THE Georgian house Hotel, created 25 years ago by Bolton company William Hargreaves, has been sold.

The new owners are The Jarvis Hotel Group, a High Wycombe, Bucks-based group with 62 prestige hotels throughout Britain, including the Piccadilly Hotel in central Manchester.

But the amount paid by Jarvis was being kept a close secret by both companies today.

The Georgian House, just off the A6 near Blackrod, is one of the Bolton area's best known hotels.

William Hargreaves Ltd, headed by Bolton Wanderers' chairman Gordon Hargreaves, created a small, 10 bedroom hotel from a 240-year-old former doctor's house 25 years ago.

Over the years, it has had a leisure centre and function rooms added and now has 102 bedrooms.

A Hargreaves spokesman said today: "It was felt that the future prosperity and progress of the Georgian House and its staff would benefit from being within a larger group with access to central booking facilities."

Jarvis said today that one of the first changes will be to rename the leisure club to The Sebastian Coe Health Club, in line with the company's exclusive brand chain.

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