Travelodge is linking up with pub companies to develop 36 new hotels in a £100 million expansion in the UK.
The budget chain expects to create 550 jobs with the properties. It has partnerships on 15 developments and is working with brewers and pub chains Greene King, JW Lees, Marston’s, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) and JD Wetherspoon to develop others.
A Travelodge spokesman said: “The hotel brand can capitalise upon the opportunities that the renewed development activity of the pub companies provides.”
The chain has exchanged on two properties with pub companies in the past six months, with a 53-room hotel in Kidderminster funded by Marstons and a 62-room property in Glossop alongside a JD Wetherspoon pub.
Travelodge development managing director Paul Harvey said: “The pub companies have noticeably stepped up their development plans over recent months and in many parts of the country their target locations correspond with ours. We have been contacted by all the major players in the market and are now seeking out sites with them.
“A combined hotel/pub development is attractive to banks and funders, making the development process a lot quicker than it otherwise may be.”
British Beer & Pub Association chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: “While pubs have faced tough times in recent years, this is a great example of how they are fighting back.”