Travelodge CEO resigns in security scandal after woman sexually assaulted when staff handed keys to attacker

The chief executive of Travelodge has stepped down as the group continues a review of its security rules following a sexual assault at one of the chain’s hotels.

Jo Boydell leaves after 13 years with the group and will be replaced by chief financial officer Ray Reidy on an interim basis while they hunt for a permanent successor.

Ms Boydell was heavily criticised for how she handled the incident and concerns over safety across the chain.

Former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stepped in to urge her to "seriously engage" with the Government on the issue after she cancelled a meeting with MPs.

The hotel chain caused uproar after a guest at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given a key card to her room.

Kyran Smith was jailed in February for seven-and-a-half years following the attack in December 2022.

Travelodge said it had "acted quickly" to improve safety procedures following the assault and as claims emerged that staff were giving out duplicate keys without the proper security checks.

The group said an independent review by Paul Greaney KC had been carried out, and an internal review is ongoing, with changes being rolled out, including new room access security that is live across more than 600 of its hotels and extra training for its 12,000 customer-facing staff.

The group said a guest must now give explicit permission for an extra or replacement room key to be given out and that it will never confirm to a third party if a guest is staying at one of its hotels.

The firm also said it had taken action to check and confirm that all key-card doors have a secondary deadbolt.

Travelodge bosses are also undertaking a training programme put together by an expert in tackling violence against women and girls.

The group said: "The safety and security of customers in our hotels is extremely important and we want everyone to be safe, and feel safe, in our hotels. We have acted quickly to make changes to improve safety and security across our operations."

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Mr Reidy said: "We remain focused on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and will continue taking the actions necessary to strengthen the business.

"We will also continue to engage proactively and constructively with Government and the wider hospitality industry on the issue of safety and security."

Freddie van Mierlo, Liberal Democrat MP for Thame, Oxfordshire, where the chain’s head office is based, said the changes have not gone far enough.

Speaking prior to Ms Boydell's resignation, he told the BBC the company get to grips with the most basic of responsibilities”, adding it needs to make “wholesale deep changes” to how it operates.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions on March 18, Labour's Matt Bishop raised the issue after Ms Boydell cancelled a meeting with MPs.

The MP for Forest of Dean, said: "The CEO of Travelodge has today, again, refused to attend a meeting with wider members of this House and the other place to answer serious concerns about guest safety and safeguarding.

"Will the Prime Minister meet with me and invite the CEO of Travelodge to discuss the issue, and will he join me in urging the CEO to explain directly to all parliamentarians why she is unwilling to face scrutiny on such an important matter?"

Then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer: "Our thoughts are obviously with the victim. I was very concerned to hear that the CEO of Travelodge cancelled the meeting with MPs, and I would urge them to reconsider.

"That meeting needs to go ahead with relevant MPs and with the relevant minister, and the sooner it goes ahead, the better."

Ms Boydell was appointed chief executive in May 2022 and was the chief financial officer from March 2013.

Her departure comes as the Travelodge group reported underlying earnings edging up to £47.9million for the six months to June 30 from £47.3million a year earlier.

Turnover lifted four per cent to £491.3million, but it said profit growth was held back by "significant cost pressures", including a rising staff wage bill.