A pair of Callander hotels are facing a bleak future after they were forced to call in administrators, citing “unsustainable cash flow problems”.
Mountview Hotels Limited, which owns the Crags Hotel and Abbotsford Lodge in the town, appointed FRP Advisory as administrators for the business with both hotels closing their doors at the end of December prior to the move.
The move will mean that all four staff remaining have now been made redundant with immediate effect, with efforts being made to ensure staff affected receive their payments as quickly as possible in an effort to minimise the impact.
The Crags Hotel is based in a Victorian property on Main Street in Callander and comprises of nine letting rooms, as well as a bar and restaurant.
Meanwhile, Abbotsford Lodge is a detached stone villa on the outskirts of Callander on Stirling Road, with 15 rooms and a restaurant.
In a statement released yesterday, the administrators said that while hotels had traditionally traded well, they had both been severely impacted by a “significant increase in operating costs” and the impact of liabilities from the Covid pandemic.
Those twin issues led to what was described as “unsustainable cash flow problems”, which prompted the move to cease trading at the end of the year.
Following the closure of both hotels, joint administrators Michelle Elliot and Stuart Robb will now market the two sites for sale, with all interested parties urged to contact FRP Advisory.
Michelle Elliot said: “The Crags Hotel and Abbotsford are well-known venues within the popular tourist destination of Callander and which have both been recently refurbished to a high standard.
“Unfortunately, having explored all its options, the company was unable to survive the fall in revenue coupled with the significant increase in fixed costs over recent months.
“We will now focus our efforts on assisting employees to submit their claims for redundancy and other sums due to them whilst preparing to market and sell the hotels. Interested parties are being asked to contact James Dempster at james.dempster@frpadvisory.com”.
