Bay hotel complex could have fresh start
The Torbay Berkeley Hotel (pictured above) looked doomed when its doors shut last April and its owners left behind huge debts.
The complex had operated for 40 years on Totnes Road, Blagdon, but its owners Capital Wealth Management left employees unpaid and didn't answer telephone calls made by the Herald Express.
The company has since been declared insolvent at the High Court and the main creditor the site's mortgage lender has now taken ownership with a view to a sale.
The unnamed mortgagee has been in contact with local estate agent Bettesworth about selling the hotel.
Stephen Lofthouse, director at Bettesworth, said: "It will be coming on the market in the near future.
"We understand the property has now been taken into the possession of the mortgagee. This only happened recently and arrangements are being made with a view to a future marketing.
"I have met representatives from the mortgagee and talked about it.
"The advice I have given at the moment is that we hope it will be marketed as a closed business which is hopefully ready for somebody to start using."
He said the buildings still had beds and other items in place and hoped a new buyer could have the complex, which includes a swimming pool, motel, bar and first-floor restaurant, open again by the summer.
"The sooner somebody gets in there the sooner they can open and get some cash flow," said Mr Lofthouse.
"We have had a couple of serious inquiries already."
In December a number of former employees were awarded a total of £70,000 by a tribunal for unfair dismissal following the closure of the hotel.
Mandy Player, a former employee, said she and other former employees had received half of their payment following a winding-up hearing in the High Court in London in January.
They are now waiting to see whether other costs, such as holiday and lieu pay, awarded by the judge in December reach them.
The motel was sold to Capital Wealth Management in 2007 by the former MEP Graham Booth.
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