Holiday Inn Express, Tamworth

The Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth sits on the edge of the town near the A5/A38 corridor and had been used for asylum accommodation under the Midlands and East England regional contract held by Serco. The site was a flashpoint during the broader unrest that followed the Southport stabbings, when several asylum hotels were targeted on the same day.

ITV News reported that petrol bombs were thrown at the building, fires were set, and police came under sustained attack from a crowd of several hundred people on 4 August 2024^[1]Broadcast. Multiple custodial sentences were subsequently handed down to people convicted of violent disorder at the scene.

At the £170 per-person per-night benchmark^[2], a hotel with around 150 residents represents about £25,500 per night and £9.3 million per year in headline taxpayer exposure under the contract framework reviewed by the NAO in May 2025^[3]NAO.