A SHANKLIN hotel has closed following the collapse of Carlauren Group.

Administrators of Carlauren Group have announced the closure of three hotels within its Heritage Hotel Group, including Auckland House Hotel.

Headway Hotel in Morecambe will also fully close, and Cumbria’s Lambert Manor is closing the main hotel, although the lodges and pool facilities will continue to operate.

In total, 64 staff have been made redundant across the business, including 20 at Auckland House Hotel.

The news follows the appointment of Quantuma and Duff and Phelps as joint administrators over the Carlauren Group of companies with a remit to investigate the disappearance of more than £50m of investors’ money.

Carl Jackson, managing partner at Quantuma, said: “We were appointed joint administrators on November 28 and have been working tirelessly to stabilise the position of the group.

“With regret it has been necessary to make the difficult decision to close three of the Heritage Hotel properties.

"The seasonal nature of these properties means heavy trading losses are forecast for the first quarter of the year, meaning any profits made elsewhere in the group would be negated.

“Our immediate priority is to ensure those affected receive the appropriate support required to make the necessary claims from the Redundancy Payments Service.

"We will be closely managing the group's trading position and will possibly seek to take steps to reopen some or all these properties as appropriate in due course.

“In the meantime the remaining properties in the group will continue to trade, securing the ongoing employment of the remaining 200 staff.”