Thame Out The complimentary magazine for the Thame area
Work for a big brand without the big commute
Travelodge is one of Thame’s largest employers. So you don’t have to go far for your career to go far.
You’d expect that as one of the leading brands in hospitality with another 20 hotels due to open by the end of the year, Travelodge’s head office would be in London, not Thame! By investing in quality and choice for their guests while staying true to their low-cost roots, Travelodge’s sales rose 8.8% to £693.3m in 2018 and they’re well on their way to becoming the UK’s favourite hotel for value.
Further investment in 2018 has seen the Support Office revamped to mirror the hotels they support. Their comfy communal space has been renovated to match the new Bar Café featured in many of their hotels, as well as artwork from key locations including Edinburgh, Barcelona, and Liverpool.
Travelodge believe in rewarding people for their hard work, so now they have arranged for on-site access to a variety of services such as beauty treatments, dry cleaning and exercise classes. Hannah, the People Director, says “We know and appreciate that people work hard and it can be difficult to fit everything in. By providing some services at the office, it’s our way of saying thank you and supporting local businesses in the process.”
In addition to their extra services, employees also receive some brilliant benefits, such as 50% off Travelodge stays and money off for friends and family, as well as hundreds of discounts at high street retailers. There’s lots of opportunity for career progression, with the option to work across different departments and all the Travelodge vacancies are advertised internally first. From monthly office Huddles where they discuss business performance and any social news, to ‘Learn@Lunch’ sessions led by experts within Travelodge, there’s plenty of opportunity to explore different areas of the business and how each team supports the company’s strategic aims.
Despite being a 24/7 business, they still make time for exciting social events. On their annual charity day in August, Travelodge employees, their friends and family (and dogs!) get together to raise money for their chosen charity, the British Heart Foundation. The amazing employees at Travelodge, both at the office and in the hotels, raised over £68,000 in 2018! Emily says “It’s a great day. Lovely to get everyone together for a good cause… Seeing our CEO in goal for the penalty shootout was brilliant. The kids love it and we were over the moon that our Australian Cattle dog, Pippa, won the dog show. We’ll be defending our title this year!” The Travelodge annual conference is another exciting date in the diary; where Support Office employees and Hotel Managers from around the country come together to discuss strategy and business news, and celebrate the year with an awards ceremony and dinner.
Hear from some of the Travelodge Support Office team below about what they think makes Travelodge a great place to work.
Paula, the Learning and Development Manager at Travelodge Support Office, works part time to balance her work and family life.
When coming back to work, why did you choose Travelodge?
“I joined Travelodge because the role was three days a week, and I could start after my maternity leave. I wanted to work part time because I needed to be me, not just mum – I love spending time with my daughter, but I love work as well, so it’s a really nice balance. I’ve never worked anywhere so working-mum-friendly! One of the best things about my job is the variety. I attend lots of meetings and work on training design, strategy and delivery. At Travelodge, you’re free to share your thoughts and ideas, and people will listen and look to implement them.”
Having first worked with Travelodge as a contractor, Tim later joined Travelodge in a permanent role as their IT Delivery Director.
What really surprised you about Travelodge?
“The levels of commitment and passion people have here, you don’t always see that so consistently in other organisations. We have great people at Travelodge so it’s a very personable and friendly place to work. The recent refresh of the office did a fantastic job in making it a much nicer place to be and more conducive to our open style of collaboration.”
What do you love most about your role?
“In IT, we have a challenging and exciting strategic road map, with a clear vision, and it’s great that the people we need to engage with are here in the building. We have strong experts working across our departments who are clear about what they want to deliver, analysis of changes and potential business benefits.”
Charley joined Travelodge a year after finishing her A Levels at Lord Williams’s School, starting in Customer Services before joining the Recruitment Team.
Why did you want to join Travelodge?
“A friend working at Travelodge recommended it to me, so I applied for an entry level role in Customer Services.Then, I saw a post on our internal community about a Recruitment Advisor vacancy, so I applied – it’s important to take all the opportunities here as there’s so much room for career progression.”
Best bit of advice?
“It doesn’t matter if you haven’t worked in hospitality before. I’ve been able to learn about and understand the brand with support from my manager and colleagues. Having time with your line manager means there’s always a chance to chat about what’s next for you and how they can help you with that.”
In hospitality today, the budget sector is the best place to be, and with Travelodge being the first budget hotel chain in the UK, there’s no better brand to be part of. If you’re interested in working for a well known national brand in a fast-paced local support office, head over to www.travelodge.co.uk/careers to see their current opportunities and sign up for job alerts.
You can read more articles like this one in the latest edition of Thame Out.
