Virgin Hotels Glasgow shut four months after opening and told 130 staff the same morning

The 240-room Virgin hotel on Clyde Street, Glasgow, opened in August 2023 on the banks of the River Clyde. On Tuesday 19 December, four months later, staff were called to a 10:30 meeting after a normal morning shift and told by the Virgin Hotels chief executive that the hotel was closing immediately, with the loss of 130 jobs. Executive housekeeper Zornitsa Koleva said her team of 28 had been given its daily tasks as usual that morning.

The building's owner, Lloyds Developments Limited, with which Virgin Hotels has a management contract, had been put into administration by its lenders on 1 December. The directors of V Hotel Glasgow Limited, the employer and operating company, were then advised to place it into liquidation. Virgin Hotels said Virgin Group had tried to find solutions, including offering to buy the hotel to keep it open, but the lenders did not accept its offers.

Workers were to be paid to the end of December and receive owed tips, overtime and holiday pay, with support for redundancy claims. Unite Hospitality's Bryan Simpson called it 'outrageous', said staff got no notice at all although terminating more than 100 workers legally requires 45 days, and said the union planned legal action that could make the employer liable for up to three months' wages.

130 jobs lost four months after opening; operating company placed into liquidation; union plans legal action over no notice

The hotel's owner, Lloyds Developments, was put into administration by its lenders on 1 December, leaving the operator without a landlord able to carry the business.

Virgin Hotels held a management contract rather than the property, so the operating company's directors were advised to liquidate once the owner failed.

The lenders did not accept Virgin Group's offers to buy the hotel and keep it open.

Staff received no notice, which the union says breaches the 45-day requirement for redundancies of more than 100 workers.

A management contract on a building you do not own ties your staff's jobs to the owner's lenders. Unfunded landlords can end a launch in weeks, and a no-notice closure adds a legal bill.

V Hotel Glasgow Limited was to enter liquidation within weeks, with FRP Advisory's Sarah Cook supporting the process. Staff were to be paid up to 31 December and helped with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service. Unite said it planned legal action; the BBC article does not report an outcome. Virgin Hotels said it was 'very disappointed' by the lenders' decision.