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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Coreena Ford

New Travelodge to open at North East business park to draw back corporate customers

Travelodge has announced plans to open a hotel at a North East business park in a bid to draw back companies away from remote working.

The national hotel firm is opening the 80-bed hotel at Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside, before the end of the year, alongside three other openings around the UK.

It said it wants to win back business customers with more face-to-face meetings and less working from home.

Read more: Find more North East business news here

The Travelodge is being developed on the site of former office accommodation in Silver Fox Way in a £3.6m project first announced in the region in spring.

Esh Construction has been carrying out the scheme on behalf of Union Property Development, remodelling a two-storey office with an extension into the hotel, which will include a cafe bar and reception.

The new Travelodge is being built at Cobalt Business Park (Esh Group)

The hotel chain said its four new hotels will be open in time for Christmas as bosses hope to cash in on families looking to travel during the festive season.

Two new sites have already opened in London, in Elephant and Castle and Manor House, with a further one in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey.

The openings means Travelodge will have opened 17 new hotels across the UK in 2021, creating 360 jobs with an investment of £175m, bringing it to a total of 595 locations across the UK, Ireland and Spain.

Bosses said the London hotels are the latest rollout of their more upmarket sites, known as "budget chic", where some rooms are bigger as they attempt to tap into the growing market for travellers looking for a bit more luxury.

Rival Premier Inn has also launched its own premium economy rooms, with both brands benefitting from the staycation boom during the pandemic.

Craig Bonnar, Travelodge chief executive, said: "This year we have opened new Travelodges across the length and breadth of the country and many of these new hotel openings have played a pivotal part in regeneration programmes across the UK.

"Adding a low cost hotel like Travelodge is an attractive choice as it draws visitors, creates jobs and helps to boost the local economy."

Travelodge is rebuilding the brand after pushing through a company voluntary arrangement last year to slash costs after being hit during the pandemic.

Landlords approved the deal that knocked around £144m off its rent bill.

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