The holding company of upmarket country house hotel chain von Essen Hotels has gone into administration.
Alan Bloom, Chris Marsden and Angela Swarbrick at Ernst & Young have been appointed joint administrators for the holding company owning the 28 private hotels in the UK and France.
The hotels themselves are not in administration and are still trading. Swarbrick said: “It is business as normal for the hotels and von Essen customers can continue to enjoy their stay.”
The company is understood to have some £250 million of debt and had defaulted on interest payments. Tim Smith, director of hotel consultancy HVS London said: “The failure of any hotel company inevitably reflects badly on the sector, raising questions concerning liquidity, gearing, performance and profitability.”
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