Travelodge appoints Claire Good as chief operating officer

Budget hotel chain Travelodge has announced the appointment of Claire Good as its new chief operating officer.

Good has held the role on an interim basis since January. The role was previously held by Craig Bonnar, who was appointed chief executive of the group last month, having originally taken the post on a temporary basis following the departure of Peter Gowers at the end of last year. Good will continue to report directly to Bonnar.

She joined Travelodge in 2016 as head of central operations, later moving to the role of director of central operations. Prior to joining the group, she led a number of customer and commercial transformation programmes at Heathrow Airport Holdings, including being part of the leadership team opening the new Terminal 2 in June 2014. Before that she took on multiple large-scale programmes of work for the mobile operator Everything Everywhere, including as customer experience director for Orange.

Bonnar said: "I am delighted to confirm the appointment of Claire as our permanent chief operating officer. Claire has a wealth of operational experience across many customer-facing businesses and I have had the pleasure of working closely with her at Travelodge over the last few years. During this time, I have been deeply impressed by her leadership skills, industry knowledge and extensive customer experience, which has had a strong positive impact on our operations function, helping maximise efficiency and productivity.

"Over the past year in particular, Claire has played an instrumental role in the group's Covid response, and with her strong skillset and passion for hospitality, she is the ideal choice to continue leading our operations and support us in our ongoing transformation as we emerge from the pandemic."

Good added: "I feel hugely proud and privileged to be appointed Travelodge's chief operating officer, especially as the first woman to take up this role, at this exciting and important time for the business. Travelodge is a fantastic brand and during my five years here, I have seen the business transform at a remarkable pace, showing incredible resilience, in particular over the last year; a time which has challenged the whole industry.

"Looking ahead, I am excited to build on the brand's strong foundation and continue working with the leadership team and our brilliant colleagues as we look ahead to the next phase of our growth."

Travelodge operates more than 590 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain. Last year, suffering the impacts of Covid restrictions, the group underwent a CVA that introduced proposed rent reductions, but with a break clause allowing landlords to terminate leases and re-let hotels. Although most landlords stuck with the brand, nine moved to Ago Hotels and Whitbread picked up two.