Lord Ashcroft’s Devonshire Club set to appoint administrators
A luxury private members’ club co-owned by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft could be on the brink of insolvency after launching a hunt for administrators.
The Devonshire Club, close to Liverpool Street station in the City, has filed notice with the High Court of its intention to appoint an administrator. It has also hired insolvency experts at Duff & Phelps, the Sunday Times reported.
The club, which opened in summer 2017, charges members £2,300 per year for access to its 68-room boutique hotel, brasserie and champagne bar.
The exclusive haunt, unveiled following a £25m makeover of 18th century warehouse buildings on Devonshire Square, offers customers the “luxury and glamour” of a West End club combined with the “style and panache” of the East End.
It has proved popular with celebrities and politicians alike, with Dancing on Ice star Caprice Bourret and Samantha Cameron among the guests pictured there.
Ashcroft, a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party who has amassed a fortune of roughly £1.3bn through his business ventures, was an early investor in the Devonshire Club.
Its latest accounts show the company fell to a pre-tax loss of £5.6m on revenue of £8.1m in 2017.
The members’ club sparked controversy in 2018 when staff were asked to take a cut in their salaries in exchange for a share of the service charge.
The move was widely seen as a bid to reduce the company’s tax bill as national insurance is not payable on tips, while also leaving staff vulnerable to a potential pay cut. The club said staff members were under no obligation to join the scheme.
Since the 2010 General Election Ashcroft has risen to prominence as a pollster, publishing his research online.
Duff & Phelps has been contacted for comment.