Travelodge set for £100m 36-site expansion programme
Budget hotel chain Travelodge has announced a £100m, 36-site expansion programme by partnering with UK pub companies.
The group's strategy will see it working with a range of pub companies including Greene King, JW Lees, Marston's, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) and JD Wetherspoons to find development opportunities across the country.
Paul Harvey, Travelodge managing director for development, said: "The pub companies have noticeably stepped up their development plans over recent months and in many parts of the country their target locations correspond with ours. A combined hotel/pub development is attractive to banks and funders, making the development process a lot quicker than it otherwise may be."
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, added: "While pubs have faced tough times in recent years, this is a great example of how they are fighting back. Pubs are perfectly placed to provide the hospitality at sites next to hotels."
In the last six months, Travelodge has exchanged on two properties with pub companies: a 53-room hotel in Kidderminster on land adjacent to an existing pub with Marstons and a 62-bed hotel in Glossop alongside a JD Wetherspoon. The company aims to have its expansion plans in place by 2015, in the process creating 550 new jobs.
The initiative follows the successful integration by Travelodge of 52 Innkeepers Lodge Hotels which the company acquired in July last year, all of which have an M&B pub on site. Travelodge also has properties co-located with pubs on 15 bespoke developments.
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By Emily Manson
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