Stanneylands hotel sold to Manchester pub operator

The newly renovated Stanneylands hotel has been sold to Manchester pub operator JW Lees off an asking price of £6.25m.

The 52-bedroom hotel in Wilmslow, Cheshire was purchased in 2015 by the Mere Group, owned by Mark Boler and Gary Corbett, for £4.15m, and underwent a £1.7m refurbishment before being relaunched in April 2017.

New owner JW Lees is growing its hospitality business in the North West, which also includes the newly refurbished Alderley Edge hotel and the newly acquired Boddington Arms in the Ribble Valley on top of its portfolio of inns and pubs.

William Lees-Jones, managing director of JW Lees, said: "When we saw that Stanneylands was available, we immediately knew that it would be a great asset for us to acquire and we believe that we can add value to the business by welcoming it to our growing hotels and inns business headed up by Tony Spencer.

"We now have 287 bedrooms under company management across 12 sites and our hotels and inns division is an increasingly important part of our business."

Ryan Lynn, director at Christie & Co's Manchester office, who handled the sale, added: "We wish JW Lees the best of luck with the new addition to their portfolio and Mark Boler, Gary Corbett & Finance Director, Ian O'Toole the best of luck in their next venture, after successfully completing on the sale of the Mere Resort alongside Stanneylands."

The group sold its other property, the Mere Golf Resort & Spa, to Ejarat Holdings, a Gulf-based investor, in January. The resort had been owned by the Boler family for the last 35 years. Chairman Corbett now assumes the role of chief executive, with Boler remaining as a non-executive director.

Lynn added: "Originally, the Mere Group decided to sell the property to release cash in order to build more rooms onto their other hotel, the Mere in Knutsford. Since we started marketing the Stanneylands, the Mere Group then agreed a deal and sold the Mere separately without an agent being involved."

The Stanneylands hotel re-opens following £1.7m renovation >>

Stanneylands hotel sold to Mere golf resort for £4.15m >>

John Scott appointed general manager of Alderley Edge hotel >>

Videos from The Caterer archives

Are you looking for a new role? See all the current hospitality vacancies available with The Caterer Jobs