Crerar Hotels is set to manage and operate six former Swallow Hotels, following an agreement with Matrix Asset Management.

The properties include Thainstone House Hotel, Inverurie and The Waterside Inn, Peterhead in Aberdeenshire; Station Hotel in Ayr; Bower Hotel in Manchester; Buckatree Hall Hotel in Telford; and Chaucer Hotel in Canterbury.

Paddy Crerar, chief executive of Crerar Hotels, said: “Our first focus is to ensure that the teams at each of the hotels are given the security, tools and attention they have been starved of during this difficult period of administration.

“The hotels will be assessed and refocused where necessary to ensure they can deliver their full potential – this will mean a review of the hotel teams and every likelihood of further recruitment, particularly on sales teams. The general managers already know what these hotels can do if allowed the scope, and we will be holding nothing back.”

Crerar Hotels will also manage Fishers Hotel in Pitlochry, following a deal agreed with Lasalle Asset Management.

Elsewhere, the group is in negotiations with PRUPIM regarding the management of The Golf View Hotel in Nairn; The Old Manor in Lundin Links; The Learmonth Hotel in Edinburgh; The Hotel St Nicholas in Scarborough; and The Plough & Harrow in Birmingham. An agreement is expected by the end of the week. Details: www.crerarhotels.co.uk