Britannia Group picks up landmark Southport hotel

ONE of Southport’s best-known hotels has been bought out of administration by Hale-based Britannia Hotels Group.

The Scarisbrick Hotel on the main Lord Street promenade had been owned and operated by Scarisbrick Hotel Ltd (which was itself owned by a diverse group of shareholders). Its last filed accounts for the year to January 31, 2010, show a pre-tax profit of just over £41,000 on turnover of £5.8m.

BDO business restructuring partners, Dermot Power and Tracey Pye, were appointed joint administrators of the business on Tuesday and completed a pre-packaged sale of the business and assets of the company to Britannia Hotels (Fylde), part of the Britannia Group.  

Joint administrator Tracey Pye said: “The Scarisbrick has experienced difficulties in the current economic climate and I am delighted that the business now has a future and can move forward under the management of a large and successful hotel chain.”

Britannia Hotels Group has picked up several assets from administration during the course of the recent property slump, including the Pontins holiday resort business and the 130-bed Russ Hill Hotel near Gatwick. In the year to March 31, 2010, it increased sales by 29% to £52.2m. The group was founded in 1976 by owner Alex Langsam.