ONE OF Wexford’s best-known hotels has gone into receivership. Kieran Walshe of KPMG was appointed yesterday to Whites hotel, which is situated in Wexford town.
In a statement, the hotel said it would continue to trade as normal during the receivership and that all customer bookings would be honoured. The statement said that it hoped to announce a new operator shortly. The company said it was confident that such a move would enable it to continue to trade successfully and profitably in the future. The hotel’s 170 staff will continue to be employed.
The history of Whites hotel stretches back to the 18th century. In 1997 the hotel was bought by Michael Burke. It closed in 2004 to undergo extensive redevelopment, reopening in 2006. The redevelopment was carried out by a company, Balmaford, which featured the same shareholders and directors as Whites hotel.
A number of high-profile figures invested in the redevelopment of the hotel as part of a tax incentive scheme, including Glen Dimplex chairman Martin Naughten and Davy executive David Shubotham.
They were among 20 investors assembled by Davy who put €9.6 million between them into the €42 million project.
Balmaford signed a contract for € 42.1 million for the construction of a 157-room hotel. On completion of the hotel, the co-ownership group was to pay that amount to the developer.
The investors were then able to claim the € 42.1 million expended on the construction of the hotel against their personal tax liabilities over the seven years following the completion of the hotel, according to the details of the deal. Last year the main contractor on the hotel redevelopment project, Cleary Doyle Contracting Ltd, secured a court judgment for €3.29 million against Balmaford in an uncontested case where the building firm said it and 60 sub-contractors were owed the money.
