Moffat House Hotel closes days before Christmas

The Moffat House Hotel in Dumfriesshire Scotland has closed just six days before Christmas, leaving 28 full and part-time staff out of work and Christmas lunch cancelled for over 50 people who had pre-booked to eat there.

Business restructuring firm FRP Advisory will administer the sale of the hotel and its assets early next year.

A spokesperson said: "The hotel has been operated by the current proprietor for over 10 years however the business had recently been suffering from unsustainable cash flow problems which could not be resolved."

Hotelier George Lawson entered personal insolvency and the hotel was closed on the 19 December surprising many staff who turned up to work unaware of the closure.

Tom MacLennan a partner with FRP Advisory said: "Despite the best efforts of the proprietor and staff there was no viable alternative other than the personal insolvency of the owner and the closure of the business. We are continuing to liaise with the Redundancy Payments Service and PACE to minimise the impact on the staff affected by the closure of the business."

The Moffat House Hotel is a Grade-A listed Georgian mansion set among 1.5 acres of grounds. It has 21 bedrooms and a separate family cottage.