THE group which owns Conwy's Castle Hotel has been taken on by a Wirral firm.

RedCat Pub Company, founded and chaired by former Greene King boss Rooney Anand, has taken over the 18 sites formerly belonging to the Coaching Inn Group, including the Castle Hotel.

Since launching in February, RedCat has also bought 42 pubs from Stonegate Pub Company.

The Coaching Inn group, founded in 1996 by chief executive Kevin Charity, bought the Castle Hotel in 2016.

Mr Charity said it was going to remain business as usual in all its hotels that were now playing such an important role at the heart of communities right across the country.

The Coaching Inn Group will continue to be run as a family business following the significant investment provided by RedCat.

Mr Charity said: “We have become a very people-focused business over the past four years, just constantly maintaining that culture, keeping on improving and looking at what we can do better and how we as a management team can serve our people.

“That's been the key and will go on being so.

“Anyone joining us for a career in hospitality will continue to have the benefit of our pioneering in-house training and development schemes that allow progression from minor roles to general manager.

This year, the group had jumped from 44th to 21st in the Best Companies top 100 list of employers, Mr Charity added.