Hotel and restaurant set to become Premier Inn and Brewer’s Fayre

THE Shepherds Hotel and Restaurant in Cockermouth, Cumbria has been sold to Whitbread for development as a Premier Inn and linked Brewer’s Fayre.

The deal struck by Colliers International will unlock reinvestment and redevelopment of the site.

Acting on behalf of previous owner Roy Campbell, Colliers sold the AA three-star property on Egremont Road to Whitbread which will replace the existing 26-bedroom hotel and restaurant with an 80-bedroom Premier Inn and 200-seat Brewer’s Fayre restaurant.

The new scheme – recently granted planning permission by Allerdale Council – will create more than 50 jobs for hotel and restaurant staff, another 25 posts in the supply chain and a further 68 in construction, giving a total of almost 170 jobs.
 
Construction of the Premier Inn, Brewer’s Fayre restaurant and associated car parking is due to begin soon with completion expected in early 2017.

Neil Thomson, associate director, hotels agency at the Manchester office of Colliers International, secured the sale on behalf of Campbell, and said it represented a successful conclusion for all parties, ensuring a new future for the hotel and important investment in modernising hotel stock in the town.

He said: “Whitbread plc’s acquisition of The Shepherd’s Hotel and Restaurant is a vote of confidence for investment in Cockermouth and will help to meet a forecast rise in demand over the next decade for hotel accommodation and restaurant provision in and around the town which is a key tourist destination within the Lake District National Park.

Nick Johnston, acquisition manager for North West & Wales at Premier Inn, said: “Investing and regenerating existing hotel sites to offer great quality and value hotels is something we take great pride in – The Shepherd’s Hotel will be a great example of that.
 
“We are looking forward to coming to Cockermouth, creating new jobs, supporting the local economy and strengthening choice in the market.”

Thomson said the specialist hotels team at Colliers International was also witnessing a rising number of private buyers acquiring small hotels and bed and breakfast businesses in the Lake District – thereby enhancing the Lake District’s position as Colliers’ most popular region for such sales in the whole of the UK.