Three hotels still to find new ownership

THE Hotel Elizabeth at Copdock is among three hotels still to be sold following the collapse of Elizabeth Hotels into administration 10 months ago.

The administrators from accountancy firm KPMG, who were appointed at the request of banking group Lloyds, say that all of the 13 pubs involved in the administration have now been sold, together will all but three of the 11 hotels.

Although the firm gave no breakdown of the properties still on the market, it is understood that they include both the 76-bedroom Hotel Elizabeth, at Copdock, near Ipswich, and the 11-bedroom Limes Hotel in Needham Market.

Elizabeth Hotels Ltd, and sister companies Cavendish Hotels Ltd and Elizabeth Estates (BS) Ltd, all owned by Ipswich-based property entrepreneur Richard Cattermole, went into administration last December, putting a total of 462 jobs at risk.

However, a spokesman for KPMG said: “Despite the tough economic environment, minimal redundancies have been made and value has been preserved through trading and selling the businesses as going concerns.

“We continue to deal with the three remaining hotels in the portfolio and are hopeful of concluding the sales process in the next few weeks.”

Among the hotels sold out of administration are the Hotel Hatfield in Lowestoft, the Wherry at Oulton Broad, the Rose & Crown in Haverhill and, most recently, the Mill Hotel in Sudbury.

Pubs involved in the administration included the Cock Inn at Polstead, the Three Tuns, Needham Market, the White Hart, Boxford, the Five Bells, Rattlesden, the Plough, Peldon, and the Globe, Harwich.

Mr Cattermole’s main company, Ryan Elizabeth Holdings, and around 30 other subsidiaries were not affected by the administration. They include a number of other hotels, including the Hotel Elizabeth Orwell in Felixstowe.