Blair Nimmo, KPMG

Twelve people have lost their jobs as the prominent Fife hotel closed its doors for good last weekend.

Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs of KPMG have been appointed as joint administrators of Ahaven Hotel Limited, the company which owns the once-thriving Abbotshall Road venue.

They have confirmed there was “no other viable option” other than to cease trading with immediate effect.

The Courier revealed on Wednesday, that the owners Bobby and Gina Kumar closed the hotel with little warning on Sunday night, which prompted concerns from people whose bookings have been cancelled or who have paid deposits for forthcoming events.

Blair Nimmo, joint administrator and KPMG’s UK head of restructuring, said: “Unfortunately, due to challenging trading conditions and cash flow difficulties, Ahaven Hotel Limited was unable to continue trading. This has resulted in the closure of the Beveridge Park Hotel and the consequent redundancies which have been announced.”

He added: “We will work with all affected employees and the relevant government agencies to ensure a full range of support is available. We will also now be looking for a purchaser for the hotel and its assets.”

The owners had previously sought to address their financial problems through a range of measures, including staff cuts and investing more of their own money into the business.

The administrators revealed that cash flow problems had led to substantial creditor arrears which left the owners no option but to close.

The hotel is expected to remain closed for the foreseeable future, although a spokesperson for OYO has raised hopes it might be able to re-open.

The spokesperson said: “There was a high volume of future bookings already confirmed and OYO would love to keep the hotel operational to fulfil those future stays. Ultimately, this decision will rest with the administrators, so we cannot comment further at this point.”