THE COMPANY behind the renovation of a historic Richmond hotel is set to be liquidated with debts of more than £230,000.

Best Friend Limited, the trading name for The Fleece Hotel, is to be placed in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation.

The papers reveal there are 71 creditors, including members of staff, suppliers, directors and others, who are owed £239,812.

The company had £6,455 in the bank when it stopped trading. It also had debtors of £5,888 and fixtures and fittings valued at £143,193.88.

However, the proposed liquidator, Gareth Lewis, from Lewis Business Recovery and Insolvency, said it was uncertain how much of the money from the fixtures and fittings and debtors would be realised, and the estimated total shortfall was £233,457.

The documents also show the company made a loss from September 1, 2017 to December 20, 2018 of almost £50,000.

Among the creditors owed money by the hotel are Best Friend Limited directors Peter Coulson and David Colley, who are owed £74,000; HMRC, which is owed £18,238; and Richmondshire District Council, which is owed £6,107.

Another major creditor is Within Reach Developments, the company which redeveloped the building, and leased it to the hotel. The company, which has the same two directors as the hotel, is owed £60,000.

Within Reach has gone into administration.

The hotel opened in May 2018.

A trading history of the company including with the papers states that the hotel trading grew over the first six months, with the hotel almost breaking even by November.

The documents says the pricing and style of food was changed after customer feedback, which resulted in the departure of the general manager, head chef and sous chef.

The report says in consultation with a hotel consultant, they agreed "a number of contracts and purchases which on reflection stretched the company’s cash flow from the start."

The business was put up for sale in November for £1.25m and the directors looked for investors, however uncertainty over Brexit meant investors wanted to wait until the New Year before committing to the project.