Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville’s Hotel Football owes a £10m loan and has reportedly lost £3.2m in two years. The deficit in Hotel Football’s financial balance sheet has been attributed to the impact of Covid-19.
A massive debt crisis has rocked Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville’s hospitality chain, Hotel Football, in the last few years. According to reports, Hotel Football has accumulated debts amounting to £10m and has recorded £3.2m in a loss in the previous two years due to the impact of Covid-19.
Details of the debt situation, as made available by Dailystar, revealed that Hotel Football had attempted to save cash by pulling a restaurant from the National Museum of Football. From the accounts of the firm, Old Trafford Supporters Club Ltd has been identified as the company behind Hotel Football and had lost £2,042,812 in 2019 and £1,148,879 in 2021 as the Covid 19 global pandemic raged.
How Hotel Football Enter the Debt Crisis
During the global Covid-19 pandemic, the firm was not able to operate and was having difficulties staying afloat with a constant flow of revenue. Patronage had reduced, and payment generated dropped drastically. Despite the drastic shift in returns, Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs are said to have continued paying the staff their total salaries and entitlements. They had to borrow to finance the wage bills, which took an immediate toll on the cash-liquidity ratio of the company.
The two former Manchester United playmakers and Premier League icons are said to have also opened the company to National Health Service, NHS, free of charge during the massive campaign to curtail the impact of the virus in England.
Neville Sheds Light On Cause Of Drastic Downturn
Addressing the debt crisis and the volatile state of the hotel, Gary Neville, a fellow director, opened up on how lockdowns and restrictions ‘drastically hit’ the business leading to ‘abnormal trading’ which ‘affects the figures’ throughout the lockdown.
Neville also revealed that the hotel was grappling with sundry economic adversities such as rising inflation before the pandemic.
Hotel Football’s Director’s Reaction: A Factor
The problem of Hotel Football stemmed from rising inflationary pressures and was compounded by ‘lockdowns and restrictions’ during the pandemic, Neville asserted. However, the strong reaction of the directors was also a factor. According to Neville, the directors insisted on preserving the brand by not compromising on standards of operation even after the pandemic.
“The directors have continued their policy of investing in the hotel to improve operational performance and to promote the Hotel Football brand even post the pandemic year”, he said.
According to him, the directors have insisted on not sacrificing the quality of the brand and the management of properties.
“The directors feel that whatever the case, the quality of the brand and the property they manage cannot be sacrificed,” he said.
Despite the financial downturn, Neville said he is confident of a change in the misfortunes and already the firm a witness and rebound early in 2022.
Hotel Football
Hotel Football is a hospitality chain managed and financed by the Old Trafford Supporters Club, which Garry Neville set up in 2012. Ryan Giggs, a fellow Man United legend, joined him four months later. They both started the firm after retiring from active football.
