New Travelodge chief executive pledges to employ the unemployed

Newly-appointed chief executive of Travelodge, Guy Parsons, said that he is committed to appointing staff who were formerly unemployed and developing them to hotel managers within three years.

Parsons, who took over from Grant Hearn on 1 July, after being promoted from managing director, was speaking as Travelodge celebrated its 25th anniversary with the opening by London Mayor Boris Johnson of its 400th hotel - a 270-bedroom property in Waterloo, London.

"We are employing entry level staff through the London Employer Accord," said Parsons. "Over 90% of staff for all our new London hotels have been recruited from the local unemployed and through our Fast Tract to Management Programme, there is the opportunity for many of them to go on to be managers or assistant managers."

The 5,000 plus workforce staff at Travelodge are currently growing at a rate of around 500 staff per year. By the 2012 London Olympics, the company plans to be the largest hotel brand in the capital, and company is on target to have 70,000 bedrooms open in 1,000 hotels by 2020. A new hotel opens, roughly, once every eight days.

Parsons went on to deny that Travelodge's owner, Dubai International Capital, plans to sell the group.

"They have absolutely no intention of selling Travelodge and reports that Whitbread will buy the company are wide of the mark as the competition authorities would never allow it."

• To mark Travelodge's 25th anniversary, the company is currently offering 250,000 rooms for £25 or less in all its UK hotels.

Travelodge in London

Travelodge plans to be the single biggest hotel brand in the capital by the time of the 2012 Olympics, with a total of 7,000 bedrooms across 52 properties. The opening of 20 new hotels over the next two years will create 750 new jobs.

Dubai investment company buys Travelodge for £675m >>

Travelodge and Whitbread support first NEP meeting on jobs >>

Caterersearch.com 100: Guy Parsons >>

Guy Parsons promoted to chief executive of Travelodge >>

The value of budget hotels >>

By Janet Harmer

E-mail your comments to Janet Harmer here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs

Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Caterersearch.com jobs