Administrators looking to sell Manchester's Ainscow hotel for £8.5m

Administrators are looking to sell the freehold of Manchester's 87-bedroom Ainscow hotel in Salford for £8.5m

The property was originally the home of the Watson & Woodhead Brewery in 1878, before it became a Mackie & Sons Fruit Preserves jam factory in 1972. The Artisan Property Group purchased the property in 2003 and later converted the building into a hotel, which opened in 2014 following a major capital expenditure programme.

However, the group fell into administration last year after being impacted by the industry ramifications from the Grenfell Tower disaster, as several residential buildings owned by the the group had cladded facades.

Matthew Smith, partner in Knight Frank's Hotels team, which has been appointed to sell the property, said: "We are delighted to be acting on behalf of the joint administrators and given the lack of hotels available for sale in the current market we expect the Ainscow hotel will be well received from an array of buyer profiles. The hotel benefits from several value-add opportunities to include the potential to create an additional 57 guest bedrooms and 99 residential apartments, subject to planning permission.

"The north-west of England recorded over £300m of hotel transactions in 2021 and was ranked as the third most liquid region in the UK (excluding London) with Manchester accounted for 73% of this regional activity, highlighting the attractiveness of the region for hotel investment."