Macdonald growth goes on

Macdonald Hotels, the Lothian-based group of mid-market hotels, is set to acquire Ansty Hall Hotel, near Coventry.

The hotel chain has snapped up the 31-bedroom property as it pushes on with an aggressive expansion plan following the success of its stock market flotation in March.

The guide price on the property, currently in the hands of receivers following the collapse of Hidden Hotels, was £1.1m through agent Savills.

The completion of the sale will be the final disposal from the former Surrey-based chain Hidden Hotels. It had expanded rapidly in the late 1980s before hitting problems during the recession.

Macdonald announced last week that it was on the look-out for other properties. "We will continue our strategy of acquiring assets that offer management and development opportunities," said chief executive Donald Macdonald.

The number of management contracts has fallen from 53 at flotation to 43 as almost all of the 12 Paragon Hotels properties put up for sale last year through agent Robert Barry & Co have been sold.

It now has 25 hotels with 1,530 bedrooms with principal management contracts, and a further 10 leisure resorts.

The remaining 18 hotels with 760 bedrooms are managed on a short-term basis.

The company said it has additional borrowing facilities of more than £20m in place to finance development.