Travelodge to create new jobs with 22 new hotels

Amid the doom and gloom that the UK is about to enter a recession, there is some good news from budget hotel group, Travelodge, who has announced its intention to open 22 new hotels before the end of the year, creating almost 500 jobs.

Locations for the new hotels are Hereford, Devizes, Stevenage, Barking, Worthing Seafront Wolverhampton, Middlesbrough, Borenhamwood, Stratford upon Avon, Chelmsford, Torquay, Ashbourne, Stafford Central, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Tower, Cardiff Atlantic Wharf, Pontypool, Portmadog, Caernarfon, Heathrow Central, Tower of London and Edinburgh.

The group, which is owned by Dubai International Capital, the private equity group owned by the Arab Emirate’s ruling sheikh, said consumers are tightening their purse strings amid the economic downturn and as a budget hotel chain, the group is benefiting. The credit squeeze has already had a devastating affect on the hospitality industry.

The hotel chain is to spend £125 million on the 22 new hotels which will result in the creation of 450 jobs.

The group said it continues to seek and pursue new development and growth opportunities is looking to open a further 4,000 new rooms next year.

Travelodge currently has a workforce of 5,000 and has 339 hotels in the UK and 11 overseas. It hopes to grow its portfolio to 70,000 by 2020, and hopes to be the largest operator in London by the 2012 Olympics with over 7,000 rooms in the city.

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