Lewtrenchard Manor closure leaves over £400,000 of debt

Lewtrenchard Manor in Devon owed over £400,000 in debts when it closed, according to documents filed on Companies House.

The statement of affairs for Lewtrenchard Manor Ltd revealed the hotel had £23,700 left in cash, but it is uncertain if other assets will be realised.

Filings show the hotel owed £27,346.81 to 34 employees who were preferential creditors, in addition to £27,038.25 to 23 employees who were unsecured creditors.

HM Revenue and Customs is also owed £123,699 in VAT and £89,477 in PAYE.

Two guest creditors are owed £1,000, while 60 consumer creditors are seeking £50,905.60.

The total debts from the closure of the hotel in February amount to £434,799.63.

Lewtrenchard Manor Limited was wound up voluntarily on 18 April 2024 following the appointment of Steve Henson of Castle Hill Insolvency Limited as liquidator of the company.

The family-run hotel announced its closure after over 30 years of trading in February this year.

Its owners, the Murray family, said: "It is with a significant amount of regret that we have permanently closed Lewtrenchard Manor. We made this decision with a heavy heart, but due to difficult trading conditions since Covid and several failed sales of our lease we had no further options to us."

The 13-bedroom property, which dates back to the 1600s, was run under the ownership of Sue and James Murray from 1988 until it was sold to Von Essen hotels in 2003.

In 2012, the son of Sue and James, Duncan Murray, reopened Lewtrenchard Manor as director, general manager and curator of wine.