NEWS COPY
It started with a single customer paying £19.50 for a room and now - 110 million visits, 25 million breakfasts and 220,000 abandoned books later - Travelodge is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Guests have enjoyed an estimated 880 million hours of sleep, 50 million sausages and 10,950 sunrises and sunsets since Britain's first budget hotel opened - the 'Burton A38 (Northbound) Travelodge' in 1985.
They've left behind a weird and wonderful array of items, including the deeds to a £2million house, the keys to a Maserati, the original wand used by Harry Potter in the hit films, a life-size Dalek and a full-scale Santa's grotto - complete with tree and reindeer.
In addition, customers have also had staff scratching their heads with bizarre queries and requests, such as:
* "How many beans are included in my breakfast?"
* "Can I practice my presentation in mandarin to you?"
* "Can my boss be dropped off by helicopter in your hotel car park?"
* "Can I borrow your suit as I have a job interview in the morning?"
* "Can you do my son's maths homework?" and
* "Do you have any rooms I can clean? I like to clean."
Starting with a team of just 10 in 1985, the company is now the UK's largest independent hotel chain with more than 10,000 employees, 521 hotels across England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Spain. It's also the biggest hotel brand in London and Edinburgh.
It recently underwent the biggest makeover in its history - a £100m modernisation programme including upgraded rooms designed by customers.
All 38,000 beds have been replaced with a upgraded luxurious king size beds and 'truckle' beds have been introduced for children. Laid end-to-end, all the beds would stretch 46 miles.
Chief Executive Peter Gowers said: "This year we celebrate our 30th anniversary. It's a great time to celebrate the terrific work that has been done over the last three decades and to look forward to the years ahead.
"Today, Travelodge is an iconic British brand, famous for offering unbeatable value and making travel affordable for everyone. The company's success has only been possible due to the great team work that takes place every day across the business.
"As we look to the next 30 years, the future looks very bright. We are making really great progress on our journey to make Travelodge the favourite hotel for value. We will continue to grow our business, develop our people, open hundreds of hotels in great locations and create thousands of jobs across Britain and beyond."
Some features have remained the same - like irrepressible receptionists, Joan Cable, 79, and Judy Harper, 68 who have been welcoming customers at the first Travelodge hotel located in Burton, Staffs, on the A38 northbound, since it opened its doors in June 1985.
Grandmother-of-two Joan still works four eight-hour shifts a week and has had only ONE day sick off in 30 years due to a tummy bug in 2013, and has "no plans to retire any time soon.
She said: "I love my job today as much as I did 30 years ago. There have been a lot of changes over the last three decades but the one thing that has stayed the same is, making customers feel welcome remains at the heart of our business. It's one of the best parts of my job.
"I love meeting people from all walks of life. Today we have lots of business people staying in our hotel during the week and families at the weekend.
"I have no plans to retire, I love interacting with a range of people and helping to make a difference to their day, so there is no way I would give it up."
Judy Harper, who has five grandchildren, said: "I cannot believe how much Travelodge has grown in the last 30 years. I never imagined that the company would be as big as it is today."
"Travelodge has definitely changed for the better but has stayed true to offering good value."
"Over the last 30 years I have helped lots of colleagues climb the career ladder into a management position but I have never wanted a promotion, as I love being at the front end and helping customers. It's what I love most about my job."
1 hotel in 1985 (Burton A48 Northbound)
5 UK Prime Ministers since Travelodge started operating
10 Eclipses of the moon that have taken place since the company has been operating
15 Hotels to open in 2015 (the company opened just seven hotels in between 1985 and 1986)
18 Rooms at London Southgate Travelodge, the company's smallest hotel
£19.50 Starting price in pounds for a room in 1985
£29 Starting price in pounds for a room in 2015
30 Number of years operating
46 Miles that all 38,000 Travelodge beds would stretch if laid out end to end
50 Of the top 100 FTSE companies use Travelodge for their business stays
60 The number of times that the clocks have gone back and forward since 1985
62 Hotels in London, making it the capital's biggest hotel company (the first opened at Heathrow Heston in 1987 and the first Central London hotels opened at Battersea in 1997).
