FOUR hotels which formed part of Stephanie Booth’s empire have been put up for sale.
Real estate agents Colliers International last night announced it has been instructed by administrators KPMG to market Bodidris Hall in Llandegla and The Wild Pheasant, Bryn Howel and The Chainbridge in Llangollen.
Offers are now being invited for the hotels, which have more than 100 employees between them and are continuing to operate.
The announcement about the hotels being on the market was made 10 days after Llangollen Hotels Ltd and its parent company, Global Investments Group, were placed into administration, coinciding with the shock closure of The Wynnstay Hotel in Wrexham.
Neil Thomson, director of Colliers International’s Manchester office, said: “This is a great opportunity for a hotelier or investor to acquire these hotels of supreme character which are trading well and are being offered as a group or individually.
“The hotels are very successful and profitable and we are seeking buyers to hopefully come in and take over.
“I can confirm there has been interest expressed in the hotels so far.”
Mr Thomson said no timescale was in place for the offers, but he urged potential new owners to quickly register their interest, with offers to be made either for the group as a whole or for the individual assets.
The valuations of each hotel have so far not been released.
Each of the four hotels is currently being run by Convivial Management as the search gathers pace for buyers.
Cllr Jon Haddy, Mayor of Llangollen, believes the three hotels in his town being placed on the market is a positive outcome.
He said: “I am glad to see there is a positive air about the place in the sense that the businesses are still trading.
“I would say things are looking better than they were a week ago and hopefully they will find a buyer shortly.
“It is a shame that is has come to this, but the good thing is the hotels are still operating.”
The four hotels are operated on a freehold basis.
Two others, The Chester Bridge Hotel, Chester, and The Anchor Hotel, Ruthin, are leased and are now operated by their landlords.
The Wrexham and Mold branches of The Fantastic Fun House soft play centres closed, but the Oswestry branch stayed open along with its adjoining McLarens wine bar.
Mrs Booth last week blamed an agreement with Barclays Bank for the problems which led to the hotel group being placed into administration, claiming she and husband David faced a £900,000 payment to HMRC.
Her version of events was disputed by Barclays.