Centre Island entrepreneur plans hotel at Cadbury House leisure club

Simon Matthews-Williams, the former managing director of Merseyside's Centre Island Hotels, has re-emerged as the new owner of the Cadbury House leisure club and conference venue at Congresbury, near Bristol.

The millionaire entrepreneur intends to convert the landmark building into a three-star Best Western Badge-standard hotel, while retaining the leisure club, which has 800 members, and the conference facilities for as many as 400 delegates.

A two-storey, 55-bedroom wing is expected to be completed by November, followed by a second 55-bedroom wing. The work, which will also extend the leisure club and conference facilities, will cost more than £2m.

Matthews-Williams paid former owner the Wiggins Group £1.7m for the property through his company, Classbureau, in a deal that was struck in just six days and was concluded last week. He recently raised £4.5m after selling his 40% stake in Centre Island Hotels to his partner, Michael O'Donoghue, and intends to buy more hotels and more city bars - to add to the existing Anderson's bar in Liverpool.

The hotel, which occupies 14 acres of park and woodland, will be managed by Starfish Hospitality, a company owning pubs and restaurants in the South of England, in which Matthews-Williams owns a 50% stake.

Matthews-Williams expects to hire about 40 new staff on top of the existing 100 full- and part-time employees, once the first new wing has opened.