Signature Living to sell 30 James Street and the Shankly hotel for £57m

Signature Living is to sell 30 James Street and the Shankly hotel in Liverpool for £57m.

The group said that the sales would allow it to step up its expansion plans for a further 10 hotels, which will see its staff numbers double from 1,400 to 3,000 in the next 18 months.

Last week Signature Living announced it had bought out all of its overseas investors in 30 James Street from an initial five-year investment plan for £7.9m. The hotel will now be sold with a price tag of £17m. The Shankly hotel is valued at £40m.

Signature Living said that it would open six hotels by the end of the year including Loyola Hall (St Helens), the Dixie Dean hotel (Liverpool), the Shankly hotel (Preston), Cavern Walks hotel (Liverpool), the George Best (Belfast) and the Wareing hotel (Belfast). The company also recently announced its plans to convert a former presidential yacht into a £5m, 632-berth floating beach club cruise ship to be moored in Ibiza.

Commenting on the sale of the two hotels, chairman Lawrence Kenwright said: "The sale of 30 James Street and the Shankly hotel represent a significant milestone in the success of Signature Living for myself and Katie.

"As hotel developers and operators we took on 30 James Street five years ago as a derelict building."

He added: "We now operate 30 James Street as a highly successful award-winning boutique hotel that regularly achieves 99.4% occupancy, making it one of the most successful hotels in Liverpool. We are extremely proud of what we have achieved and I feel that our work is complete now on 30 James Street."

Signature Living group currently operates a hotel and apartment portfolio valued at more than £350m.