Travelodge chief executive Jo Boydell has left her role with immediate effect as the hotel chain overhauls guest safety procedures following a sexual assault at one of its properties. A woman was attacked in December 2022 at a Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire, after a man deceived staff into handing over a key card to her room, and her attacker, Kyran Smith, was jailed in February for seven years and six months.
Ray Reidy, the company's finance chief, has been appointed interim chief executive while the company searches for a permanent replacement. He said the business would keep prioritising guest welfare, stating:
We remain focused on the safety and well-being 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.
Travelodge chair Stephen Shurrock said the leadership change should not be read as a shift in the company's priorities, adding:
This announcement does not change anything about our focus on safety and security. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Jo for her dedication to Travelodge over the last 13 years.
Why is Travelodge changing its leadership now?
Boydell's departure follows an independent review launched after the Maidenhead assault, which exposed weaknesses in how staff verify guest identities before issuing key cards. In an interview, Boydell revealed that she did not learn of the assault until almost three years afterwards, when the matter came before the courts.
According to ITV, Boydell left after 13 years with the group, with interim leadership passing to Reidy. However, Travelodge's annual report shows Boydell had already resigned as a company director on 1 April 2026, several months before her departure as chief executive was publicly confirmed. Separate reporting adds that Boydell had also cancelled a scheduled meeting with MPs over the safety concerns, a decision that contributed to the political pressure that followed.
How much political pressure was Travelodge under?
Scrutiny of the company intensified well before the announcement. According to legal representatives acting for one victim, more than 100 MPs and peers wrote to Travelodge demanding answers about its security procedures and how the Maidenhead case had been handled. A local radio report said Travelodge had also been asked to explain its policy on issuing spare key cards and room numbers to people not named on a booking.
Separately, according to a national newspaper's report, the Prime Minister urged Travelodge's boss in March 2026 to "seriously engage" with the government over the case after she had cancelled the planned meeting with MPs, saying the independent review should proceed quickly with a clear timeline. In response, Travelodge told MPs it had commissioned the independent review led by barrister Paul Greaney KC and invited them to submit evidence in writing, according to a separate account.
What other incidents have raised concerns about guest safety?
The Maidenhead case is not isolated. The victim in that attack was later offered what she described as an "insulting" £30 refund, according to reporting on the case. A domestic violence survivor separately told reporters she was attacked in her hotel room after Travelodge reception staff mistakenly gave her key card to her abuser, who then kicked the door off its hinges. She said she felt
failedby the company and described the incident as one of the most traumatic nights of her life. That case was detailed in an earlier account of the abuser being given a room key, in which the chain apologised and announced new security steps.
A further case emerged this month involving a woman who had been staying at a Travelodge in London to escape a domestic abuser. The man persuaded staff to give him a key card, and staff pointed him to her room without checking with the woman first; he kicked in the door, assaulted her and tried to grab her phone. The woman, who has remained anonymous, said she ran "shaking, crying and begging for help," adding "I thought someone would protect me." Staff subsequently offered her another room in the same hotel. Travelodge has said such incidents are "very rare" and that customer safety remains a priority.
Other lapses have surfaced elsewhere in the chain. In one case, a couple staying at a Dundee branch woke to find a shirtless stranger in their room after staff mistakenly issued him a key card, prompting another apology from the company.
What is being done to tighten hotel security?
According to a BBC News report, Travelodge is making immediate changes to its key-card policy so that additional or replacement keys can only be issued with explicit guest consent, a rule now rolled out across more than 600 UK hotels alongside training for over 12,000 customer-facing staff. According to ITV, the company has also confirmed it will not tell a third party whether a guest is staying at one of its hotels, and has checked that all key-card doors across its estate have a secondary deadbolt.
Travelodge has also commissioned an independent review led by barrister Paul Greaney KC, according to a company statement, which said the review would examine room-access procedures, how staff escalate concerns, and what additional training beyond existing safeguarding measures might be needed. According to ITV's report, that independent review has now been completed, though the company says its own internal review of room access security remains ongoing — a distinction not made explicit in the company's earlier public statements.
How did scrutiny of Travelodge's practices build up?
Concerns about room-access failures at the chain have been building for months. In April, a separate report found that guests at a Newham, east London branch were mistakenly given keys to occupied rooms twice within a single week. By July, further reporting indicated that additional individuals had come forward with security concerns at other locations as the independent review progressed, according to further coverage, which also cited a claim from an MP that Travelodge's business model may rely on low staffing, low training and low security. Political pressure had also mounted earlier in the year, with MPs reportedly calling for a meeting on hotel security in March following the Maidenhead assault, as noted in earlier reporting.
What happens next?
Travelodge says it intends to appoint a specialist in violence against women and girls to work alongside Paul Greaney KC's completed review, according to the company's own statement. The company has confirmed it has launched a formal search for a permanent chief executive to succeed Boydell, with Ray Reidy remaining in the role on an interim basis, and says its internal review of room access security remains ongoing.
Key Facts
- Jo Boydell has stepped down as Travelodge chief executive amid a security review after 13 years with the group; Ray Reidy takes over on an interim basis.
- Kyran Smith was jailed in February 2026 for seven years and six months for sexually assaulting a woman at a Maidenhead Travelodge in December 2022; the victim was later offered a £30 refund she called "insulting".
- More than 100 MPs and peers wrote to Travelodge demanding answers, and the Prime Minister urged the company to engage with Parliament after Boydell cancelled a planned meeting with MPs.
- Travelodge has rolled out a policy requiring guest consent for additional key cards across more than 600 hotels, trained over 12,000 staff, and audited secondary deadbolts across UK rooms.
- According to ITV, the independent review led by barrister Paul Greaney KC has been completed, while a separate internal review and a permanent chief executive search continue.
