Earlier this week it was revealed that Signature Living Hotel, the group’s holding company, had collapsed with £113m of debts – but the Shankly and Dixie Dean hotels are not affected. Tony McDonough reports

Seven Signature Living hotels, bars and restaurants, including the Shankly and Dixie Dean hotels, will continue to trade as normal despite the £113m collapse of the group’s holding company.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Signature Living Hotel, the main parent company of the Liverpool-based Signature Living Group was in administration and was likely to be dissolved. It was the sixth signature business out of around 60 in the group to collapse. Signature Living was founded by Lawrence and Katie Kenwright.

However, Matthew Ingram and Michael Lennon of Duff & Phelps, administrators for Signature Living Hotel, issued a statement on Thursday to clarify that the trading operations of the Shankly Hotel and other properties within the group were not included in the administration and “fall outside the scope of their responsibilities”

This means that seven venues, including the Shankly and Dixie Dean hotels in Victoria Street, Alma De Cuba, Signature Stanley Street, Signature Arthouse Square, Loyola Hall and Signature Shankly in Preston are all preparing to reopen when the Government lifts coronavirus restrictions on the hospitality sector on July 4, this Saturday.

The statement said: “Signature Living Hotel Limited (in administration) is the holding company of the wider Signature Group. It is not responsible for the day-to-day operation of the hotels and residential developments.

“The administration appointments over companies within the wider group relate to specific property assets including the property interest of the Shankly Hotel. The day-to-day hotel operations are the responsibility of The Shankly Hotel Ops Limited which is not subject to Insolvency proceedings.

“The Shankly Hotel is taking steps to reopen in line with the latest Government guidelines in due course. Any bookings in relation to the Shankly Hotel are with The Shankly Hotel Ops Limited and the Administrators are not a party to these transactions. Any queries relating to bookings made with the Shankly Hotel should be directed to the operator.

“In the recently issued Statement of Administrator’s proposals, the joint administrators estimated the total liabilities of the holding company to be in the region of £113m. The holding company has acted as guarantor for significant amounts of the wider group debt.

“However, they also noted significant amounts due to the holding company in excess of £88m from group companies whose assets include the group’s property and development sites and confirmed that part of their work was to understand how funds had flowed around the group.”

The joint Administrators confirmed that a further update will be provided to creditors in due course but not more than six months from the date of the report.

A year ago, Signature put both 30 James Street and the Shankly up for sale with a combined price tag of £57m as it looked to raise funds for the wider group. The company that owned the leasehold on the Shankly Hotel, Signature Shankly Ltd, collapsed in April.

This was followed by the collapse of individual entities covering 30 James Street, hotel schemes in Belfast and Cardiff, and residential developments including the 60 Old Hall Street scheme in Liverpool’s commercial district.

Last week LBN reported that a new operator had taken over the running of the 30 James Street Hotel. The Grade II-listed building was formerly the headquarters of the White Star shipping line, owner of the Titanic.