03 Travelodge and its role in the purpose agenda

Overview

Travelodge launched in 1985, opening its first hotel at Barton-under-Needwood in England and becoming Britain’s first budget hotel brand, catering to both leisure and business guests.

Since then, the private equity owned business has gone from strength to strength and is now the UK’s largest independent hotel brand.

Travelodge focuses on four strategic pillars to deliver its vision of a Better Travelodge – customers, colleagues, future and investors.

With around 600 hotels and 44,500 guest bedrooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain, Travelodge can be found in major city centres, towns, seaside locations and roadside stops.

It continues to expand, with new hotels planned and further locations identified for the coming years.

Travelodge seeks to be a responsible business in all they do, placing a strong emphasis on safety and security, the environment and social responsibilities, and earlier this year launched their sustainability plan, Better Future. Better Future is made up of 3 pillars - Inclusive, Caring & Conscious, and sets out clear KPIs & goals to achieve by the end of 2025.

There are on average 11,000 Travelodge colleagues in full and part time roles, mostly permanent, with some seasonal roles, including front-line guest services, maintenance, and head office roles. Around 73 per cent of colleagues are female.

Travelodge has been impacted by a national labour shortage, particularly in London, by Brexit and by less interest from an increasingly well-educated younger generation.

That said, the company is taking steps to retain its colleagues and enable them to earn more for doing more, and to attract new people and encourage them to build their skills and careers in the way they want to.

It is aware that to do this it needs to provide decent work, hours to suit different lifestyles, and different life stages giving certainty of hours, more choice and fair pay. The varied mix of roles caters for those who want a career in hospitality, or want to fit work around other commitments, such as parenting or study, as well as people looking for a second career later in life.

Its people commitment states, Travelodge is ‘committed to creating an inclusive workplace, providing decent work with opportunities to learn more and earn more, where everyone can be their true self and belong.’ Put simply, ‘learn more, earn more and belong’.

Learn More

New colleagues undergo an induction programme to support them in their role and further training is available for all to progress and advance their careers.

As well as in person training, Travelodge is keen to continue to include digital training and learning, ensuring it is always easily accessible

The hotel group has a number of colleagues working towards apprenticeship and management qualifications, or developing through professional qualifications and on the job training.

Earn more

The business has a strong record of developing a diverse team of people, raising their average incomes and improving their career prospects. Around 75 per cent of supervisors and hotel management positions are filled by internal promotions.

Travelodge’s management development programme, ‘Aspire’ is central to its approach, helping candidates to secure externally recognised qualifications and practical management skills.

Belong

Travelodge recognises the benefits of having a diverse workforce with different backgrounds and experiences, solely employed on ability.

It supports this belief with clear policies on equality and diversity and a track record of strong representation at all levels from people of all backgrounds.

The company monitors the diversity of job applicants and the composition of the existing workforce to support a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion.

And it remains committed to evolving its approach to ensure it is embedded as a way of life across the organisation. To ensure everyone can be their true self and belong, the business recognises that it needs to fit around its people.

The physical, emotional, financial and work wellbeing of its colleagues is important to Travelodge, and in 2021 they launched their wellbeing platform “Better Me”.

Pay for Productivity

A number of pay for productivity initiatives exist, some of which were launched in 2022. The schemes give hourly paid colleagues the opportunity to earn more for doing more, therefore increasing their overall earning potential.