Lord Brocket’s old manor goes bust... again
BROCKET HALL, the ancestral seat of colourful aristocrat Lord Brocket, has gone bust for the second time in five years.
The Hertfordshire country club, owned by Chinese billionaire Yu Songbo, called in administrators after being presented with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue & Customs.
Michael Longshaw, who manages Brocket Hall, said trading had showed strong growth in recent months but it was tipped into administration over an undisclosed tax bill.
Latest accounts for the operating company, covering the year to August 2018, show £6.16 million of debt.
The 18th Century estate, a favourite of Queen Victoria, has a golf club, two restaurants, a 16-bedroom lodge, and hosts corporate events and weddings.
The administrators said Brocket Hall UK has been sold to a new company called Brocket Hall (Holding) Limited, controlled by Chinese director Meng Xu.
It is unclear if they are connected to Yu Songbo.
The administrator said the sale will allow the business to continue trading as usual and all 160 jobs will be saved.
Lord Brocket, 67, inherited the 540-acre estate in 1971. His trustees sold the lease to third-party operators when he was jailed in 1996 after faking a classic car insurance claim.
Yu Songbo bought the lease to Brocket Hall for £10million in 2016 after it had gone into administration under management by German leisure tycoon Dieter Klostermann.