Cirencester's flagship hotel, the King's Head, has gone into administration.

The independently owned hotel on the town's Market Square reportedly dates back in parts to the late 1400s and has a prestigious 2025 Condé Nast Johansens' recognition. 

With 66 rooms, 10 suites, two restaurants, a spa and a delicatessen, the hotel has also just scooped a top regional award as a wedding venue, issued in November.

But operators KHH Cirencester Ltd are now listed as in administration on Companies House, with David Hudson and Ian Corfield, of FRP Advisory Trading Ltd acting for the firm. A notice to this effect has also appeared on the hotel's website, although booking continue to be taken.

Accounts submitted by KHH for the end of March this year showed that the hotel had registered a loss of £1,855,024; in 2022, it had registered a profit of £1,588,911.

A dividend payment was consequently not recommended, but despite this, director Mark Booth stated in August that turnover had been slightly up on 2022 due to "stability of the business after the pandemic".

Mr Booth added: "However, current economic conditions, especially utility price rises and the cost of living crisis, emphasise the need to remain vigilant on costs thorughout the business."

Despite a declared aim to operate "within tight budgetary controls", the King's Head, which five-star status, has continued to garner widespread praise and a high level of ratings, with TripAdvidsor aggregating four out of five from 1,465 reviews, more than half of visitors giving the hotel maximum marks.

Under the tems of the Insolvency Act 1986, the timescale for a hotel administation process is that within eight weeks, the administrator creates proposals for the company's future: these are then made to creditors, employees, and Companies House. 

Creditors then vote on the administrator's proposals and a distribution of proceeds takes place. If the hotel is sold, the remaining proceeds are distributed to creditors in a specific order, with secured creditors paid first, followed by preferential creditors (employees), unsecured creditors, and shareholders.

Proposals for the future of the King's Head appear likely to be forthcoming on January 30, 2025.

The archive website gloucestershirepubs.co.uk reports that the King's Head shows the head of Charles II, who was reputed to have spent a night in Cirencester after escaping from the Parliamentary Army after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

It adds: "The hotel predates the English Civil War and was probably named for Henry VIII, possibly in recognition of Henry's dissolution of the St. Mary's Abey and the subsequent freedom from the rule of the Abbot over the town."

In 1997, the business was bought by Coast and Country Hotels, part of the Shearings holiday group, at a price of £3m. It is now owned by Wildmoor Ltd, a private developer registered to the hotel address, which also owns the adjacent Corn Hall. Wildmoor Ltd is directed by Mark Booth.

In 1891, the hotel was registered as an ale house and owned by Lord Bathurst.