A MAN with over 40 years' experience in the leisure industry is now the owner of a Georgian country house hotel.

John Furnish, from Wensleydale, has bought Solberge Hall Hotel at Newby Wiske, near Northallerton, after securing a seven-figure funding deal with Bank of Scotland Corporate.

He is planning to refurbish the hotel and add conference facilities at the back of the property, previously owned by the Best Western chain.

Mr Furnish started his career in the leisure business as a pub landlord. He gradually built up the pub and sold it, and has since then continued buying and selling pubs and hotels for a profit.

He said: "I have worked hard at building up businesses and plan to turn the Solberge Hall Hotel into an even more successful venture thanks to the extension and improved dining proposition."

Craig Ramsay, associate director at Bank of Scotland Corporate in Darlington, said: "John Furnish has spotted potential in pub and hotel businesses all his life. The Solberge Hotel will soon be able to offer more extensive conference facilities and John also plans to build upon the hotel's already excellent reputation for fine dining."