THE Courthouse restaurant and hotel has closed after owners Flat Cap Hotels has fallen into administration.
The announcement has saddened the local community as this iconic building is regarded as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Knutsford.
Brothers Oliver and Dominic Heywood founded the company in 2015 to ‘safeguard and cherish’ Grade II listed venues in Cheshire.
The company’s other two businesses The Vicarage at Cranage and The Bridge in Prestbury are still open.
The former Knutsford Crown Court building was transformed into a cocktail bar, restaurant, event venue and boutique hotel after a multi-million pound refurbishment.
Sadly, the hotel ceased trading on Monday.
Insolvency practitioners Begbies Traynor Central LLP have been appointed as administrators.
The shock closure has left people with bookings for private events and family celebrations facing uncertainty.
Couples planning to celebrate their weddings this year are frantically trying to find alternative venues.
Knutsford Beer Festival was to have taken place at The Courthouse in April but has now managed to secure an alternative venue at Egerton Place.
Festival chairman Andrew Malloy said: "Like many people in Knutsford, all of us were saddened this week to receive notification from the Courthouse that it was closing its doors.
"Our thoughts go out to the owners and employees who worked so hard to give Knutsford another great venue, and to those companies and couples who had events booked there this year.
"We have been extremely fortunate that our good friends at MBOSS, the property management company that owns Egerton Place, have come to our rescue."
Adam Keppel-Green, clerk of Knutsford Town Council, said: “It is an extremely challenging time to operate a business, and this is especially true for hospitality.
“It is incredibly saddening to see a local business enter administration and our thoughts are with the staff and all those affected by its closure.”
An ambitious bid to renovate the hotel were unveiled in March last year.
Plans to convert prison cells beneath the building into hotel bedrooms and install a new rooftop restaurant were in the pipeline.
A training kitchen was set to be created in the basement for chef to hone their culinary knowledge and expertise.
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