Member Article

Samlesbury Hotel bought from administration, saving 50 jobs

KRO Hospitality has bought Samlesbury Hotel out of administration in a multi-million-pound deal that has saved 50 local jobs.

The award-winning Preston hotel will now undergo a £1.5m revamp and will be rebranded and relaunched in April 2019 as Mercure Preston Samlesbury Hotel.

KRO has chosen Mercure, part of the Accor brand family, as a franchise partner. KRO will operate the hotel.

The 80-room hotel, which was voted the best in Lancashire last year, is complete with restaurant, bar and eight well-appointed meetings and events spaces including the Canberra Suite, which can hold up to 160 guests and is fully licenced for weddings and other events.

Great effort has gone into researching the rich aircraft manufacturing heritage of Samlesbury and part of the refurbishment plan will be to tell this story through art. Alongside this, a new exciting food and beverage concept will draw from the historical roots of the hotel’s previous incarnation as an iconic Lancashire pub, The Five Barred Gate.

The Five Barred Gate Bar & Grill will serve Lancashire favourites with a twist with attention to local seasonal produce. This new concept will take the restaurant back to its hay day as a firm favourite in Samlesbury.

Owner of KRO Hospitality, Kim Eivind Krohn, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Mercure Preston Samlesbury Hotel to our portfolio. It is a fantastic hotel with enormous potential and is situated in an ideal location to attract business travellers and leisure guests alike. We have some very exciting plans for the hotel refurbishment and our new food offer, and we look forward to working with the Accor team to bring these to fruition.

“The hotel is of huge importance to the region. It was recently shortlisted in the Hotel of the Year category for the 2018 Lancashire Business Awards, a title it won in 2017 and we are very pleased that we can help ensure the hotel remains an important part of the community. We can also confirm there will be no disruption to day-to-day operation.”

Cristina de Oliveira-Frewen SVP Franchise Operations Accor Northern Europe said: “The Mercure brand combines the strength of an international network with the flexibility to ensure each hotel is individually tailored to its local community, so it is a perfect fit for this award-winning hotel. We are thrilled to be partnering with KRO Hospitality to ensure the hotel achieves its full potential as a high-quality, authentic destination for leisure and business travellers and the local community.”

The news comes as KRO Hospitality announced two appointments to its senior team. Damien Le-Hoste joins the team as Operations Director having worked for RBH Hospitality Management for over eight years. KRO Hospitality has also appointed Natasha Lindsay as Group Director of Sales and Marketing, having worked for Bespoke Hotels Group. Natasha will be assisted by Cathy Savage, who re-joins KRO Hospitality as Sales Manager for Mercure Preston – Samlesbury.

KRO Hospitality owns a number of North West hotels and restaurants including Velvet Hotel, Mr White’s English Chophouse and the renowned Asha’s Indian restaurant in Manchester. As well as the upcoming 47 Peter Street, which is in the process of transforming into a luxury 47-bedroom hotel with a new destination bar.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Henry Roberts .