

. Brittain had been seen as a favourite to succeed the current CEO of Lloyd's Banking Group, António Horta-Osório before this news was announced. She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to business. In July 2022, the

announced that Brittain would be taking up its role of chair from early 2023. In January 2023, she stood down as CEO of Whitbread and became chair of the Premier League.

Personal life

Alison Hopkins is married to Kevin Brittain; and they have two children.

References

1965 births Alumni of the University of Stirling British women bankers British chief executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people Lloyds Banking Group people Whitbread people People from Derbyshire Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Premier League office holders {{England-business-bio-stub