More than £56m was owed by the companies behind three Signature Living hotels and a gym before they collapsed into administration, it has been revealed.
The firms behind The Dixie Dean Hotel in Liverpool, Rainhill Hall near Prescot, Shankly Hotel in Preston and a gym in Liverpool's Shankly Hotel all called in Kroll Advisory in August.
Newly-filed documents with Companies House have now revealed how much each business owed to its creditors when it entered administration.
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They also detail the events leading up to Kroll being appointed and whether each site has been put up for sale.
Each company operated separately from one another, but were all part of the wider Signature Living family of companies. Signature Living Group itself went into administration in April 2020.
The Dixie Dean Hotel
Signature Eden Limited is the company behind The Dixie Dean Hotel in Liverpool which has 100 bedrooms, can accommodate 160 diners and employs 44 members of staff.
The hotel opened in 2019 . Since the administration all staff have been retained to run the hotel while a sale of the business and assets of Signature Eden Limited is being sought by Kroll.
The documents filed with Companies House by Kroll show the business owed more than £15.5m to its creditors when it entered administration on August 5.
Its largest creditor was Lyell Trading Limited, which was owed more than £4.7m.
Lyell Trading Limited is a Gloucester-based property development finance firm that according to its website works with companies that typically require between £500,000 and £10m for new build projects, redevelopments and major renovation works. The business is also a major creditor of the firms behind Rainhill Hall and Preston's Shankly Hotel.
Signature Eden's other secured creditor was SW Construction (No2) Limited, which was owed more than £4.4m.
Kroll said it is expected both companies will receive some of their money back but a total amount is currently unclear.
The document also shows that unsecured creditors were owed more than £6.4m but Kroll said it is anticipated there will not be enough funds to pay them back.
On the events leading up to entering administration, Kroll said: "The company's loan facility, which was provided by Lyell Trading Limited for the purposes of funding the development of the venue, expired on 18 June 2022.
"Under the terms of the loan agreement, on expiry all amounts advanced under the terms of the loan agreement became immediately due and payable.
"Lyell Trading Limited, as a secured creditor, issued a demand for repayment on 3 August 2022 for the amount outstanding, totalling £4,767,699.
"The company was unable to satisfy the demanded amount. Lyell Trading Limited exercised its statutory right as qualifying floating charge holder, appointing Matthew Ingram and Michael Lennon as joint administrators on 5 August 2022."
Rainhill Hall
Rainhill Hall is a grade II-listed country house that was completed in 1824. It was a retreat house run by the Society of Jesus and known as Loyola Hall for almost 90 years to 2014 and has operated as a hotel and wedding venue since 2017.
Under its previous name as Loyola Hall, the venue briefly hosted the North Korea football team during the 1966 World Cup. Before that it had been home to Princess Evelyn Blücher.
Loyola Hall Limited entered administration on August 3 owing its creditors more than £10.4m.
Kroll said it is currently talking to agents with a view to sell the business and its assets. The hotel has 49 members of staff who are expected to be transferred to a new owner if the hotel is sold.
According to the Kroll document, secured creditor Lyell Trading Limited was owed more than £4.6m when the company entered administration. SW Construction (No2) Limited was also owed around £3.7m as a secured creditor.
The joint administrators said it is expected both companies will receive some of their money back but a total amount is currently unclear.
Unsecured creditors were owed more than £2.1m but Kroll said it is anticipated there will not be enough funds to pay them back.
On the events leading up to Kroll being appointed, the document said: "The company's loan facility, which was provided by Lyell Trading Limited for the purposes of funding the development of the venue, expired on 18 June 2022.
"Under the terms of the loan agreement, on expiry all amounts advanced under the terms of the loan agreement become immediately due and payable.
"Lyell Trading Limited, as a secured creditor, issued a demand for repayment on 3 August 2022 for the amount outstanding, totalling £4,684,156.
"The company was unable to satisfy the demanded amount and Lyell Trading Limited exercised its statutory right as qualifying floating charge holder, appointing Matthew Ingram and Michael Lennon as joint administrators on 5 August 2022."
Shankly Hotel in Preston
Signature Living Preston Limited was the company behind the Shankly Hotel in Preston, which has yet to open.
The company had been in the process of a £15m development of the hotel which is housed in a 118-year old former Post Office building in Market Street that was bought from Preston City Council in 2018.
The opening of the hotel has been delayed by several years. When finished, the grade II-listed building is set to include a 65-room hotel with bar, restaurant and wedding and events suite.
Signature Living Preston Limited entered administration on August 5 and owed more than £22m to its creditors.
According to the document, secured creditor Lyell Trading Limited was owed c.£12m when Kroll was appointed. SW Construction (No.2) Limited was also owed more than £4m.
Kroll said that it is anticipated that there will be sufficient funds to repay the secured creditors but the total amount will depend on how much the company's assets are sold for as well as the associated costs.
Kroll's document also shows that unsecured creditors were owed over £6.8m but that there will not be enough funds available to repay them.
On the events leading up to the company entering administration, Kroll Advisory said: "Due to the failure of the company to meet its secured debt financing obligations and due to cost overruns and significant delays, the company required further funding in order to bring the development to practical completion.
"The lending facilities had expired and therefore Lyell Trading Limited issued a demand on the company for repayment of its outstanding debt.
"The company failed to satisfy the demand and Lyell Trading Limited exercised its statutory right as a qualifying floating charge (QFC) to place the company into administration."
The development has stopped following the entry into administration but, Kroll said, it is in talks with Lyell Trading Limited about finishing the project.
Kroll added that it is also currently in talks about putting the business and its assets up for sale.
Signature Living Lifestyles
Signature Living Lifestyles holds the leasehold interest to a gym in Liverpool's Shankly Hotel.
The company owed more than £8.2m to its creditors when it entered administration.
The gym, which was operated by Liverpool City Council, was closed as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown measures. Kroll said it understands the council made a decision not to re-open it, following a post-Covid review of the service by the authority.
As a secured creditor, Henslow Trading Limited was owed more than £7.4m when Signature Living Lifestyles entered administration. Kroll said there will be funds to repay the company but the exact total is not yet known.
Unsecured creditors, who were owed £868,811, are not expected to receive their money back.
The new report comes after another company that operated The Shankly Hotel itself was ordered into liquidation.
The hotel is currently being marketed for sale while the leasehold interest in the gym is also up for sale as part of the hotel.
On the events leading up to Signature Living Lifestyles entering administration, Kroll's document said: "Due to the failure of the company to meet its interest payments on the loan facility, Henslow Trading Limited issued a demand on the company for repayment of its outstanding debt.
"The company failed to satisfy the demand and Henslow Trading Limited exercised its statutory right as a QFC to place the company into administration."
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