TRAVELODGE TARGETS TWELVE LOCAL AUTHORITIES ACROSS WALES TO HELP REGENERATE COMMUNITIES AND UNLOCK DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

HOTEL GROUP INVITES TWELVE WELSH LOCAL AUTHORITIES ON ITS TARGET
DEVELOPMENT LOCATION LIST TO SEEK FURTHER PARTNERSHIPS

Today, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain, which operates
over 550 hotels in the UK, is writing to twelve Local Authorities
across Wales 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 across Wales.

The Welsh local authorities who are receiving the letter include:
Gwynnedd Council; Bridgend Council; City of Cardiff Council; Vale of
Glamorgan Council; Monmouthshire Council; Neath Council; Port Talbot
Council; Rhondda Cyon Taf Council; Newport Council; Torafaen Council;
Pembrokeshire Council; Wrexham Council. Travelodge currently operates
14 hotels across Wales.

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 Caf 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 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.”