Devonshire Group acquires Peak District hotel and restaurant

The Devonshire Group has acquired Premier Inn Chesterfield West hotel and Highwayman Beefeater restaurant situated at the edge of the Peak District National Park. 

The hotel group has purchased the site for an undisclosed sum and will focus on protecting and growing the impact of the hotel and restaurant within the local economy and Peak District visitor landscape. 

Located in Eastmoor, the hotel currently offers 25 rooms alongside a Beefeater restaurant, and employs 28 staff who will all continue working at the hotel under its new ownership. 

The Devonshire Group will now enter a period of planning to bring forward a new “vision” for the site. In the meantime, both the restaurant and the hotel will retain the name The Highwayman. 

The group oversees a diverse collection of hotels, restaurants and holiday cottages across the Chatsworth Estate, including The Cavendish Hotel and The Devonshire Arms at Beeley and Pilsley. It has also owned the nearby Peak Village shopping centre and nature reserve since 2021. 

Andrew Byrne, group property development director of the Devonshire Group, said: “The Highwayman represented the perfect opportunity for us to be able to continue our strategy of investing in assets that will allow us to have a positive impact on local people, local employment and the wider visitor economy in the region.

“As a highly successful venture in its own right, it provides us a great foundation from which we can encourage even more visitors to Derbyshire to experience all it has to offer, and we are looking forward to working with all our new colleagues to make that happen.”

Richard Palmer, managing director of Devonshire Hotels and restaurants Group, added: “We’re very excited about the opportunity to add the Highwayman to our portfolio of restaurants and accommodation in Derbyshire, and to build on the warm welcome and strong reputation created over years by the staff at this site.”