Travelodge to Create 5,000 Jobs by 2025

UK budget hotel chain Travelodge plans to create a further 5,000 jobs in London by 2025. The jobs will be created as part of the business’ aim to open 184 hotels in London over the next 13 years. Travelodge is owned by Dubai International Capital. London Stratford Travelodge was funded by Hotbed UK, a UK private investor syndicate.

PRESS RELEASE

Travelodge, the UK’s fastest growing budget hotel chain, has today announced the creation of a further 5,000 jobs in London by 2025. The jobs will be created as part of the business’ aim to open a further 184 hotels across the capital over the next 13 years. Guy Parsons, Travelodge CEO, made the announcement at the opening of the company’s 500th hotel in London Stratford.
In addition to long term job growth, Travelodge currently has 20 vacancies in London on its junior management apprenticeship programme, JuMP. These places need to be filled immediately and applications can be sent to jump@travelodge.co.uk.
Travelodge is committed to improving employment opportunities for young people and the internal development of its staff, which is why 500 of the jobs created in London by 2025 will be on the JuMP scheme.
The bespoke JuMP scheme was developed to support Travelodge’s growth and to help Britain’s unemployed youngsters back into work. It also offers school leavers an alternative career choice to going to university.
The fast track management programme provides a real job, with the opportunity of on the job training throughout the business, combined with further education and the opportunity to earn up to £30,000 and to become a hotel manager in three years. In contrast to going to university and graduating with a debt of over £40,000 and facing an over crowded jobs market.
Guy Parsons, said: Travelodge said: “Hospitality and tourism is the UK’s fifth biggest industry and is growing faster than almost any other. Travelodge is a powerhouse of the industry, which is why we are continuing to create jobs.
“JuMP has proved to be an incredibly popular scheme. At the start of the year we received over 3,000 applications for just 45 positions. Hospitality is an excellent sector in which young people can develop successful careers.”
Travelodge’s ongoing London expansion plan aims to develop 7,820,400 sq ft – the largest requirement of any business in London. This equates to:
Six Shards, which when open will be the largest building in Europe*
Nine O2 Arenas**
Nine Buckingham Palace’s***
Forty Two Tesco Extra’s****
This morning, Tourism Minister, John Penrose MP, officially opened London Stratford Travelodge, the budget chain’s 500th hotel. The 188-room modular build property which is located a few minutes walk away from the Olympic Stadium is a £15.5 million investment and has created 30 new jobs within the community.
Guy Parsons, Travelodge Chief Executive said: “To open our 500th Travelodge hotel yards from the entrance to the Olympic Stadium is a milestone that everyone in the company is extremely proud of. Travelodge has come a long way since it opened its first hotel back in 1985 on the A38 in Barton-Under-Needwood.”
“In 2010, at the opening of our 400th hotel, we said that we would be the biggest hotelier in London in time for the 2012 Olympics and true to our word we have achieved this target. When the Games start on the 27th July 2012, we will have 53 hotels in the capital but our London growth story is only just beginning.”
“London is very unique city. It is a metropolis made up of 32 boroughs and the City of London. Each has its own economy, culture, identity and history. In central London the quality, budget hotel market has a good presence. However, in flourishing boroughs where regeneration is a big priority such as Barnet, Ealing, Lewisham or Wandsworth it’s non existent and we now want to focus on these growth hotspots.”
“Our London expansion programme will create around 5,000 jobs across the capital which will certainly help to ensure that the whole of London’s economy benefits from our expansion.”
Hotel Industry Consultant Melvin Gold said: “In our most recent UK hotel study, findings revealed that just 17.1% of hotel rooms in London were in the branded budget category compared to more than 28% in other large UK cities such as: Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow.
“This emphasises the further need for branded budget accommodation in the capital. Visitors to the city for the Games are typically seeking quality, value for money accommodation, as are the millions of visitors pouring into the city annually during ‘normal’ times.”
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: “I salute Travelodge for this ringing endorsement of our great city in one of the greatest years in its history. The jobs and opportunities this will bring, will be warmly welcome in tough economic times and I’m grateful to all the companies who play their part like this in London.”
John Penrose MP, Minister for Tourism and Heritage said: “To reach the milestone of 500 hotels is a fantastic achievement and I congratulate Travelodge on reaching it.”
“Tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK and it is vital that we offer a broad spectrum of hotel provision. The budget sector is really growing in Britain and I look forward to opening Travelodge’s 600th in a couple of year’s time!”
Travelodge currently has 47 hotels and 6,531 rooms in the capital and is on target to open a further six hotels in London before the Olympic Games start. Locations include: Teddington, Excel Centre, Sidcup, Enfield, Woolwich and Balham. These openings will boost Travelodge’s London portfolio to 53 hotels and 7,201 rooms.
There are also a further three Travelodge hotel openings scheduled after the Olympic Games which include the following locations: Clapham, Bromley and Bethnal Green.
Travelodge will end the year with 56 hotels and 7,508 rooms in the capital.
Notes to Editors:
London Stratford Travelodge was funded by Hotbed UK, the private investor syndicate. Peveril Securities and Active Estates were the JV developers.
Travelodge’s requirement is for a further 24,320 rooms in London. Based on an estimate of 320 sq ft per room for the total amount of space Travelodge require, this is equal to 7,782,400 sq ft.
* The Sq Ft of the Shard is 1,200,000 sq ft
** The Sq Ft of the 02 Arena in Greenwich is 865,687 sq ft
*** Buckingham Palace is 830,000 sq ft
**** The largest Tesco Extra in the country is in Walkden, totaling 185,000 sq ft