Benjamin Franklin once said there are ’only two certainties in life, death and taxes’, but in the Isle of Man, we can add Kate Beecroft asking questions about the Sefton Group.

The Liberal Vannin leader submitted three written questions to Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly over the group and its financial arrangements with government.

Mrs Beecroft asked if the Department for Enterprise Minister had met the new owners of the Sefton Hotel, Douglas Hotel Holdings Ltd, whether the department had discussed any outstanding financial liabilities of the Sefton Hotel Group PLC and if he had consulted the Treasury over any financial liabilities of the Sefton group to the government.

Mr Skelly said in his responses that neither he nor DfE officers have held meetings with representatives of the new owners.

He said: ’The department was first contacted about the sale of the Sefton group to Douglas Hotel Holdings at the beginning of March 2019.’

Mr Skelly added that the Sefton group had contacted the DfE on behalf of the new owners ’regarding the financial assistance provided in 2009 for the Sefton Suites’.

The new owners wanted clarification as to how the agreement for assistance could be transferred to the new owners. It since has been, with Mr Skelly saying this was a ’relatively straightforward matter’ for his department.

A total of £391,944 was given to the Sefton group to help it turn two guest houses into nine suites, two of which have since been sold.

Because of the sales, part of that grant has now been repaid to DfE, leaving the new owners with a liability of £304,845 liability. The assistance will remain in place until 2024 and the suites remain available for tourism.