Recession still ‘Blowing a Gale’ for Blackpool Businesses

Posted on 2 June, 2014 by Cliff Goodwin

As the recession blows itself out across most of the country one of Britain’s traditional holiday resorts has yet to recover from the financial storm with more than 100 of its leisure properties up for sale — at a collective price tag of £20m.

Recession-still-Blowing-a-Gale-for-Blackpool-Businesses

Scores of hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, bars and takeaways in the heart of Blackpool are being off-loaded as businesses either collapse or struggle to cope with fierce competition and falling visitor numbers.

Hardest hit are the seaside town’s hoteliers, many of whom are facing a long hard season attempting to fill rooms. Others have simply given up, which accounts for the 73 hotels — with a collective value of £17.3m — already on the estate agents’ books.

Among the better known are: The Kensington Hotel, on Blackpool’s South Promenade, with a £1m asking price; the Bedford Hotel, on New South Promenade, which is on the market for £975,000, and the Silversands Hotel, up for sale at £875,000.

A lack of tourists is not the only problem. “One of the reasons we’re struggling to sell hotels is because the banks are still unwilling to lend people money,” explains Paul Crossley, managing director at Kenricks estate agents. “There are still willing clients, but a serious shortfall in funds available.”

Further down the scale, the attraction of Blackpool’s legendary boarding houses has also disappeared, for both owners and potential guests. Jonny Cuddy, of Michael Cuddy estate agents, has several on his books. “There seems to be an increasing number of vacant guest houses that people are looking to get rid,” he said. “There just doesn’t seem to be a market for people running guest houses any more.

“The last four, five or six years have probably taken their toll on most guest house owners  and a lot now want to sell up and release what equity they can,” Cuddy added. “But it’s a Catch 22 situation, do you hold on in the hope some sort of trade comes back or cut your losses and sell up?”

Many pubs and nightspots — kept afloat during the recession by stag and hen night revellers — are now on offer and attracting just as little attention. The Frenchmans Cove, on South King Street, is valued at £275,000, and Central Drive’s George Hotel is on the market for £150,000. On Clifton Street, the Copacabana, and Progress Social Club, on nearby Exchange Street, bring the total value for all four properties to £619,950.

One publican blamed the lack of “vision” among banks and commercial lenders for the steady decline of the resort’s nightspots. “Like all businesses we have to change and improve to keep up,” she said, “and for that we need money, but no one seems to want to invest in this town any more. The recession may have ended for the rest of the country, but for Blackpool it’s still blowing a gale.”

Claire Smith is president of the Hotelier’s Association Stay Blackpool. “The for sale figures don’t surprise me at all because there’s always a high number of Blackpool hotels up for sale,” she said. “I would imagine that in the current economic climate there’s a bit more movement, and a lot of hotels are up for sale because people are retiring or wanting to move.”




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Recent Posts

Interest Rates Impact on Commercial Property

Commercial Property Investment Outlook for 2023

The best places to stay on the Riviera

The latest property data has identified Newquay as the fastest property seller’s market in the UK

Investing in your garden can increase your property’s value

French Riviera temping high-end homebuyers

How can the ownership rights of my commercial property impact a business sale?

Should I incorporate virtual property viewings permanently?

Investment expected to increase across Asia-Pacific in 2021

UK property industry slows as the conclusion of tax break looms

BNP Paribas cautioned investors on Friday as debt-trading bonanza that increased its earnings this past year

Over 300,000 property purchases fell through in 2020 – we show the most frequent motives and the best way to get your house sale back on track

House Prices in the Capital Surpass £500,000

Optimism from the Bank of England’s chief economist

The most expensive commercial properties.

Businesses operating from shared premises will miss out on grants