He acknowledged “increased cost pressures” from the National Living Wage as well as business rates but thought the company would benefit from attracting business customers who wish to reduce their travel costs as well as people opting for so-called staycations in the UK because the pound’s fall has made travelling to some foreign destinations more expensive.
In March, Travelodge announced its largest ever hotel would form part of its next wave of expansion in yet another sign the low-cost player is putting its high-profile restructuring behind it.
Construction has started on the 395-room flagship hotel on London’s Middlesex Street, close to the iconic Gherkin, which will open in 2018.
The company’s huge debt pile led to a restructure in 2012 that saw turnaround specialists GoldenTree Asset Management, Avenue Capital and Goldman Sachs take control of the company from Dubai International Capital in a debt-for-equity swap.
The trio ploughed £75m into the company and in 2013, former Hilton deputy chief executive Brian Wallace was installed as chairman while Mr Gowers, who had previously held senior roles at Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels, joined as chief executive later that year to help spearhead the turnaround.
