The privately owned St Andrews property was acquired by Bernard Eastwood’s firm from the McLachlan family on October 24 for an undisclosed sum.

The purchase follows the acquisition of one of Northern Irelands best loved hotels, The Bushmills Inn, earlier this year by the grandson of the late boxing promoter Barney Eastwood,, making this the second property in the Marram Hotels portfolio.

Set the heart of the home of golf, close neighbours include the renowned University of St Andrews and world-famous Old Course. The group plans to operate the three-star rated Ardgowan Hotel in its current form, with the existing team in situ.

Kathryn Robinson, Investment Director at Wirefox, said: “As an iconic golfing hotel, it’s a great time for us to be adding the Ardgowan Hotel to our growing portfolio, with all indicators pointing towards a bumper year for golf enthusiasts off the back of The Open.

“Welcoming the current staff to Wirefox’s extended team, while continuing to trade, will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of the business and continue to provide the much-loved service guests have become accustomed to. We’re grateful that the McLachlan family have agreed to work with us to ensure a smooth transition and we look forward to acting as custodian in the months and years ahead.”

Housed in a B-listed Georgian townhouse, designed by Scottish architect George Rae, the hotel comprises of 29 comfortable en suite bedrooms, with a further seven en suite rooms in a section of the property dating back to 1820. The hotel’s Playfair’s Restaurant and Steakhouse enjoys an excellent reputation, having been awarded an AA Rosette every year since 2015, alongside the hotel’s increasingly popular bar and outdoor terrace.

Welcoming confirmation of the sale, Roy McLachlan, Managing Director of The Ardgowan Hotel, said: “It’s a pleasure to be handing over the operation and ownership of the Hotel to such a professional group. The Hotel has enjoyed many years of excellent performance due to its wonderful staff and I am convinced that both the staff and the Hotel will enjoy a very bright future.”

The post NI’s Wirefox investment company acquires St Andrews hotel appeared first on Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade.

The post Mid and East Antrim food and drinks manufacturers team up with Scottish counterparts appeared first on Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade.

Initially, the restrictions were to cover all licensed premises, although cafes without a licence could stay open until 6pm ‘to support social isolation’. But at lunchtime yesterday, the First Minister introduced an exemption for licensed cafes, indicating that they could stay open providing no alcohol was served.

That has led businesses in the region to begin question how a ‘café’ is defined. Many owners say that they don’t know whether they are allowed to open or not, leading Scottish trade bodies to decry the existing situation as ‘dysfunctional’.

James Withers, the chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, said yesterday that the problems could have been avoided if the government had consulted with the industry before introducing the new restrictions.

‘Had we been approached even on Monday we could have worked through this in time for a Wednesday announcement,’ he said. He also labelled as ‘madness’ a decision not to allow licensed restaurants to remain open without selling alcohol.

Speaking early this morning, Mr Leitch addressed the distinction between a restaurant and a cafe:

‘It’s not a neat division, but most institutions know which they are. What we’re trying to do here is curb hospitality in a way that stops households inter-mixing, particularly in the evening, but also sometimes during the day in the central belt. But we want the social isolation exemption, people who use cafes, especially the elderly, single parents, those with kids who can’t have people in their houses right now, we want them to see each other but very, very safely.’

The post Confusion reigns as strict new measures loom for Scottish hospitality appeared first on Licensed & Catering News (LCN) - News Coverage from the Local Trade.