Monday, May 10, 2010

Travelodge Names Guy Parsons As New CEO, Hearn Chairman

LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. budget hotel chain Travelodge Monday named Guy Parsons as its new chief executive officer, replacing Grant Hearn, who steps up to the role of executive chairman.

Parsons will run Travelodge on a day-to-day basis while Hearn will focus on the company's growth opportunities, it said. Travelodge is planning to add 40,000 rooms to its portfolio over the next two decades.

Travelodge operates 28,000 rooms in 390 hotels. It is mainly based in the U.K. but also operates ten hotels in Ireland and three in Spain.

Parsons has served as Travelodge's U.K. managing director since joining from restaurant chain TGI Friday's in 2004. He previously worked at hotel groups Whitbread PLC (WTB.LN) and Accor S.A. (AC.FR).

Hearn has been chief executive since 2003. He replaces Keith Hamill, who moves from non-executive chairman to deputy chairman.

The changes will take effect July 1.

Travelodge also named Jon Hendry-Pickup as its operations director. He joins from Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN), where he was operations director for Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Travelodge is owned by private equity group Dubai International Capital.

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