A landmark hotel went bust with debts of more than £9 million.
The Lansdowne Place Hotel in Hove collapsed into administration in January.
According to a report from KPMG, seen by The Argus, the hotel owed £16,000 to people who had booked functions at the hotel, including weddings. It also owed £10,000 to people who had bought gift vouchers.
The hotel owed its bank, Santander UK, around £9 million.
KPMG said it was called in by bosses at the 150-year-old hotel after the taxman issued a seven day warning letter in respect of unpaid PAYE and national insurance contributions amounting to £205,864.
At the time David Glover, managing director at Lansdowne Investments Limited, told The Argus that the hotel had been closed in order to be converted into luxury apartments.
The company’s major share holder is the Imperial Property Group, which is run by Nick Sutton, from Gough Square, London.
Mr Sutton’s company owned the Royal York hotel in the Old Steine, Brighton, which called in administrator RSM Tenon last year. A buyer is still being sought for the property.
Mr Sutton is also boss at Max Serviced Apartments in Kings Road, Brighton.
No money back
A string of heartbroken customers contacted The Argus in the wake of the Hove hotel’s closure to say that they had been left in the lurch over bookings.
Jane Moriarty, from the KPMG team on Lansdowne Investments, said that customers were unlikely to get their money back.
She said: “We are expecting to bring the property to market shortly, and hope that a buyer will be found, at which point we can assess the likely return to the secured creditors.
“As we have indicated in our creditors report we do not, at this stage , expect to be making a distribution to unsecured creditors.”
Weddings ruined
Natasha Lee and her fiancé Elliott Mills, of Whippingham Road, Brighton, were one of nine wedding couples let down after the closure of the Lansdowne Place Hotel in January.
She said: “Although we’re now looking ahead towards our wedding with the promise of the insurance helping us out, we’re certainly not going to look back on the initial planning stages with fondness in the years to come.”
David Glover refused to comment.
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