Cherry Orchard hotel lays off 25 staff

A well-known hotel in the south of the Island has announced it’s to close its catering operations..

The bar, restaurant and function rooms are all shutting.

The Cherry Orchard’s management says the business is no longer viable, and it’ll have to lay off its 25 workers.

Apartments, self-catering, long let and swimming pool operations on the site will continue – and in a statement the Port Erin business says prepaid deposits will all be honoured.

The company says a Rent and Rates Appeal Tribunal decision – which said it had overcharged leaseholders £89,000 – has pushed the business over the edge.

Manager Seamus Whelan says: "It is simply impossible for a Hotel business to survive the imposition of such an unjustified set of directions, so we have had no alternative but to close."