This article appeared in the Yorkshire Post on Tuesday 24th April 2007.

Buy-in is the start of grand plan for couple

From left to right: Jeremy and Louise Leeds, Craig Iley, Lester Wilson, and Richard Feltham.

LEEDS-based accountants and business advisers Garbutt & Elliott has acted for the new owners in a management buy-in of Parkmore Hotel, in Yarm, near Middlesbrough, the first stage in a planned chain of hotels across Yorkshire and the North-East.

The deal will see the new owners, the husband-and-wife team of Jeremy and Louise Leeds, take control of the independent, family-run Parkmore hotel in Eaglescliffe, near Yarm.

The previous owner, Brian Reed will retain a 25 per cent holding and will play a role in the day-to-day running of the hotel as a consultant.

Mr Leeds said: "The Parkmore should provide the ideal stepping-stone to achieve our ultimate goal of opening a group of up to five boutique hotels in Yorkshire and the North-East."

Mr Leeds has overseen the opening of many hotels across the country, including the Roxburghe and Macdonald Holyrood Hotels in Edinburgh, and the Brooklands Hotel in Barnsley. Until recently, Mr Leeds was managing director of the Chevin Lodge Hotel in Otley.

Originally the home of a wealthy ship-owner, the Parkmore Hotel was built in 1896 and has been owned and run by the Reed family since 1967.

Also involved in the deal were Craig Iley, senior business banking manager from Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, who provided funding for the deal, and Lester Wilson, corporate partner at Leeds-based law firm Watson Burton, who provided legal advice.