£5m deal sees Peckforton Castle owners acquire ‘historic’ Cheshire hotel

Highwater Estates Ltd, the family-run firm that owns Cheshire’s Grade I-listed Peckforton Castle, has purchased Nunsmere Hall Hotel in Northwich for £5.35m

Following the acquisition, Peckforton Castle MD Chris Naylor has revealed plans to carry out a revamp of the Edwardian, lake-fringed Nunsmere Hall property.

Chris said: “We’re very proud to take over such an historic building. Nunsmere Hall has huge potential and we’re all extremely excited.

“Having spent 10 years building a very successful hotel with Peckforton Castle, we’re confident we can transform Nunsmere Hall too.”

Speaking further, Chris said he believes Highwater’s business model for Peckforton Castle is “fully transferable” to the new site.

He continued: “We’ll be investing in order to enhance the property’s already-significant appeal, focusing on making the interiors look less tired while avoiding any major construction work or disruption to guests.

“And we also want the property to be a big contributor to the local economy in terms of both jobs and local suppliers.”

The acquisition comes after Prima Hotels Ltd, the firm that previously owned Nunsmere Hall, went into administration in May.

Constructed in 1900, Nunsmere Hall sits in 10 acres of gardens and is bounded on three sides by a 60-acre lake. The hotel comprises 36 bedrooms, a restaurant and facilities for conferences and events.

Highwater Estates Ltd is run by the Naylor family, which includes husband and wife Chris and Kate, brother Matthew and parents Tony and Gina. The Naylors purchased Peckforton Castle in 2007, at a time when it was generating a yearly loss of £700k, and turned it around with a £7m investment.

In 2011, the Grade I-listed building suffered £5.4m in damages following an arson attack.

Chris commented: “We showed our character when we bounced-back from that setback, and we’ll take that determined mentality with us into revamping Nunsmere Hall too.

“We see huge potential in Nunsmere Hall, just as we did with Peckforton Castle and we are looking forward to actioning our plans for the property.”

Estate agents Savills brought the site to market for administrator AlixPartners, which instructed venue operator Legacy Hotels and Resorts to run Prima Hotels group during the interim.

The deal for Nunsmere was brought together by Hugh Anderson of commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton’s Manchester office, Rick Payne from Northwich-based accountancy firm Bennett Brooks, and Simon Edwards of Chester-based law firm Aaron & Partners.

The acquisition will also see Peckforton’s sales and marketing director, Matthew Naylor, and general manager Michael Auld become shareholders.

Chris added: “We’ll be gifting the shares to Matthew and Michael as a show of gratitude for the hard work and commitment they’ve given us over the years.”

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