Danesfield House hotel faces winding up petition

The management company of the four-silver-AA-star Danesfield House in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, escaped going into receivership today after facing a winding up petition in London’s High Court for not paying a tax bill.

The barrister for HM Revenue & Customs asked the judge for a 21 day adjournment of its winding up petition for the undisclosed debt to be settled.

In response, Alex Robertson, the hotel’s general manager who attended the hearing on behalf of the two Lebanese directors Wassim Kheireddine and Marwan Kheireddine, asked the High Court’s Insolvency and Companies Court for a 28-day adjournment.

Judge Mark Mullen adjourned the petition until 12 February “for settlement”.

If Danesfield House Hotel Ltd had been wound up today its affairs would have been handed over to an Official Receiver, whose job is to pay off debts by selling any assets and closing the business.

Located within a 65-acre estate, Danesfield House was built as a private family home in 1901. After being requisitioned by the Royal Air Force during World War Two, it was sold to Carnation Foods to be used as its corporate headquarters in 1977. The property was transformed into a luxury country house hotel in 1991.

Robertson, who joined the hotel as general manager in March 2019, told The Caterer after the hearing that he was confident that the issue would be resolved by 12 February. "The issue came about after a mistake we made last year," he said. "Finalising the amount to be paid has been part of the cause of the delay."