So, I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole recently.
Having been an "index tracker and chill" kinda guy for the past 5 years, I've recently discovered the hidden benefits of owning individual shares. These benefits are aside from the usual (hopeful!) growth of the shares in question, as well as any dividends paid out, I'm talking about Shareholder perks!
Premier Inn free breakfasts, Ferry and Eurotunnel discounts, restaurant and wine vouchers, you name it!
Top picks for me
Obviously the top picks depends on what kind of thing you buy! However the stand out ones for me are:
- Whitbread
- Free Premier Inn Breakfasts (for up to 4 adults)
- Minimum amount 64 shares (~£1,600)
- Mitchells & Butler
- Pub/restaurant vouchers
- Minimum amount 1 share (~£2.75)
- Distribution: Sent once per year (late December / early January)
- Notes:
- You receive one booklet with ~12 vouchers per year
- Must be on the shareholder register by late Nov / early Dec
I know, I know, I hear you cry: "don't you know that kids eat free at Premier Inn?!?".
Yes, we do, and the amount of food our kids eat, we definitely get our money's worth already! However, with this shareholder perk you get the adult breakfasts free as well, and if you have more than one room on your booking you can potentially get the free breakfast for them as well (up to 4 adults).
Other easy perks to unlock are:
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- 35% off books
- Minimum amount 1 share (~£6)
- Big Yellow Storage
- ~10% off storage/services
- Minimum amount 1 share (~£8-9)
- Adnams
- 10% off drinks, food & stays
- Minimum amount 1 share (~£15)
Full list of shareholder perks in the UK
| Company | What you get | Minimum holding | Approx. cost (£) to hold minimum shareholding (as of April 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adnams PLC | 10% off products, plus discounts on meals and tours | 1 share | ~£15 |
| Big Yellow Storage | 10% off storage, offices, and related services | 1 share | ~£8.80 |
| Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 35% off printed books | 1 share | ~£6 |
| BT Group PLC | Discounts on telecoms and tech products | 1 share (certificated only, most brokers can’t claim this perk) | ~£2.20 |
| Carnival PLC (P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard, AISA cruises, Costa Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Seabourn) | On-board cruise credit (e.g. ~£150 on 14-day trips) | 100 shares (claimed via Stockperks app; benefit varies by cruise length) | ~£2,100 |
| Chapel Down Group PLC | 25% off wine, free tastings, early access | 100 shares (tiered benefits) | ~£35 |
| Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC | 15% off food & drink, hotel discounts | 1,000 shares | ~£6,700 |
| Getlink (Eurotunnel) | 30% off crossings (up to 3 returns/year) | 750 shares + holding period | ~£12,700 |
| Irish Continental Group PLC | 20% off ferry travel | 1,000 shares | ~£5,300 |
| Legal & General Group PLC | Up to 25% off life insurance + £250 gift card (mortgages) | 1 share | ~£2.50 |
| Marston’s PLC | 30% off food (via vouchers) | 500 shares | ~£250 |
| Mitchells & Butlers PLC | 12 annual discount vouchers for pubs/restaurants | 1 share | ~£2.75 |
| Mulberry Group PLC | Up to 20% off in stores worldwide | 500 shares | ~£500 |
| Newbury Racecourse | Free race day entry (tiered benefits) | 101 shares | ~£500 |
| Next PLC | 25% off full-price purchases (limited window) | 100 shares | ~£13,500 |
| Renishaw PLC | Discounts on holidays via Wotton Travel | 1 share | ~£40 |
| Safestore Holdings PLC | 25% off storage + 20% off merchandise | 100 shares | ~£700 |
| Shepherd Neame | 25–30% off food, drink, accommodation | 100 shares (3,000+ for higher tier) | ~£450 |
| Telecom Plus PLC | ~10% cheaper energy + annual credit | 1500 shares | ~£20,000 |
| Whitbread PLC | Free Premier Inn breakfasts + 10% off food & drink | 64 shares | ~£1,600 |
Sources for table data:
https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shareholder-perks
https://www.fidelity.co.uk/shares/shareholder-perks-and-benefits/
Whitbread Shares: can free breakfast + dividends pay for themselves???
If you hold 64 Whitbread shares, you benefit from both dividends and the company’s shareholder perk of free breakfast for two during hotel stays. Let's take a look at the projected annual return.
Annual return breakdown
- Dividends: ~£0.97 per share → ~£62 per year
- Breakfast perk: ~£22 per stay
Given the total annual “return” depends on how often you stay, let's use some examples. We normally stay in a Purple Palace around 5/6 times a year, so lets use the lower as a baseline.
5 stays/year:
£62 + £110 = ~£172/year
→ Payback period: ~8.5–9 years
What this means: At 5 stays per year, I'm effectively getting a 11–12% annual return when combining dividends and perk value!
If you regularly stay at Whitbread hotels (e.g. Premier Inn), the combination of shareholder perks + dividends can realistically “pay back” your investment within around a decade, after which you’re essentially getting ongoing value at no net cost. Plus, you still have the original shares as well!
Of course, this completely depends on, the actual number of stays you have per year, the dividends remaining similar and the perk remaining unchanged. But if you're a frequent flyer of the purple palace then it’s a surprisingly compelling strategy!
How do I get the Shareholder perks?
This is the trickier part.
You need to prove that you own the shares, and many platforms act as brokers which effectively breaks that ownership chain. Shareholder perks are usually issued by the company or registrar. Brokers must either pass them on automatically, or provide proof of ownership.
Some brokers do this well… others basically don’t support it at all! So here's a rundown of the platforms and how they fair:
Fully supports perks (best options)
Best overall platform for perks
Interactive Investor (ii)
- Strong, consistent support for shareholder perks
- Will pass on many perks automatically (vouchers, offers)
- Provide proof of shareholding when needed
- You receive shareholder communications and voting rights
Unlike cheaper apps, ii is set up as a full-service broker, so companies recognise and interact with it properly.
Also very good:
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL)
- Actively supports perks
- Will send vouchers automatically (e.g. Next, pub groups)
- Provide proof for manual claims
- Has a dedicated perks team/page
Partial / manual support
Fidelity
- Acknowledges and supports perks
- You typically request proof and claim yourself
- Full eligibility (you’re on the register)
- More admin, slower
Platforms that DON’T support perks properly
Trading 212
- Doesn’t provide proof
- Doesn’t process perks
Shares held in nominee, and companies can’t verify you
Freetrade
- Does not support claiming perks
- No structured way to provide proof
If you’re thinking about joining Interactive Investor, it’s worth knowing you can get started without paying the platform fee for your first year through a referral link. That effectively lets you test the platform, use its full features, and access shareholder perks without the usual monthly cost. After that it's a low flat fee rather than percentage based. You can take advantage of that offer by signing up through this link..
Personally I'm with Interactive Investor and found it very straight forward. I bought the shares in my GIA, and sent them a message requesting the perk. I expected them to send me a certificate and then have to find the company registrar email address to send it on to, but they did all that for me! I received my card just over a week later, very impressive!
Whilst these perks are a nice bonus, it should never replace your investment strategy. They are a nice to have perk with quite a few of them only needing one share. For less than £50 outlay you get to have some potentially lucritive benefits depending on your regular spending.
Thanks for reading!
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