LEISURE entrepreneur Billy Lowe has sold his Saltire Taverns business in a multi-million pound deal.
The transaction sees the Le Monde and Angel’s Share boutique hotels in Edinburgh moving into the portfolio of the Glendola Leisure Group.
The 55-year-old Mr Lowe said he felt it was the right time to sell, describing the deal as “a good one for both parties”.
Mr Lowe is staying on as a consultant to the business for a period and is adamant he is not retiring.
However he does intend to spend more time with his family and is also planning to travel to the United States and Australia.
He said: “It is certainly not a retirement but I don’t think I will be coming back on this scale again.
“That is not to say I won’t do other things in this industry but this is the third time I have sold out.
“I have enjoyed mentoring younger people in the industry so I would like to do a bit of that.”
Mr Lowe had sold the Frankenstein pub outlets to Glendola in 2011. It still retains that brand in Edinburgh and also has a presence in Glasgow where it owns Waxy O’Connors, the Horton, Alston Bar & Beef and Gordon Street Coffee.
Its sister company, Carlton Hotel Collection, is planning to open a 98-bed hotel on Market Street in Edinburgh.
Mr Lowe founded Thistle Inns with his cousin Kenny Waugh junior in 1988 before selling it for around £20m in 1997 to Scottish Brewers. Its portfolio included well known watering holes such as The Malt Shovel, Biddy Mulligans, Sneeky Pete’s and The Jekyll and Hyde.
Mr Waugh went on to found Festival Inns and now has a senior role in G1 Group.
Mr Lowe set up Saltire using his proceeds from the Thistle Inns sale and built up a group which included The Rutland Hotel, Espionage nightclubs and Frankenstein’s pubs.
The nightclubs and hotel were sold off in 2006 as Mr Lowe concentrated his efforts on the flagship Le Monde venue.
That was a £12m transformation of a former Standard Life office on the capital’s George Street into an 18-bed boutique hotel, restaurant, bar and nightclub which opened in 2006.
Mr Lowe’s group purchased The Hudson hotel, located in the West End of Edinburgh, in 2011 from KPMG after Festival Inns went into administration.
The Hudson was refurbished and subsequently rebranded as the Angel’s Share.
Saltire has 48 rooms in Edinburgh with around 180 staff.
In April last year Saltire was handed substantial backing by Allied Irish Bank to look for acquisitions with Mr Lowe suggesting he was hopeful of building a portfolio with around 200 rooms.
Mr Lowe said he had looked but failed to find anything he felt passionately about so had decided to exit the business “at the top”.
He added: “Both businesses are going really well. The food and beverage business in both of them are really enjoying great sales at the moment.
“I’ve had 35 phenomenal years in the trade and these two units are the best things I have ever done.
“It was quite an emotive decision but I definitely believe it is the right one for me and my family.”
Alex Salussolia, managing director at family-owned Glendola, said: “We currently operate a number of businesses in Scotland and we are delighted to add to our portfolio by taking over these successful operations. We intend to work with Billy going forward and use our expertise in the hotel and leisure sector to build on his success.”
Saltire had turnover of £7.4m in the 12 months to January 2014 with pre-tax profit of £6,307, according to its most recently available accounts.
Mr Lowe is retaining four apartments on George Street.
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