Major UK hotel chain CEO Joanna Boydell resigns amid security failings, sexual assault cases

Travelodge CEO Joanna Boydell resigns/Image: Getty Images A major UK hotel chain's chief executive has stepped down amid growing scrutiny over security failures.Travelodge CEO Joanna Boydell resigned on August 17, the company confirmed in a statement on Thursday. She has been replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Ray Reidy, while the company searches for a permanent successor.The resignation follows several reported incidents involving guests receiving room keys without proper checks. In one case, a woman staying at a Travelodge in Maidenhead was sexually assaulted in December 2022 after a man falsely told staff he was her partner and obtained a key to her room. Kyran Smith was later jailed for more than seven years for the attack.Another woman staying at a Travelodge hotel in London while trying to escape a domestic abuser was attacked after reception staff gave the man a key. He reportedly told staff that his girlfriend was upstairs having a seizure. Staff did not check with the woman before giving him access.The woman later told the BBC she ran downstairs “shaking, crying and begging for help”, adding: “I thought someone would protect me.”The incidents have pro...