Travelodge reveals £100m Scottish portfolio expansion

Budget hotel chain Travelodge has announced plans for a £100 million expansion of its Scottish business.

The initiative sees Travelodge aiming to add about 30 hotels to its portfolio north of the border, creating more than 500 jobs in the process.

The business currently has 40 hotels and employs about 700 people in Scotland.

Speaking during a visit to Edinburgh to mark the group’s 30th anniversary, chairman Brian Wallace revealed Glasgow as a key area for the expansion drive, with five new sites being targeted in the city.

Other locations earmarked include Ardrossan, Aviemore, Greenock, Inverness, Oban and Pitlochry.

The Fife golfing hub of St Andrews was also highlighted by Mr Wallace. He said: “We have wanted to be there for a long time but just haven’t been able to find the right site yet.”

Wallace said the chain, which saw underlying profits jump 63.5 per cent to £66.2m last year, has enjoyed particularly strong growth in the corporate market, which in the past would have tended to book more upmarket locations for workers.

He added: “We have seen a fourfold increase in the number of business travellers using our hotels, with the likes of some of the big accountancy practices now regular customers. Our performance in recent years and the investment we have made in our hotels means we are very positive about the future.”

Travelodge opened its first Scottish hotel at the M80 services near Stirling in 1985. The group, which almost collapsed under a debt mountain three years ago, is reportedly being lined up for a sale that could value it at more than £1 billion.