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Travelodge creates 206 new jobs despite continued losses
Travelodge has announced it is recruiting for 206 new jobs despite making a pre-tax loss of £56.8m in 2013.
The budget hotel chain has created 126 jobs through the opening of six new hotels in Southampton, Llandudno, Raynes Park, Wembley, Greenwich and Egham.
It is also looking to recruit 40 apprentices across the country for its junior management programme (JuMP).
The remaining 40 jobs are for positions at Travelodge’s head office in Thame, Oxfordshire.
A spokesman for Travelodge said that at an operating level, excluding exceptional costs and interest charges on debt, the company made a profit of £5.6m in 2013, a turnaround from a £4.9m operating loss previously.
"We are pleased to have returned to an operating profit and are strongly outperforming the market this year," the spokesman said. "We also continue to make good progress on the restructuring."
Two years ago, Goldman Sachs, plus the US hedge funds GoldenTree Asset Management and Avenue Capital Group, seized control of Travelodge from Dubai International Capital through a debt-for-equity swap.
Despite the pre-tax losses, the accounts show that Travelodge had total debts of £484.5m at the end of December 2013 compared to more than £1bn prior to the debt-for-equity swap, reports the Telegraph.
Following the change in ownership, the group, which still has 500 hotels and 38,000 rooms across the UK, has undergone a £57m refurbishment programme to breathe new life into the brand.
The budget hotel chain launched a £25m advertising campaign, its first television campaign for four years, as part of its recovery, while it expects to open a total of 15 new properties this year.
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