Jarvis completes sell-off

Jarvis Hotels has completed the hotel disposal programme it started almost a year ago.

It put nine hotels on the market in June, following a drop in pre-tax profits (Caterer, 8 June 2000, page 5).

The last property, the 30-bedroom Fleece hotel in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, has been sold for almost £1.65m.

The buyer was Chris Barlow, who also runs the Budock Vean hotel in Falmouth, Cornwall, with his family.

Many of the nine hotels were bought by large groups: Sporting Lodge Inns bought the 62-bedroom Greyhound hotel in Leigh, near Manchester; the 57-bedroom Mount hotel in Tettenhall, West Midlands, was bought by First! Venues; and Durham Inns bought the 61-bedroom Springfield hotel in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

The 59-bedroom Marina hotel in Ramsgate, Kent, was initially one of the nine, but was taken off the market as it was trading well.