Pacific Sun studies Grey hotel’s future

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 23

Pacific Sun studies Grey hotel’s future

Pacific Sun Hotels (in receivership) is considering the future of West Coast Country Lodge, formerly King’s Hotel, of Greymouth.

Mr Philip Hyde-Harris, allegedly a major shareholder in Pacific Sun, has been in Greymouth as an agent for the receiver, Mr Harold Goodman, to make recommendations on the hotel’s future.

Mr Goodman was appointed receiver of the Auckland-based hotel group by the Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, earlier this month. The company is also the subject of a Justice Department fraud squad probe.

Mr Goodman acknowledged that the Greymouth hotel had not been “doing well” and that it was “in a bad condition.”

The hotel’s shops — souvenirs, shoes, handbags, and hairdressing — had been doing little business, he said. Mr Hyde-Harris said yesterday that the situation was not finally resolved but it had been a question of “either closing down immediately or turning it around.”

He said that Mr Harold Goodman, of Auckland, had sent him on an investigation “and I in turn told him that the time was over for expensive reports, red tape and it was

time to roll up the sleeves.”

The Greymouth hotel handles bus tour traffic through the region, and has 300 beds and 80 staff, a few of whom work in the retail shopping area of the lodge.

Mr Hyde-Harris said that the hotel would be starting training classes for restaurant and bar staff.

“I have had experience in both departments,” Mr Hyde-Harris said. Mr Hyde-Harris said there were plans to redevelop the hotel complex, but that was a decision for the receiver.

“We are cleaning the place up, because I consider that standards have slipped. For a start we will have the roof painted and a team will be engaged to restore the gardens.”

Mr Hyde-Harris said that there were some problems within Pacific Sun’s group, but the most serious were the losses being incurred by the lodge in Greymouth.

He said that the downturn in the tourist industry, with the heavy decline in Australian and

American tourists, had been a big factor, but the hotel had been losing visitors to other competitors as well.

Meanwhile, the Press Association reports that Mr Goodman is still waiting confirmation that the Bank of New Zealand has appointed him joint receiver of the group’s Fijian company. Mr Goodman was appointed statutory receiver of the group by the Government on January 2. However, his appointment did not allow him jurisdiction over Castaway Resorts Fiji, which owns three of the group’s nine hotels. The Bank of New Zealand appointed Suva accountants, Messrs Adam Dickson and Cyril Aidney, receivers of Castaway Resorts a fortnight ago. The appointment of the pair came after the bank declined to make Mr Goodman receiver — a move which would have kept the group together and made it easier to sell the group as a package. Mr Goodman said yesterday the Auckland regional manager of corporate banking for the BNZ,

Mr Alan Milne, had told him several days ago he was thinking about changing the receivers and making him (Mr Goodman) at least joint receiver. “I understood they were going to make the change but I haven’t been officially told,” Mr Goodman said. The bank, which is owed about $2O million by the group and its former directors, has steadfastly avoided commenting on the affair. When Mr Milne’s office was contacted yesterday his secretary said he was engaged and would not be available to comment. “Head office is the only place that can comment. We are only a branch office. The fact that head office won’t comment is not our concern, I’m sorry,” she said. Meanwhile, Mr Goodman said his receivership of the six New Zealand hotels was continuing relatively uneventfully. He said he hoped to have an assessment of the group’s true financial position by the end of February.