Karen Dukes and Mark Shires, partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and joint administrators of the iconic Gravetye Manor Hotel and Country Club in East Sussex, are pleased to announce the sale of the hotel and business to a new entrant to the market who will continue to operate the business as a hotel.
Karen Dukes, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Gatwick said: “We are delighted to have agreed a sale of the hotel just over six weeks after our appointment and with minimal disruption to the staff and guests. We received a number of expressions of interest in this prestigious hotel from all over the world, showing there is still appetite for investing in the right businesses as we come out of a recession. Although we have still to review the claims of creditors, we are hopeful of securing a dividend in due course. We are of course, grateful to those creditors who have worked with us during our trading period.
“The sale means the 45 employees jobs are secured and I would like to thank them all for their support and dedication over the last six weeks since our appointment.”
The grade I listed Elizabethan manor house was one of Britain’s first country house hotels and features 18 individual beautifully appointed ensuite bedrooms; a restaurant and private dining facilities, a bar and dining room as well as extensive staff accommodation. It is situated on the East Sussex - West Sussex border three miles south west of East Grinstead and seven miles from Gatwick. As the former residence of William Robinson, the Hotel features 35 acres of historic gardens set in over 1000 acres of ancient woodlands.
The sale of Gravetye can only be seen as a positive indicator for the market and the latest PwC hotel forecast, predicts gradual growth (three per cent in 2010) for the UK hotel sector.
London should witness record occupancy rates in 2010 and 2011, driving room rates back up to healthier levels. In answer to a RevPAR decline of almost ten per cent in the first half of 2009, January this year saw RevPAR leap nine per cent in London.
However, aside from particular high-end hotels such as Gravetye, the Provinces are experiencing similar lows to those of 1991 / 92 when the UK came out of the ERM and interest rates hit 15 per cent.