Wedding venue Comlongon Castle has gone out of business with Johnston Carmichael enlisted to deal with creditors.
The accountancy firm's head of restructuring Donald McNaught is to be appointed as trustee to the partnership that owned, operated and managed the Dumfries business.
Comlongon Castle ceased trading on 8th April and a number of staff employed by the business were made redundant. One couple from Dumfries told the BBC that they feared losing £6,000 after booking the venue for their wedding.
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The partnership, which owned the property and traded the adjoining hotel, is in the process of making an application to be declared bankrupt and for Johnston Carmichael to be appointed as a trustee to deal with its creditors.
The hotel had a number of outstanding bookings, who should now contact Johnston Carmichael regarding further information on the ongoing process.
Comlongon Castle is a restored 15th century medieval Scottish castle, set in 140 acres of gardens and woodlands - attached to the castle is a 14-room hotel. It is located 20 minutes from Carlisle and less than two hours from Edinburgh and Glasgow; the M74 corridor is easily accessible from the hotel.
McNaught said: “We will be dealing with creditors’ claims after the partnership business behind Comlongon Castle encountered liquidity problems during the past year and ceased trading just over a week ago.
“We are aware that the time between Christmas and Easter is widely recognised within the hotel industry as a difficult trading period – and the business arrived at a point where it could no longer continue to operate. I would encourage anyone who had a booking with the hotel to get in contact with Johnston Carmichael immediately.”
Owner Phillip Ptolomey said his parents bought the hotel in 1984, after it was up for sale for many years. It was suffering from decay and neglect, but he said the building has since been extensively renovated. After taking it over in 1995, he said he continued to upgrade the castle and the hotel - but it came at a cost.
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Writing on the hotel website, he said: "Every penny generated goes to the restoration of the castle and estate.
"This work will probably never be finished as constant upgrades require a budget far in excess of that generated by being run as a hotel. However, this castle deserves to be saved, restored and to survive.”
He also faced a costly employment tribunal in 2018 which cost the business £39,000 in unfair dismissal costs.
