Travelodge to ramp up expansion plans after profit boost

The budget chain, which is under­going a £100 million modernisation, said earnings rose 19 per cent to £90.1 million in the six months to the end of July compared with a year earlier.

During the period, it opened five hotels, bringing the ­estate up to 519 hotels, or 38,665 rooms, in the UK, Spain and ­Ireland.

The business said it would speed up its development programme, adding 45 hotels, or over 3,600 rooms, over the next 24 months.

Chief executive Peter Gowers said: “Our development ­momentum is beginning to accelerate. We have already exchanged contracts for more new rooms in the first half of 2015 than we did in the whole of 2014.

“Boosted by our strong trading and the attractions of the value segment, major developers and financial institutions are showing their confidence in the future of new Travelodge.”