Travelodge commits to helping long-term jobseekers

Travelodge today signed an agreement with the Government committing to guaranteed job interviews for long-term unemployed registered at JobCentre Plus.

Following a pilot scheme in London, where 25% of staff at the new £60m Travelodge hotel in City Road were candidates that had been unemployed for over two years due to lack of opportunities, the budget hotel chain has agreed to expand the initiative.

Under the terms of the agreement, Travelodge will encourage managers across its 321 hotels to form "Local Employment Partnerships" with JobCentre Plus offices as part of the Government's target to offer 250,000 extra job opportunities by 2010.

Travelodge will create 750 new jobs by opening 20 new hotels in London in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Chief executive Grant Hearn said: "We create a vacancy for a hotel manager every eight working days due to our major hotel openings programme. In response to such significant growth we have to be innovative in how we recruit and draw on the hidden talent in our local communities.

"Travelodge wants to make hotels available to everyone and that means careers as well as customers. Our partnership with the Government allows us to meet our long-term skills needs while supporting their vision of full UK employment," he added.

As a member of Mayor Ken Livingston's London Skills and Employment Board, Hearn has been asked to champion the skills agenda for the hospitality industry.

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By Daniel Thomas

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