70 Per cent of rooms which sold for less than £50 last year
85 Per cent of rooms booked online at www.travelodge.co.uk (just 25 per cent when the website launched in 2001).
89 Hotels in UK city centre locations (the first city centre Travelodge opened in 1997 in Birmingham Broad Street)
120 Hotels in 1995 when the company celebrated its 10th anniversary
125 Rooms modernised in 2014's £100m modernisation programme
252 Hotels in 2005, the company's 20th anniversary
267 Employees having their 30th birthday in 2015
457 Rooms at London Covent Garden, the company's biggest hotel
504 Number of hotels in the UK
521 Number of hotels in the UK, Ireland and Spain
750 Number of hotels that will be open by 2023
1989 Year Travelodge saw its 1,000,000th stay
1996 Year Travelodge saw its 10,000,000th stay
2,000 New jobs Travelodge will create through 250 new hotel openings in the next eight years
2014 Year Travelodge saw its 100 ,000,000th stay
4,000 Number of long term unemployed people who have joined Travelodge, through the company's partnership with Job Centre Plus
8,900 Average UK salary in 1985 (today it is £26,500)
10,000 Employees
10,950 Sunrises and sunsets staff have experienced since 1985
24,364 People who follow Travelodge on Twitter
38,000 Travelodge Dreamer beds installed into all rooms in 2014
65,000 Tins of paint used modernising hotels during modernisation programme in 2013 and 2014
220,000 Books left behind in hotels over 30 years
500,000 Number of people that have checked into the company's first hotel, Burton A38 Northbound since it opened in 1985
1 million Man hours that have gone into the company's £100m modernisation programme
8 million Evening meals served in Travelodge Bar Cafes
25 million Breakfasts served
35 million Business customer stays
50 million Sausages eaten
£100m invested in modernising hotels to create a new brand
110 million Stays, based on room stock and occupancy
110 million Beds made by guest room cleaners over 30 years
500 million Visits made to www.travelodge.co.uk
880 million Hours of sleep experienced in total by customers over 30 years, based on an average of eight hours sleep per night
Ten of the Most Bizarre Items Left Behind
1. A life size Dalek (Newcastle Central)
2. A script for a well-known TV soap opera (Manchester Central Arena)
3. A Vera Wang Wedding Dress (Torquay)
4. A first edition of Watership Down (York Micklegate)
5. Deeds to a £2 million house (Guildford)
6. Car keys to a Maserati (London City Airport)
7. The original Harry Potter Elder wand which was used in the popular Harry Potter films (Scunthorpe)
8. Two tickets to the Olympics for what later became known as 'Super Saturday' (Liverpool Stratford)
9. A large Santa's grotto complete with decorations, lights, a model reindeer, Christmas tree, a Father Christmas outfit and the remains of a full Christmas dinner (Nuneaton)
10. An exclusive range of new yoghurt flavours from a test team from a well-known supermarket. The flavours were not in production (London Marylebone)
Ten of the most bizarre customer requests
1. How many stars are in the sky tonight?
2. Can I cross the runway to catch my plane?
3. Can you call Windsor Castle and find out if the Queen is in?
4. Can you give me instructions on how to use the taps in the bathroom?
5. Can I borrow your suit as I have a big job interview and I have left my suit at home?
6. Can I practice my board presentation in Mandarin to the hotel team?
7. Can you do my son's maths homework?
8. Do you have any rooms that I can clean? I like to clean
9. Can you please take minutes during a conference call I have with my US team at midnight?
10. Can you get our kids up so we can have a lie in?
Top Ten Most Left-behind Books
1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
2. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James
3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
6. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
8. Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
9. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
10. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
ENDS
