Travelodge has revealed plans to hire 700 staff ahead of an expected busy summer season for “staycations” as it reported a strong rebound from the pandemic.

The national chain, which has a number of hotels across West Yorkshire, including in Bradford city centre, is looking to take on 640 staff across its UK sites, with 40 roles also open at its head office in Oxfordshire and 20 maintenance engineer positions.

It is seeking to fill the permanent positions immediately as it gears up for another strong summer for staycation demand, while it also rolls out a hotel revamp programme and is set to open three new sites in the UK.

The group confirmed it will welcome applications from all candidates, including Ukrainian refugees, whom it said “need a fresh start and have a right to work in the UK”.

Travelodge – which has 594 sites across the UK, Ireland and Spain – announced the hiring plans as it reported a 1.8% increase in revenue in the last quarter of 2021 compared with 2019, to £185 million.

Revenue for the year was down by 23% compared with 2019, but Travelodge said trading has improved this year following the lifting of work-from-home guidance.

The company said it expects strong demand from leisure travellers, adding that 60 of its hotels are being upgraded this year.

Chairman Martin Robinson said: “The business continued to outperform the market for the seventh year in a row and enjoyed a record-breaking summer, and, in line with our growth plans, we opened a further 17 new hotels.

“Trading so far in 2022 has been extremely encouraging, despite a slow start amidst the Omicron restrictions in January, and we are excited to launch our new budget-luxe hotel design, which offers a more premium look and feel whilst maintaining our great value price proposition.

“This is our most radical brand transformation to date and has been created in response to Britain becoming a nation of budget travellers, with more of us choosing to stay in budget hotels.”

Travelodge is also opening three new hotels in London over the summer – in Docklands, Peckham and Wimbledon.

Mr Robinson added: “The budget hotel segment, whilst not immune from the broader economic uncertainty, has proven resilient and continues to recover ahead of the rest of the UK hotel market; and we believe that the opportunities to grow our business have never been more exciting.”