Travelodge officially opened its seventh hotel in Liverpool city centre on Friday 10th May. The 125-room property which is located at the junction of Tithebarn Street and Exchange Street, represents an £8 million investment and has created 30 new jobs within the community.Liverpool Exchange Street Travelodge has been built in the former offices of Sun Alliance insurance. It is the Company’s 16th grade II listed hotel within the estate and offers rooms from £21.
Travelodge’s 524th hotel was officially opened by Liverpool Assistant Mayor Councillor Roz Gladden and Travelodge’s Operations Director for the North, Tyrone Pope. To mark this special opening Travelodge commissioned world renowned Liverpool’ artist, Keith Smith to create a bespoke piece of art titled “Liverpool Rising’ to celebrate the city growth during one of the hardest recession’s the UK has experienced since the Second World War.
The 12ft long artwork is Keith Smith’s biggest commission to date and the city’s most up to date skyline portrait. It showcases the historic ‘Three Graces’ alongside the new architecture that has been erected in Liverpool’s skyline during the recession. The painting will be on permanent display in Liverpool Central Exchange Street Hotel for all guests to enjoy.
Keith Smith recently sold his painting of Liverpool Institute to Mike McCartney who purchased the artwork for his famous brother Paul McCartney. Today this painting hangs in Paul McCartney’s private art gallery alongside a Magritte.
Tyrone Pope, Travelodge Regional Director for the North said: “We are delighted to be opening our seventh hotel in the heart of Liverpool city centre. Today’s opening underpins our commitment to strengthen our presence in the UK’s top tourism city. During one of the hardest recession’s our country has faced, we have opened five hotels in Liverpool and tripled our room stock from 136 to 522 rooms. In total this represents an investment of £23 million and a creation of 100 new jobs.
“This investment supports the city’s great achievement of being the UK’s top destination for achieving the highest level of tourism growth during the recession. As key findings in our recent tourism study revealed Liverpool enjoyed a 23% rise in domestic visitors during the recession. In comparison, London only achieved a 4% growth increase. Therefore to celebrate this accolade alongside our seventh hotel opening in Liverpool, we thought it was quite fitting to commission Keith Smith, a world famous Liverpool artist to create a bespoke piece of artwork which highlights Liverpool’s rise during the recession.
“It looks like this growth is set to continue as our Liverpool Exchange Street Travelodge hotel has got off to a flying start, we are enjoying high occupancy levels and business on the books is looking great for the forth coming Bank Holiday and summer period.”
Liverpool Exchange Street Travelodge is being managed by Annie Macintyre who has been working with Travelodge for six years. Annie started her career as a receptionist at Chester Northrop Hall and was instantly recognised as rising star and was placed on the company’s Management Development Programme. Over the past six years, Annie has worked in a number of Travelodge hotels across Merseyside.
Annie had over 500 people apply for a position to join her new team at Liverpool Exchange Street Travelodge. The team of 30 staff members were all recruited via the Job Centre Plus Scheme – which helps the long term unemployed back into work. As part of their induction training staff members undertook a comprehensive four week training programme at a nearby Travelodge hotel. They also attended a sleep seminar to ensure they are fully equipped to ensure their customers get a good night’s sleep.
