Latest news with #Travelodge
Hospitality Net
14 hours ago
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Travelodge to Open New Hotel as Part of Watford Riverwell Regeneration Scheme
Travelodge, the UK's first budget hotel brand, which operates over 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain, has exchanged contracts to develop a new 131-bedroom hotel in Watford. This latest addition will be the group's second hotel in the town and forms part of Watford Riverwell, a major, £500 million regeneration scheme (set up in 2013) being delivered through a joint venture between Kier Property and Watford Borough Council. The 70-acre development in West Watford is the largest regeneration project in the area, transforming former industrial land into a vibrant new district featuring residential, commercial, retail, leisure and healthcare facilities. Travelodge will play a key role in delivering new infrastructure to support the town's future growth, while also boosting local employment and economic activity. The hotel chain has entered a 30-year lease with Kier Property to operate the hotel once it is developed. The group's second hotel in Watford is in a prime location for both business and leisure travellers, located very close to Watford General Hospital and Vicarage Road Stadium, home of Watford Football Club and a host venue for a variety of events. Other nearby attractions include the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios and Wembley Stadium, just a short train journey away. The hotel benefits from excellent transport connections, thanks to a new link road, and is under a ten-minute drive from Junction 5 of the M1. It is also within one mile of Watford's High Street, Watford Junction, Bushey and Watford Met stations. The new four-storey hotel will feature Travelodge's new, premium look and feel design, which includes a freshly-designed reception area, next-generation rooms and its new, stylish restaurant concept, 85 Bar Cafe - offering everything a business or leisure guest needs for a comfortable and relaxing stay. At ground level, the building will also include two additional retail and leisure units and benefit from 78 dedicated parking spaces within a designated section of the adjacent, recently opened multi-storey car park. Freeths advised Travelodge on the transaction and Kier Property was represented by Pinsent Mason. Hotel website
Wales Online
a day ago
- Wales Online
Police found £1.5m of cocaine in Sports Direct bags after exposing father and son drug enterprise
Police found £1.5m of cocaine in Sports Direct bags after exposing father and son drug enterprise Raymond Kinnear and his son Nathan played key roles in a £31.6m drugs plot and are now facing long sentences behind bars Raymond Kinnear, 63, from Denbighshire (Image: Merseyside Police ) A Welsh dad's involvement in a £31.6m drugs plot was revealed by the contents of Sports Direct bags. Raymond Kinnear, and his son Nathan, were jailed for nearly 25 years, after police discovered a huge haul of 45kg of cocaine inside Raymond Kinnear's Audi. A court heard he had left the car parked inside an industrial unit. The 63-year-old enlisted his estate agent son, Nathan Kinnear, 23, to provide "backup" during his criminal activities, as well as booking hotel rooms and providing Sports Direct and Aldi bags for life, which were used to store the illegal substances. After being arrested, police identified the dad as the EncroChat user "ViperBat" and a Rolex watch was seized from his caravan. Liverpool Crown Court heard Merseyside Police attended Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree at around 10.45pm on June 18, 2024, and searched a unit which "appeared to be under the control of a bathroom company". It had however been subleased by Raymond Kinnear since April 28, 2024. The dad's grey Audi A4 was found parked within the premises and contained 70 vacuum sealed blocks of high purity cocaine, weighing a total of 45kg and alone worth more than £1.5million. The drugs were being stored in several Sports Direct bags for life left inside the Audi. Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said investigations subsequently established he had been in contact with his son during the afternoon before the dad drove to Merseyside from his caravan at Abbey Farm in Llangollen, Denbighshire. Article continues below Meanwhile, Nathan Kinnear and his girlfriend visited a Sports Direct store in order to purchase eight bags which were "consistent with" those later used to hold the drugs. Nathan Kinnear, 23, from Liverpool (Image: Merseyside Police ) The court heard the 23-year-old also booked a room at the Travelodge at Stonedale Retail Park in Croxteth for his father to stay the night. The two men then visited the Travelodge together to check in before stopping at a BP petrol station and travelling to the industrial estate. The son left his Mercedes C-Class parked nearby before his girlfriend picked them both up just after 10pm and drove them to an Esso garage. Don't miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here . Nathan Kinnear was arrested at his home in Scarisbrick Road in Norris Green in the early hours of June 19 after trying to flee from officers by jumping from an upstairs window. The keys to the unit were found inside his car. The industrial estate was labelled a "safe area" where the drugs could be packaged and stored before being transported onwards. A total of £4,700 was later seized from the top shelf of a wardrobe in his bedroom at his mum's home in Satinwood Crescent in Melling, with a further £250 found on the window ledge. Later