Travelodge to double in size
Travelodge is about to unveil a £3.5b investment programme that will more than double its size and make the budget hotel group twice as large as market leader Premier Travel Inn. The plan will create 600 new Travelodges. About 22,000 of the rooms will be added in Greater London. Elsewhere, factories, mills and office buildings will be converted in addition to expansion of existing sites. – Mail on Sunday, 20 May.

M&B will sell off property
Mitchells & Butlers has drawn up plans to spin off up to £4b of its property portfolio in a major concession to key activist investor Robert Tchenguiz. As expected, M&B, which owns the All Bar One and Harvester chains, has fought off Tchenguiz's more far-reaching demands that the pub chain's entire £5.5b property estate be transferred to a separately listed tax-efficient real estate investment trust. – Sunday Telegraph, 20 May.

Champneys fails to make a profit
Six hundred shareholders in leisure resort Champneys were expecting to receive payments of between £4,000 and £30,000 each this Tuesday as money paid as the proceeds of redeemable preference shares. Four million such shares with a face value of £1 were issued to founder members of Champneys 10 years ago. Champneys chairman Stephen Purdew has sent a letter to shareholders telling them there will be no payout because there are no profits. – Mail on Sunday, 20 May

By Bob Gledhill

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