New construction method to save Travelodge millions

Travelodge expects to save up to £10m a year on hotel development after developing a construction method using shipping containers.

The budget hotel group will use 86 modified ship containers stacked on top of each other and securely bolted together, to create a recyclable building in Uxbridge town centre that will appear exactly the same as its other 330 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain.

It predicts this strategy of building hotels will enable the chain to cut 10% from the cost of each build, and improve construction speed by 25%.

The average cost to build a 100-bed hotel traditionally runs at approximately £5m. The new method is predicted to reduce costs by 10% to £4.5m.

As the chain plans to build around 40 hotels a year until 2020, with up to 50% of estate built using this technology, the saving could be £10m a year.

Paul Harvey, Travelodge's director of property & development, said: "We see this method of construction as a viable way for us to achieve our ambitious growth targets and believe that almost half of our new hotels over the next 12 years could be built in this way."

The Uxbridge Travelodge is due to open in June and will start at £19 per room, per night, in line with other Travelodge hotels.

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By Gemma Sharkey

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