Hotel chain enters administration

A WEST Midlands hotel chain has gone into administration placing 145 jobs at risk.

The Fortmere Group operates The Ramada Birmingham Oldbury Hotel and Conference Centre, The Ramada Park Hall Hotel & Spa Wolverhampton and The Ramada Warwick Hotel and Conference Centre at Kenilworth.

The group has blamed the recession in the property sector as the reason for the collapse.

David Bennett and Joe McLean of Grant Thornton UK have been appointed joint administrators.

The three hotels, which operate under a franchise agreement with Ramada Hotels, are continuing to take bookings as the administrators look to sell them on as going concerns.

Mr Bennett said: “The three hotels are well-located for both corporate and private trade and we look forward to talking to any parties who may be interested in adding them to their own portfolios.”

Ken Latham, group operations manager of Fortmere Group, said: “The steep decline in the property market has had a serious impact on operations, which includes the three hotels, and the group are therefore unable to continue to operate these businesses.

“The directors are assisting the administrators in their duties and would particularly like to thank all the staff for their continuing support at this difficult time.”

The hotels employ 145 people and but administrators said there were no immediate plans for redundancies.

The showpiece Park Hall Hotel is one of the best known venues in the region. The Georgian mansion was the original home of the Earl of Dudley. It was taken over by Fortmere in 2004 when it was refurbished into a modern hotel, spa and conference centre.

In contrast, the 81-bedroom Oldbury venue was completed just three years ago, while the Warwick hotel was acquired by Fortmere in 2007 and underwent a £3m refurbishment.