Historic Fife boutique hotel placed in liquidation

Ken Pattulo and Kenny Craig of Begbies Traynor were appointed as joint liquidators of the Highlander Hotel Ltd – which traded as the Lomond Hills Hotel in Freuchie – on March 6, 2023.

A downturn in trade and “very difficult trading conditions during the challenging winter season” have been cited among the reasons for the village hotel’s liquidation. As a result, the hotel has now ceased trading and all 17 staff have been made redundant.

Liquidators hope to be able to sell the property in due course and to see it operating again with new owners in the future.

The Lomond Hills Hotel, which sits at the foot of the Kingdom’s Lomond Hills, is an 18th century converted coaching inn which dates back to 1733. With 24 bedrooms, as well as a restaurant, a public bar and a leisure centre, it was once a popular wedding venue.

Like much of the hospitality sector the business has been impacted by the cost of living crisis, seeing a downturn in trade as people have cut their luxury spend. The drop in occupancy, combined with the challenge of Covid-19 lockdowns in recent years, led to cash flow issues, making it unviable for the business to continue to trade.

Thomas McKay, partner at Begbies Traynor in Scotland, said: “Like many boutique hotels in small villages, the Lomond Hills Hotal has experienced very difficult trading conditions during the challenging winter season. Facing a perfect storm of financial pressures, the directors, in consultation with the business’ lenders, made the decision to enter liquidation as the hotel was no longer able to trade. We are currently working with local government bodies to support to support former employees by ensuring they receive appropriate redundancy advice.

"After almost 300 years as a coaching inn, we plan to appoint agents to present the hotel for sale in early spring and hope that it will again be able to operate in the hands of new owners.”

The joint liquidators say they are assisting the former staff by helping them to register any claims to the Redundancy Payments Office and access support services from PACE.