Weddings venue receivers call in hotel company to handle bookings

Patshull Hall, at Burnhill Green near Pattingham, called in administrative receivers BDO last month, leaving 29 weddings in the balance. Bosses have since said they could honour bookings only up until September.

Now, Legacy Hotels are being paid an as yet undisclosed fee for looking after bookings at the venue. BDO says it does not have the expertise in-house to run that side of the business, while trying to remedy its financial woes and secure its long-term viability.

Legacy Hotels' fee will be deducted from the pot available to people owed money by the venue. A spokesperson for BDO said: "We can confirm that specialist hotel and venue management company Legacy Hotels has been appointed to manage the day-to-day running of Patshull Hall.

"This will include co-ordinating the bookings already in place at the hall, as well as any new ones made with the company to be held prior to September 1."

The administration process now under way is aimed at ensuring that those people owed money by the company receive the largest possible amount. The groups who are most likely to be paid in full include the receivers, HM Revenue & Customs and the banks. Any remaining funds would be shared out between trade creditors who have supplied the business with goods and services, and any outstanding wages for employees.

The people most likely to miss out are those that have already paid for weddings. BDO has already confirmed that deposits paid by some couples for their weddings were not passed on to the suppliers for those planned ceremonies, which means that some couples have been asked to pay more than £1,000 extra.