Company behind Wellington Park Hotel liquidated
The company behind Belfast’s Wellington Park Hotel has been liquidated and its operation transferred to another firm.
Bosses at the south Belfast venue said the decision had been made in the wake of the unprecedented impact of Covid-19.
A statement added: “The directors of Wellington Park Hotel Ltd have taken the decision to liquidate the company. This is a direct result of the unprecedented pressures of the coronavirus pandemic on the hospitality industry.
“In order to safeguard jobs and protect the future trading business of the hotel as it reopens on 24th May, the directors have transferred the operation to Dunadry Development Company Ltd.”
Last year hotels here were able to trade for an average of just 230 days.
A study by ASM Chartered Accountants also revealed the lowest demand for bedrooms across Northern Ireland in decades, with average bedroom occupancy of just 30%.
This was on the back of a watershed year in 2019 when occupancy rates averaged 79.3%.
The family-owned Mooney Group, which operates the Wellington Park Hotel, also owns the Armagh City Hotel and The Botanic Inn .
It was built up by hotelier Cathal Mooney and his wife Margaret and previously included the Dunadry Hotel in Templepatrick, from which the controlling company takes its name.
After their deaths, in 2009 and 2020 respectively, their children continued to run the family business.
Dunadry Development Company Ltd owns the freehold of the Wellington Park.
