Established in 1985, Travelodge is the second largest hotel brand in the UK with more than 610 hotels and 47,000 guest bedrooms, across the UK as well as in Ireland and Spain.
The company reported a 4.2% rise in first-half revenues to £491.3m this morning, with good leisure demand across London and outside the capital, while there are fewer corporate bookings, particularly in London.
Travelodge has opened three hotels so far this year across the UK and Spain.
Profits, measured by adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose slightly to £47.9m from £47.3m a year earlier.
Here’s our full story on the departure of the hotel chain’s boss:
Travelodge has set out the details of its security review, along with its latest financial results today. It claimed it had “acted quickly to make changes to improve safety and security across our operations”.
Most importantly, it has changed its room access security policy, so “any additional or replacement room key now requires explicit permission from the guest staying in the room, the company said.
An independent review led by Paul Greaney KC, a leading barrister specialising in public inquiries concerning security, serious violent crime, and health and safety, to examine its room access security policies and escalation procedures
A partnership with a leading Violence Against Women and Girls expert who are delivering a tailored programme of senior leadership training.
Ongoing working with UK Hospitality, participating in their guest security working group, helping to develop industry guidance, which aims to promote best practice across the hospitality sector
An internal review, which is ongoing, and making a number of changes as a result, including changes to room access security policy. Any additional or replacement room key now requires explicit permission from the guest staying in the room. This builds on our existing policy to never confirm to any third party that a guest is staying at one of our hotels
A new room access security policy, now live across all 600+ hotels, backed by training for 12,000 customer-facing staff and ongoing independent audit and mystery shopper programmes
Management consultancy AlixPartners have been brought in to assess, audit, build and reinforce the work underway
A completed deadbolt audit across all UK rooms, confirming all key-card doors have a secondary deadbolt
Ongoing proactive engagement with parliament, government, and UK Hospitality’s guest security working group.
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Travelodge boss resigns following criticism of handling of assaults
The boss of Travelodge has stepped down as the budget hotel chain scrambles to improve safety after two incidents where guests were assaulted at its hotels.
The firm said Joanna Boydell left on Monday after 13 years with the company and will be replaced by chief financial officer Ray Reidy on an interim basis while they hunt for a permanent successor.
Boydell was heavily criticised over her handling of an incident in 2022 and concerns over safety across the chain, prompting former prime minister Keir Starmer to step in and urge her to “seriously engage” with the government on the issue after she cancelled a meeting with MPs.
The hotel chain has come under fire for giving men the keys to women’s rooms without asking the woman first.
A guest at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given a key card to her room. Kyran Smith was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the attack in December 2022. The victim was later offered what she described as an “insulting” £30 refund after the assault.
This month, it emerged that there was another incident at a hotel in London.
Travelodge staff gave a room key to the domestic abuser of a woman, who then physically attacked her. The woman, who is remaining anonymous, told the BBC she was staying in a Travelodge in London to escape the man, but he followed her and was given a key by the reception staff.
They pointed him to her room, where she says he kicked in the door, assaulted her and tried to grab her phone. Travelodge has said such instances are “very rare” and customer safety is a priority.
Reidy said today:
We remain focused on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and will continue taking the actions necessary to strengthen the business.
We will also continue to engage proactively and constructively with government and the wider hospitality industry on the issue of safety and security.
Stephen Shurrock, the Travelodge chairman, said:
This announcement does not change anything about our focus on safety and security. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Jo for her dedication to Travelodge over the last 13 years.
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German factory fate inflation hits three-year high
In Germany, factory gate inflation hit a three-year high in July, adding to signs of fresh inflationary pressures in Europe’s largest economy.
Prices charged by manufacturers for their goods, ranging from food to cars and tools, climbed 3% year on year last month following June’s 1.8% rise, Germany’s statistics office said. Economists had expected an increase to 2.7%.
It was the biggest increase since April 2023. Producer prices feed into higher prices for consumers, and are seen as an early gauge of future inflation.
The price of intermediate goods jumped 5.4% while energy prices rose 3.8% year on year.
Compared with June, producer prices were up 1.1%.
Alexander Krüger, chief economist at the German private bank Bethmann HAL, told Reuters:
Conditions at the early stages of the inflationary surge have suddenly become uncomfortable. The war involving Iran is leaving its mark, as it the heat.
A series of heatwaves and lack of rain have led to record low water levels in the Rhine and Danube, reducing shipping and pushing up transport costs.
At the same time, new figures revealed that US debt had reached $40tn for the first time, the US treasury department said, after the government deficit doubled over the last decade.
The milestone marks years of government spending that grew under both Trump and Joe Biden. During his first term, Trump approved $8.4tn worth of debt, with a huge chunk going to Covid-19 relief spending, while Biden approved $4.3tn worth of debt, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Introduction: Rising UK consumer confidence gives Andy Burnham 'golden opportunity,' survey says
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the global economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
Consumer confidence has increased in the UK, giving new prime minister Andy Burnham a “golden opportunity”.
A survey conducted by Opinium for the British Retail Consortium showed consumer expectations for the next three months have improved.
The state of the economy improved to -28 in August, up from -36 in July.
Their personal financial situation improved to -9 in August, up from -12 in July.
Their personal spending on retail rose to +8 in August, up from +1 in July.
Their personal spending overall increased slightly to +15 in August, up from +13 in July.
Their personal saving fell slightly to -5 in August, from -4 in July.
Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, said:
Consumer sentiment continued to rise with confidence in the economy hitting its highest level since the historical lows reached at the start of the Iran conflict. Expectations for personal finances saw a small improvement, driven by an optimistic Gen Z. This same generation also reported a bump in spending plans, as the stifling summer heatwaves are expected to give way to more shopping-friendly temperatures in much of the country.
The Burnham administration is enjoying a honeymoon boost driven by less pessimism about the outlook, but maintaining that momentum will depend on whether the Government can ease the pressure on household budgets. Retailers compete fiercely to keep the cost of food and essentials down, yet mounting regulatory and tax burdens risk pushing prices higher. The Budget will be the acid test of this government’s real commitment to growth: if the government can reduce retail business costs, from energy bills to business rates, it will be ordinary households who feel the benefit. A Budget that backs retail and reduces costs is a pro-consumer Budget.
Crude oil is up slightly again this morning, after an uneasy ceasefire between the US and Iran expired on Monday, and Donald Trump said on Wednesday that there were no talks with Tehran. Brent crude has risen 0.27% to $91.87 a barrel.
The US president has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran’s economy, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” on any country that helps or does business with Tehran, a move that could set up a fresh confrontation with China if implemented.
The US dollar is trading at three-month lows after the Treasury Department moved to calm a bond market rout that pushed 30-year yields to their highest levels since 2007.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other major currencies, dipped 0.02% to 98.799, around its lowest level since mid-May. The euro is trading at $1.1679, its highest level since late May.
The yield, or interest rate, on the 30-year US government bond is at 5.189%, after it jumped to 5.337% at the start of the week, prompting US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent to step in with the announcement that debt repurchases will “at least” double.
And gold has retreated, dipping 0.6% to $4,493.49 an ounce after jumping 4% on Wednesday to the highest in more than two months.
Asian stock markets are mostly up. Japan’s Nikkei gained nearly 1.3%, South Korea’s Kospi rebounded by 5.9% after Wednesday’s chip sell-off and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.3%. The mainland Chinese exchanges were flat.
The Agenda
11am BST: UK CBI Industrial trends for July
1.30pm BST: US Initial jobless claims for week to 15 August
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