Couples 'lose thousands' as wedding venue shuts

[dutchman]

Couples due to get married at a luxury hotel fear they have lost thousands of pounds after it suddenly closed



Staff were told the four-star Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire was to shut with immediate effect on 7 October.

Claire Dye and Kerry Atwood only found out when a relative could not get through to the rural estate to book a room. While Jimmy Jones and Natalie Coley heard about it on social media.

Company directors have not responded to a BBC request for comment.

The Insolvency Service has confirmed a petition has been lodged in the High Court of Justice for leaseholders Wroxall Abbey Estate Ltd to be wound up, to be heard in November.

Ms Dye and Ms Atwood, of Bulkington, were due to get married at the venue in January.

They believe they have lost more than £7,500 which was paid to the venue when they booked their wedding in April.

The couple visited the hotel the weekend before it shut to taste their wedding menu but said they were given no indication anything was wrong.

"We've got friends who have all booked a room via a debit card...I'm angry that someone can do this," said Ms Dye.

Mr Jones and Ms Coley, from Marston Green, said they booked a Peaky Blinders-themed ceremony and celebration at the venue for Christmas 2020 two years ago and paid "a four figure sum".

"To be quite honest we still don't know where we stand... there are a lot more people who I'm willing to bet don't even know," Mr Jones said.

One former staff member, who did not want to be named, said employees were told the hotel was closing at a meeting on 7 October.

"We had absolutely no idea this was going to happen and we're all devastated by it," the source added.

Liverpool-based company Signature Living said it took out a temporary licence agreement to run the venue for eight weeks between August and September, after which the management reverted back to Wroxall Abbey Estate Ltd.

Signature Living said anyone who had booked weddings whilst it was temporarily in charge had been contacted and refunded.