Administrators 'still negotiating' with buyers for Liverpool's Shankly hotel

Administrators have given an update on the ongoing sale of the Shankly hotel in Liverpool.

 

The 125-bedroom hotel entered administration in 2020 amid the wider collapse of its parent company, Signature Group.

 

The freehold of Shankly, which featured in the 2019 BBC documentary The Grand Party Hotel, was put on the market in 2021.

 

The hotel offers ’Party Room’-themed suites sleeping up to 24 people complete with whirlpool baths, kitchenettes and flamingo decorations.

 

However, the sale process has stalled due to the complexity of interests in the hotel.

 

In its latest administrators’ report, financial advisory firm Kroll said: “It should be noted there are still parties that retain a serious interest in purchasing the hotel and negotiations are ongoing with these parties.

 

“The joint administrators are in the process of providing additional information to these interested parties in order to assist in due diligence to formulate a plan to enable a sale of the hotel.”

 

The report said administrators were also working on “a few other potential exit strategies” to give investors a fair deal.

 

The Shankly has continued to trade throughout the sale and administration process.

 

Wider investigation

 

Signature Group, known as Signature Living, operated for more than seven years, and turned historic UK buildings into luxury hotels, apartments and offices.

 

Its developments included the Coal Exchange hotel in Cardiff, the Shankly and Dixie Dean football-themed hotels in Liverpool, and the George Best hotel in Belfast, which never opened.

 

Investors loaned money to Signature Group or purchased hotel rooms in its properties and were promised between an 8% and 15% return on their investment.

 

However, the business collapsed into administration in 2020 with losses of up to £140m.

 

Bedroom investors were owed around £1.3m from the Shankly hotel alone when it fell into administration, according to documents filed with Companies House.

 

Lawrence and Katie Kenwright, the current and former directors of Signature Group, were declared bankrupt on 30 January 2024.

 

In February, the Serious Fraud Office raided three residences in Merseyside and Greater Manchester in connection with a suspected £140m fraud involving 1,000 investors linked to the company.

 

Four people arrested on 21 February were released pending further investigation.

 

The administration process for Signature Living has twice been granted two-year extensions by the County Court and is now expected to end in April 2025.