Huge losses for creditors of hotel chain
CREDITORS of the collapsed von Essen hotel chain, which formerly owned some of Britain’s top country hotels, are to recover only a tiny fraction of what they are owed, say liquidators.
The latest progress report from accountancy giant EY reveals that unsecured creditors could end up with less than 1p in the pound.
The company, which was owned by maverick hotelier Andrew Davis, went into administration four years ago owing £295million to Barclays and Lloyds.
The banks were later repaid £100million between them, but other creditors – including building contractors, furniture upholsterers, wholesalers, service companies and kitchen fitters – are expected to receive a much lower proportion of what they are owed.
Properties once owned by von Essen include Cliveden House on the bank of the Thames in Buckinghamshire, which was embroiled in controversy in the 1960s when a cottage on its estate became infamous as a key location in the Profumo scandal involving Christine Keeler.
All 28 of the hotels owned by von Essen at the time of its collapse, including Amberley Castle hotel and Lower Slaughter Manor, were sold on to individual operators as going concerns.
Barclays is suing accountancy firm Grant Thornton for declaring that von Essen was in good health just months before it went into administration after failing to keep up with interest payments on its debt.