…as hoteliers win battle
Two hoteliers from the Isle of Bute have scored an unusual victory for the small business against the might of Barclays Bank.
Barclays Mercantile in Birmingham gave Douglas and Barbara Booth 48 hours notice to quit their 12-bedroom Bayview hotel after a dispute over loan repayments.
But the couple responded by taking out a court injunction preventing the bank from enforcing the eviction.
Mr Booth told Caterer Barclays had arranged to sell their business to for £85,000, even though the Royal Bank of Scotland had valued the property at a higher figure. The Booths had paid £125,000 for the business four years ago.
"Last year Barclays said they'd give us a three-month breathing space on repayments of our business loan until the season picked up," said Mr Smith. "Then they made out that we were running up huge arrears on our payments, which we were not."
The couple complained to the chairman of Barclays Bank in London. He had the case reopened and investigations were made.
Concerned about discrepancies on their business account, the couple decided to have it professionally audited. That uncovered more than £12,000 of miscellaneous debits on their account which Barclays would not explain.
They then contacted asupport group known as SAFE (Struggle Against Financial Exploitation) and after pressure was applied, the bank admitted to £5,000 of errors. The remaining £7,000 is still unexplained.
The couple now have a new loan with the Royal Bank of Scotland which has enabled them to keep their hotel.
