Folio Hotels buys ex-Swallow hotels in the Highlands

Folio Hotels has snapped up three Highland properties formerly owned by the collapsed Swallow group.

Folio, which was formed in 2005 by two ex-Corus Hotel directors, has agreed to take on the Ballachulish Hotel, Oban's Caledonian Hotel and the Isles of Glencoe Hotel and Leisure Club, protecting the hotels from closure.

Nicolas Crawley, chairman of Folio Hotels, said he planned to invest "significant capital across each of the three hotels as part of the company's overall strategy to provide four star country house hotels with highly individual service".

"The three hotels are great news for Folio Hotels but perhaps more importantly they are also great news for the local communities in which these hotels operate," he told the Scotsman.

"All three are key destination hotels in their own right and are among the best of what Scotland has to offer. We intend to keep it this way by not only investing in the properties but more importantly in staff and management.

"We plan to spearhead a multimillion-pound investment programme across the company's Scottish portfolio," Crawley added.

Swallow collapsed in September after massive losses. It had leased 671 sites across UK and employed around 7,300 staff.

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By Daniel Thomas

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