that day, PCs visited Raymond Kinnear's caravan and recovered a "high value" Rolex watch and around £30,000 of cash. WhatsApp messages and calls between the pair revealed they had been involved in a series of similar movements of drugs or cash during the previous six months. Kinnear senior would liaise with others in order to arrange collections or drops off using passwords like "Dumbo" and "blue". Alongside the seized 45kg, the Kinnears were also linked to the supply of a total of 211kg of cocaine during this period. The large quantity was said to have a wholesale value of between £6.19million and £7.96million, rising to between £18.9million and £31.6million if sold at street level. Raymond Kinnear's criminal record showed four previous convictions during the 1980s, including receiving three years in 1988 for causing death by reckless driving. Jason Smith, for the defendant, previously said: "He is 63 years of age, and he has had to accept that a significant period of the latter part of his life will be spent serving a custodial sentence. "That will have an impact on him. More important is the impact on his family. The person who suffers most is that one he has brought to the table. He has to suffer the shame and responsibility for his son being in the dock with him. He accepts full responsibility for involving Nathan in what took place. "His role has been set out. At times, it is a delivery role. At times, it is a role involving far more important logistics. He was working under the direction of others higher up in the chain. He is now aware of the consequences of being involved in offending such as that." The court heard that Nathan Kinnear had no previous convictions. Paul Becker, defending, told the court: "I would ask the court to bear in mind his age. He may have been naïve as to the extent of the operation and the scale of criminality. He may have placed too much trust in his father and the things that he was expected to do for his dad." Speaking about his client's role, Mr Becker said: "It may have been moral support, it may have been a show of strength. We cannot say. He must have been helping. What that help was is speculation. He was not an organiser, but someone who his father trusted. "He was looking for approval from his dad. It is very difficult to say no to a parent who is expecting a particular response. The defendant accepts that he made serious errors of judgement. "His 89-year-old grandfather sadly passed away a few days ago. The defendant is loved by members of his family. It is clearly going to be a long sentence for a 23-year-old. I would ask your honour to give him some hope for the future and not to crush his hopes." Raymond Kinnear, who appeared in the dock wearing a white shirt and tie with short grey hair, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and one of conspiracy to supply ketamine. He was handed 17 years behind bars. Nathan Kinnear, who wore glasses and a navy blue suit over a white shirt and pale blue tie, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to supply cocaine. He stood with his head bowed as he was sentenced to seven years and four months. During sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC called the scheme an "operation on the most serious and commercial scale" and added: "It is clear that Raymond Kinnear was very close to those involved in the importation of the drugs. Raymond Kinnear's role was to collect the cocaine, to store it in an industrial unit rented for that purpose, to divide it and to deliver it to those further down the chain of supply. "For that work, Raymond Kinnear was well rewarded. In addition, he involved his son Nathan in his offending. Nathan Kinnear played a part in the conspiracy on each occasion that Raymond Kinnear was involved in the distribution of class A drugs. "There are some important differences in their situations. Nathan Kinnear's role was clearly subordinate to that of his father. It involved booking accommodation, giving his father lifts, sourcing bags in which to carry drugs and providing backup when his father delivered the drugs. Turning to Nathan Kinnear, Judge Flewitt said: "It is clear that he is a young man who is highly regarded, and he has the potential to make something of his life. I accept that Nathan Kinnear was drawn into this offending by his father as a result of naivety and an eagerness to please. "Nonetheless, he can have been in no doubt as to the seriousness of the enterprise in which he was involved. Nathan Kinnear was still a young man when he committed the offence. There are grounds to believe that he will develop and, upon release, realise his full potential." Article continues below
Hospitality Net
3 days ago
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Manchester Central Riverside Travelodge Opens for Business
