George Best Hotel appoints administrators

Matthew Ingram and Michael Lennon of Duff and Phelps have been appointed as joint administrators to Bedford Hotel Limited, opening as the George Best Hotel.

Part of the wider Signature Living Group, the George Best Hotel is set to comprise of 83 fully furnished luxury rooms all themed around one of the city’s most iconic figures, the legendary footballer George Best.

Duff and Phelps said that advance bookings and reservations “remain unaffected”.

Lennon said: “The renovation of the hotel is in the latter stages of completion and is due to be launched later this year. In order to protect its investment and provide a platform from which the hotel can be completed, Lyell Trading Limited have taken steps to appoint the joint administrators.

“We recognise the value of the George Best Hotel as a finished development and trading hotel. In so far as it is possible, advance bookings and reservations remain unaffected. We will be exploring all options with the current funders to maximise its value and ultimately the return to creditors.”

He added: “Like Signature Shankly Limited, we are aware that there are a number of bedroom investors that have paid deposits, we will be contacting all investors at the earliest opportunity to confirm our appointment and gather further information.”

Duff and Phelps were also recently appointed as administrators to Signature Living’s Signature Shankly Hotel Limited, which went into administration on 9 April 2020.

The restructuring firm confirmed that part of its role will be to investigate how investor money has been spent by the company prior to the appointment. The joint administrators also confirmed that there will be no “fire sale” of the Signature Shankly hotel.

They added that the hotel itself is a “quality venue” and as such they will work with the lenders and investors to “carefully consider a strategy to ensure the “best outcome” for those that are owed money.