Staincliffe Hotel company goes into liquidation

Cliffe Hotels Ltd, registered to The Cliff in Seaton Carew, has been wound up following a hearing at the High Court of Justice in London earlier this week.

Hartlepool Borough Council put in a petition to wind up the company as a creditor, with a Grimsby-based solicitors Wilkin Chapman LLP listed as the petitioner. Both said the matter has now been passed on to the Official Receiver for an enquiry.

That could involve an investigation into the causes of failure, as well as the conduct of directors.

When contacted, the authority would only say: "Hartlepool Borough Council can confirm that the Cliffe Hotel Ltd has been liquidated today."

The current manager of the hotel said it is already been run by Chaytor Leisure Ltd, which has the option to purchase the property.

Paul Jones, general manager, confirmed Cliffe Hotels was voluntarily struck off through Companies House, which shows papers were signed on August 20.

Documents dated for Tuesday confirmed it would be dissolved and struck off the register.

The files for Chaytor Leisure Ltd, which was set up in June, show Amanda Jane Fletcher as the sole officer – she was listed as a director of Cliffe Hotels Ltd alongside Shaun Michael Montgomery, who held the same position.

As previously reported by the Mail, the hotel had to apply for a new licence after it was found the previous licence holder had gone bankrupt, which meant the permission had become invalid.

Mr Jones, who is running the business under the title the New Staincliffe Hotel, said: “This company had it before the court hearing.

“It’s never been closed, all that has happened is there has been a change of operating company, that comes from the receiver, with the option to buy.

“We just want to get on and trade.

“There’s ongoing work, we’ve been decorating rooms, so there are limited rooms at the moment while the work is going on, and we’ve also been doing some work to a fire escape, but that was from the past.”There’s a lot of progress being made at the moment, but the rooms are there, the restaurant and food is as normal and we’ve been getting five-star reviews for the meals on Facebook.

“It’s a beautiful building overlooking the sea and people should support the fact that it’s here and we’re doing something with it.”