High-profile disposal leads to uncomfortable year for Cedar Court Hotel owners

THE owners of the Cedar Court Hotel brand have had a “challenging” year, after disposing of the group’s largest site and Yorkshire’s only five-star hotel.

Cedar Court Hotels has sites in Harrogate, Leeds, Wakefield, and Huddersfield, and the firm’s parent company, Acropolis Investments, employs 515 people across the region under the brands.

Acropolis Investments saw losses before tax of £850,085, compared to a loss of £600,123 for the year to 31 December 2014.

Turnover dipped to £18.4m after highs of £20.4m the year before, which the group blamed on the disposal of the group’s largest hotel, the Grand Hotel & Spa in York in a “secret” sale late last year.

The Grade II-listed site was sold for an undisclosed sum to Splendid Hotels after being acquired by Cedar Court four years earlier for £30m.

A statement from the group said: “The group’s vision is for its hotel chain to provide a first class level of service backed up with a passion for quality and innovation.

“The challenge is to control costs while maintaining quality and service and we believe that we are continuing to achieve this.

“2015 continues to be challenging but sales across the hotels are holding up on the back of the implementation of various growth initiatives…this leaves the company well-placed to to take advantage of any economic recovery.”