Queens Hotel, a historic hotel situated at the heart of Ambleside in the Lake District, has been acquired by The Inn Collection Group in a deal brokered by Colliers International, which sought offers in excess of £2.8m.
The acquisition takes the company to 10 sites with plans to reach 21 sites by 2022 after securing of a £10m funding package from OakNorth.
The hotel is an iconic property, dating back towards 300 years, operates with 26 en-suite bedrooms, public bar areas, a restaurant and additional trading areas.
The Queens Hotel is the second acquisition by The Inn Collection Group in the Lake District following their acquisition of the Waterhead Hotel, Coniston through Colliers International during last year. The North East based company now operates ten sites across County Durham, Northumberland and North Yorkshire.
The hotel was bought from Terry Davie and Mary Albert-Davie, who had owned the hotel for the last 17-plus years.
Sean Donkin, managing director of The Inn Collection Group, said, “‘We are delighted to have completed our second acquisition in the North West with the assistance of Julian and his team and hope to continue our expansion in the Lake District with similar acquisitions over the course of 2019. Inn Collection Group would also like to thank our team of advisors which included but are not limited to Bradley Hall, JLL and Ward Hadaway.”
Julian Troup, head of UK hotels agency at Colliers International, said, 'We were delighted to complete the sale of the Queens Hotel in a highly confidential fashion. Our instructions were to approach a list of targeted potential buyers, and from this we were able to select The Inn Collection Group who had shown their ability to perform when we sold them the Waterhead Hotel, Coniston last year.
“Its sale is indicative of an unprecedented level of interest from buyers wanting to acquire UK provincial hotels, with the Lake District continuing to be Colliers’ most productive area in the UK. This heightened demand for property in the Lakes is partly because of it being designated a UNESCO world heritage site.
“It was particularly satisfying for me to negotiate the sale having personally negotiated the sale to Mr and Mrs Davie in Sept 2001.”
Troup said Colliers International sold 19 Lakeland hotels and hospitality businesses during 2018, representing a record number of sales and further evidence of the unprecedented demand for the region.
The Inn Collection Group is backed by Alchemy PE who purchased the group from Kings Park Capital in the summer of 2018, and are supported by Oaknorth Bank for its ambitious expansion plans across the North of England.