A Cheshire hotel has entered liquidation after the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and increased competition impacted its trading.
Paddington House Hotel in Warrington was run by OPH Hotels, which has appointed Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery to oversee the process.
The company was established by sole director Deepak Handa in July 2017 but started to hit difficulties at the end of 2018.
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The hotel was forced to close during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 but losses started to mount as it was not able to generate income.
Staff were made redundant at the end of the government's furlough scheme and the hotel never reopened to customers.
Lisa Moxon of Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery said: "Paddington House Hotel was run by OPH Hotels, a company set up in July 2017 by Deepak Handa who was sole director.
"It began to experience trading difficulties at the end of 2018 due to increased competition following the opening of a Premier Inn in Warrington town centre and the refurbishment of the nearby Holiday Inn.
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"The situation was compounded in March 2020 by the pandemic. The hotel was forced to close during the lockdowns and although staff were retained on the furlough scheme, it was unable to generate income so losses started to mount. When the furlough scheme came to an end in September, the staff were made redundant. The hotel never reopened.
"The director met with Dow Schofield Watts in late 2022 and the business has now been placed into creditor’s voluntary liquidation, a process where a director chooses to voluntarily close the business."
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