Bespoke Hotels, which provides hotel management services for over 80 properties worldwide including Hotel Gotham in Manchester, The Chester Grosvenor and The Mill at Chester, has secured a £725,000 funding package from Barclays through the Government backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
The funding has provided three North West hotel businesses with the liquidity needed to survive the lockdown period and be in a position to reopen and preserve hotel jobs. Hotel Gotham and The Mill at Chester both recently reopened successfully and The Chester Grosvenor, a 5-star luxury hotel and spa, will be reopening on 27thAugust.
Bespoke Hotels was founded in 2000 and has subsequently grown into the UK’s largest independent hotel group, managing more than 5,000 hotel rooms and 6,000 employees and £525 million of assets spanning the length and breadth of the country and overseas.
Bespoke Hotels continue to add more properties to its representation portfolio and last week finalised a five-year hotel management deal on 40 ex-Shearings Hotels with almost all of the hotels from the Bay, Coast & Country and Country Living collections, which went into administration in May, have joined the Bespoke Hotels banner effective immediately. Bespoke Hotels is also set to open a second Hotel Gotham in Glasgow in spring 2021, six years after the original launched in Manchester with further hotels expected to open in London, Birmingham, Brighton and Bath.
Haydn Fentum, Chairman of Bespoke Hotels said:
“Barclays were outstanding at dealing with our request for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan. The support from their dedicated Hospitality and Leisure team with their knowledge of the challenges and issues facing the sector, mean these iconic North West hotels have been able to come through the challenge of lockdown whilst preserving local jobs and keeping the supply chain intact. It really illustrates the strength of our business and it’s a very positive indicator of market confidence in the ability of our industry to battle through this unprecedented situation.”
Keith Herod, Director for Barclays Corporate Banking said:
“Bespoke Hotels benefits from an excellent reputation built over many years, coupled with a highly unique portfolio of venues. When the pandemic forced its hotels to close, our understanding of the client and close relationship meant we could act quickly and appropriately to meet the new challenges they were up against in terms of providing vital liquidity and securing jobs until they could reopen their doors. With this additional headroom, it now means the business is in the best possible shape and we look forward to working alongside Haydn and his team as Bespoke Hotels continues to grow.”
