Village Hotels in the red after takeover by Blackstone
Village Hotels fell into the red in the year it was taken over by US private equity giant Blackstone, it has been revealed.
The Warrington-headquartered chain slumped to a pre-tax loss of £23.5m for 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House. The firm has said the loss was mainly due to exceptional costs.
The loss comes after the business achieved a pre-tax profit of £12.2m in its prior 12 months. However, that total was half what it achieved in 2022.
The new results also show Village Hotels’ turnover increased in 2024 from £260.8m to £278.1m.
In the year the average number of people employed by Village Hotels decreased from 4,794 to 4,719.
The reduction follows the company adding more than 450 jobs in 2023 and nearly 1,000 in 2022.
Village Hotels had previously cut 870 roles in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Village Hotel pays out huge dividend
The results have been published after funds managed by Blackstone snapped up the company from affiliates of KSL Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum in June 2024.
Village Hotels owns and operates 33 sites across the UK and had been put up for auction in February last year.
The deal for Village Hotels was agreed after Blackstone acquired Bourne Leisure in 2021, the owner of Haven Holiday Parks, and Warner Hotels.
Despite entering the red, the hotel chain issued a dividend of £41.4m in the year.
A statement signed off by the board said: “The group’s key performance indicators clearly indicate its strong performance at every level from a financial and commercial perspective.”
In the aftermath of its takeover, Village Hotels announced an investment plan which would see more than 50 per cent of its portfolio upgraded.
In October last year it also obtained a new senior credit facility and mezzanine credit facility.
The company said these deals would “further support the group’s liquidity and cash flow”.
A spokesperson for the chain said: “2024 marked a year of good strategic progress for Village Hotel Club, with increased revenue, memberships and room occupancy demonstrating the continued strength of Village’s unique ‘everything under one roof’ proposition.
“We are continuing to build on this success in 2025, executing our major investment programme and M&A strategy to further scale Village’s UK footprint.”