Travelodge, the UK's fastest growing budget hotel chain, today announced the biggest transaction in the hotel sector since 2008, by acquiring the leases of 52 Innkeeper's Lodges (1994 rooms) from restaurant and pub operator Mitchells & Butlers. This deal will boost Travelodge's estate to 452 hotels and increase its room stock to 30,504 across the UK, Ireland and Spain.
The 52 UK hotels, which include a number of grade ll listed buildings, range from 21 to 85 rooms and are adjacent to a Mitchells Butlers restaurant and pub.
Travelodge will seek to retain all 430 staff from Mitchells Butlers and will look to recruit a further 115 positions, which include 25 hotel manager roles and 90 hotel staff.
Travelodge has signed a 25 year lease on the properties and will embark on a £10 million investment programme to convert the hotels to bring them in line with the Travelodge brand.
This investment will include building new reception areas, replacing all the beds and decorating the hotels.
It is anticipated that the hotels will be fully operational under the Travelodge brand within four months and rooms will be available from £19 in line with Travelodges pricing policy.
Travelodges Executive Chairman, Grant Hearn said: "This innovative deal represents the whole of last years growth in one move and highlights Travelodge's excellent position coming out of the recession. I believe this deal also signifies a great move for Mitchells Butlers as they refocus on value and growth from their core pub brands. We are very excited to be part of such a ground breaking deal."
"We have an aggressive growth plan in place and with this acquisition we are on track to more than double the size of Travelodge hotels over the next ten years. We hope to explore further opportunities like this deal with other similar businesses."
All 52 properties are great additions to the Travelodge brand and each location will draw on both the business and leisure markets. We look forward to working alongside Mitchells & Butlers in driving new customers to our hotels and their restaurants and pubs."
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For further information please contact:
Shakila Ahmed
Travelodge
DL: 01844 35 8703
Notes to editors-
The table below illustrates the locations of the 52 Innkeeper's Lodges Travelodge is acquiring.
Arundel, Castle Bromwich, Glasgow x 2, Nottingham, Walton on Thames
Basildon, Chester, Helensburgh, Oldham, Warrington
Beaconsfield, Chigwell, Keighley, Perth x 2, York
Bedford, Coventry, Leeds, Plymouth x 2,
Birmingham x 2, Derby, Leicester, Portsmouth x 2,
Borehamwood, Dudley, Liverpool x 2, Slough,
Bournemouth, Durham, Milton Keynes, Snaresbrook,
Bromsgrove, Eastbourne, Newcastle x 2, South Croydon,
Camberley, Fleet, Northampton x 2, Southgate,
Cardiff x 2, Gatwick, Northholt, Stoke on Trent,
Travelodge has a long history of working with major pub companies, in addition to Mitchells and Butlers, the hotel chain has joint ventures (hotel next door to a pub) with Marstons and JD Weatherspoon.
About Travelodge:
The first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985, Travelodge now operates 452 hotels (30,504 rooms)- ten in Ireland, three in Spain and the rest in the UK. Travelodge plans to grow its estate to 70,000 rooms (approximately 1000 hotels) by 2020.
Over nine million people stayed with Travelodge last year and 87% of reservations are currently made online at travelodge.co.uk, where room rates start at £19 a night. The chain employs over 6,000 staff.