THE Cathedral Hotel and Old Mill in Salisbury have gone into administration, remaining closed until further notice.

At the end of last week notices were put in windows of both sites confirming the closures, but without explanation.

Popular weekend spots, with The Cathedral Hotel along Milford Street - a major part of the city's night time economy - and The Old Mill considered a go-to location in the sun, the sudden closures were a shock to Salisbury residents.

Tommy Roberts, who manages both sites under Old Sarum Hotels Ltd, has today, July 21, confirmed to the Journal that the administration process is underway.

“There was a lot done to make sure this didn’t happen, but ultimately it is now happening,” he said.

“We would like to thank the customers over the last 15 years, and also all of our staff that are no longer with jobs.

“We’re trying to help them back into employment, but we wish them all the best of luck for the future.”

Tommy expressed there was “a lot of disappointment” that the businesses had closed, praising both establishments for “being good for very different purposes”.

"Closing these big places will be felt in Salisbury," he said, "as both are popular for their own reasons.

"The Cathedral [Hotel] has always been a very popular part of the night time circuit, a venue for sport [viewing], it has always been busy on a Saturday night."

Tommy added he is currently in the process of cancelling hotel bookings.

A business will commonly enter administration if it’s in debt and can’t pay the money it owes.

An administrator is appointed to try and rescue a business, either through selling it on or its assets, before chance of liquidation.

“It is now in [the administrator’s] hands, it is down to them what they want to do,” Tommy added.

“Again, I want to wish good luck and thanks to our staff, like other hospitality businesses they have rode it out during Novichok, and then been so adaptable to lockdowns and restrictions during Covid-19 [pandemic], I want to wish them all the best.”

Amanda Newbery, of Knightwood Leisure, which runs several leisure businesses in the city, said: “The Salisbury night time economy needs more venues to create vibrancy not less. So I really hope this is temporary.

“It’s time to encourage anyone interested in starting up in hospitality or leisure to be proactive now.

“There should be lots of opportunities around town and so it’s a good time to start looking and negotiating with landlords and agents.”

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