Issue - meetings

RESOLVED that:

1.       the Director of Commercial and Investment, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Governance, the Head of Finance, the Chair of the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee and the Portfolio Holder for Finance, be authorised to enter into all agreements necessary to transfer the lease of the hotel premises at London Road from Travelodge to a new operator and to enter into an agreement with that new operator as set out in the Part 2, Redhill, Lease Arrangements – Autumn 2020 - Exempt report; and

2.       the transfer of the lease of the hotel premises at London Road to a new operator be exempt from the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules for the reasons set out in the Part 2, Redhill, Lease Arrangements – Autumn 2020 - Exempt report.

Councillor T Archer, Executive Member for Investment and Companies, introduced the Redhill, Lease Arrangements – Autumn 2020 report seeking authority to transfer the lease of a hotel in London Road, Redhill, from its existing operator to a new operator.  Explaining the hotel formed part of Warwick Quadrant and was owned by the Council and leased to Aviva and subsequently leased-back to the Council in 2015 to allow partial redevelopment of the site.

The hotel was leased from the Council in 2017 for 25 years.  Following the closure of the hotel during the Covid-19 crisis, the operator entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement and the Council had received a proposal to transfer the lease to another branded operator and this was considered to represent a better potential to ensure the hotel’s ongoing viability and to retain its contribution to the wellbeing and economic prosperity of Redhill, as well as preserving and improving an income stream that made a significant contribution to the Council’s objective to be financially self-sustaining.

Clerk’s Note:        At this point in the meeting, agenda item 5 (Redhill, Lease Arrangement – Autumn 2020) was adjourned so that the exempt information, agenda item 8 (Redhill, Lease Arrangement – Autumn 2020 – Exempt), could be considered ahead of making a decision.

The minutes of the meeting reflect the order of business listed on the published agenda, not the order taken during the meeting.

On conclusion of agenda item 8, the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee returned to agenda item 5 and:

RESOLVED that:

1.       the Director of Commercial and Investment, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Governance, the Head of Finance, the Chair of the Commercial Ventures Executive Sub-Committee and the Portfolio Holder for Finance, be authorised to enter into all agreements necessary to transfer the lease of the hotel premises at London Road from Travelodge to a new operator and to enter into an agreement with that new operator as set out in the Part 2, Redhill, Lease Arrangements – Autumn 2020 - Exempt report; and

2.       an exemption to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules for the reasons set out in the Part 2, Redhill, Lease Arrangements – Autumn 2020 - Exempt report, be authorised.

Reason for decision:

The recommendations were considered to be the best option to ensure the ongoing viability of the hotel and to retain its contribution to the wellbeing and economic prosperity of Redhill, as well as preserving and improving an income stream that makes a significant contribution to the Council’s objective to be financially self-sustaining.

Alternative Options:

Option 2:       To continue with the existing lease to Travelodge. This was not the recommended option as it was considered that this represented a higher risk to the viability of the hotel and therefore of the potential impacts of its closure to the economic prosperity of Redhill and to the Council’s income stream.