Operator of over 550 budget hotels, Travelodge is writing to 210 Local Authorities across Britain in search of new partners for its pioneering local regeneration scheme.
The letter outlines the pivotal role that Travelodge is currently playing supporting Local Authorities, to help support local regeneration, create jobs and boost the local economy – and how it can do the same for many other local communities around the UK.
During the last three years, Travelodge has completed seven Local Authority development partnership deals. This includes the opening of a new Travelodge hotel in the following locations: Aylesbury, Bicester, Dudley, Eastleigh, Redhill (scheduled to open end of 2017), Telford (Opening 2018) and Thetford.
These bespoke agreements have had unique funding structures, all of which have enabled Local Authorities to utilise their existing assets, create jobs, generate income, and help to regenerate land in strategically important locations.
Hotels in the programme are built on surplus local authority land, with the funding provided either through the Local Authority’s internal resource or via low-cost funding from the Public Works Loan Board or third party resources.
Upon completion of the hotel development, local authorities have the choice of either retaining ownership of the hotel and receiving an annual rent into the Council’s revenue budget or selling the hotel with Travelodge as its operator.
Travelodge has a growth strategy in place to grow its business with over 200 hotels over the next ten years and working in partnership with Local Authorities is a key route to help deliver this programme.
The hotel chain’s latest opening - Dudley Town Centre Travelodge was funded via an innovative structure involving Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Hinton Group, Aviva Investments and Travelodge. The 78-room hotel with Bar Café and on-site car parking is situated on Discovery Way - on land owned by the local council. The hotel is situated adjacent to the Black Country Living Museum, where the BBC drama series, Peaky Blinders is filmed and close to Dudley Zoo. (See notes to editors for further information on the deal)
Peter Gowers, Travelodge Chief Executive, (pictured) said, “More and more local authorities are under pressure to find ways to help regenerate their historic town centres and local communities. Adding a low-cost hotel like Travelodge is an increasingly attractive choice, as it draws visitors, creates jobs and helps boost the local economy.”
“Our customers are travelling more frequently and we are opening new hotels to ensure we are in locations where they want to be. We are delighted to be working together with forward-thinking local authorities like Dudley Council to help support their regeneration programme with the opening of a new Travelodge. We are looking for more sites to drive our expansion programme and today we are writing to more than 200 other local authorities, to invite them to consider how Travelodge can act as a catalyst to drive their local development agenda.”
Councillor Ian Kettle, Cabinet Member for Regeneration at Dudley Council, said, “The new Travelodge on Discovery Way is a further asset to the tourism hub which includes the Living Museum, Canal Trust, Dudley Archives and new Dudley Museum. Working with Travelodge, we’ve not only been able to provide accommodation for the thousands of visitors to our borough, but the development has allowed us to ensure a source of income for the council which can be invested in vital council services for future generations.”