Travelodge has expanded its presence in Manchester with the opening of its latest hotel - the 104-room Manchester Central Riverside - offering even more great value accommodation in the city. This hotel is located less than a mile from Manchester city centre and benefits from over 100 car parking spaces. Access to the hotel from the motorway network is quick and easy, with the site just an 18-minute drive from the M6 and less than 8-minutes from the M60. With good public transport links too, with buses serving the city centre passing the site and the major Deansgate-Castlefield railway and metro interchange less than a mile away, Manchester Central Riverside Travelodge caters to both business and leisure guests. Sports enthusiasts are well catered for too, with the iconic Old Trafford - home of Manchester United - less than a mile and a half from the new Travelodge, whilst the Etihad Stadium - where Manchester City play - is reachable in around 10 minutes by car and around 35 minutes by public transport. The National Football Museum is also nearby for those keen to dive into the beautiful game's rich heritage. Guests staying at Manchester Central Riverside Travelodge can enjoy easy access to some of the city's top cultural attractions, including the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester Museum, the Bridgewater Hall and Manchester Art Gallery - all just a short distance away. Families looking for a fun day out will also find Legoland Manchester and SEA LIFE Manchester around 15-minutes away by car. For those planning to indulge in a bit of retail therapy, the hotel is within walking distance of the vibrant city centre. Shoppers can explore Manchester Arndale for a wide range of high-street favourites, or browse luxury brands at Selfridges or Harvey Nichols. For business visitors to Manchester, the hotel is 1 mile from the Manchester Central Convention Complex. Travelodge, which operates over 610 hotels across the UK, Republic of Ireland and Spain, is continuing to grow and is committed to expanding its hotel network to offer more choice to its customers and support local communities through job creation across the UK. Manchester Central Riverside Travelodge is the chain's 18th hotel in Greater Manchester. The hotel will undergo a full refurbishment over the coming months and will be refitted to Travelodge's brand standards, featuring a new look and feel design. Hotel website
Spectator
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The brutality of being a bridesmaid
There stands the bride. Perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect fake tan. She may not have slept the previous night or eaten for six months but, still, she's beaming. And there behind her stand the bridesmaids. All 95 of them. When Kathryn McGowan got married in County Down this month, she couldn't decide which of her pals should have the honour of holding her train and checking she didn't have lipstick on her teeth. 'It was quite stressful,' she said of the dilemma, 'and then one day the idea came to me.' Instead of having the average number of bridesmaids (in the UK, this is three to five), she'd have 95 of them, aged between six and 40. The colour scheme was 'champagne and cream', but nobody had to be matching, presumably because it was too difficult to find a neckline that worked on children as well as women approaching perimenopause. In a radio interview a week or so after the wedding, the groom joked that his best man was 'still dancing'. If you're on bridesmaid duty this summer, consider yourself fortunate if, like the Irish lot, you get to pick your own dress. This is less and less often the case. Instead, bridesmaids are often shoehorned into sludgy green, peach or maroon, a shade more normally used for Travelodge curtains (in fact some frocks could double for window dressings). They hang shapelessly, clinging to the wrong bits, they're polyester and it's a hot day, and why did these women even say yes to being a bridesmaid in the first place? 'Say cheese,' coaxes the unbearably chirpy photographer, and – wearily – they all try another smile. As we stagger into another wedding season, will nobody think of the poor bridesmaids? Because although weddings have become bigger, more expensive, more outlandish, more and more designed for social media, the bridesmaid experience hasn't changed much.
STV News
16-05-2025
- STV News
Hit-and-run scooter rider who crashed into teen in wheelchair asked to turn himself in
Police are continuing their hunt for an e-scooter rider who knocked a teenager out of his wheelchair onto the road in Dundee. Jack Mcnaughton was crossing Strathmore Avenue opposite the Travelodge hotel around 10.15pm on Saturday when he was hit. The 17-year-old suffered a fractured right hip, dislocated wrists, and a suspected broken nose. Jack, who lives with cerebral palsy, has an attachment on his wheelchair called a Batec, which allows him to travel independently. The attachment was destroyed in the crash. The e-scooter rider failed to stop and made off in the direction of Lawton Road and is believed to have been last seen in the Byron Street area. He is described as being between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a dark top, a hi-vis vest, green trousers, and a dark knitted hat. Jack's dad Graham told STV News: 'We're looking at a minimum of six to eight weeks for recovery, with a lot of physiotherapy. STV News Jack Mcnaughton was knocked out of his wheelchair STV News 'The psychological side is going to take a lot longer. This is going to play havoc with his mind. 'The biggest challenge will be getting him out and about after he is back healthy. 'I don't know how anybody could leave Jack there. 'It is bad enough doing it to an able-bodied person, but do it to someone in a wheelchair and then leaving them lying in the road is disgusting.' A fundraiser to replace Jack's chair has so far raised over £10,000. Inspector Jamie Allen added: 'Our enquiries are ongoing to trace this male, and we would ask him to come forward. 'I am also urging anyone who was in the area at the time to please get in touch or has any knowledge as to the identity of the e-scooter rider. If you have private CCTV or dash-cam footage that would also assist our enquiries, please contact us.' Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 4202 of May 10. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
