Lawrence Kenwright tells of regret over Signature Living investor complaints

Hotel boss apologises for delays and poor communications

The boss of under-pressure company Signature Living has spoken out after a raft of complaints from worried investors.

Lawrence Kenwright, who owns and runs the Liverpool hotel and property firm , has released a statement following a number of reports from investors who say they haven't been paid on time and are worried about the money they have put into the company's schemes.

Numerous investors have come forward in recent weeks and relayed their fears - stating that they have had little communication from Mr Kenwright or his company.

While the company has provided statements in response to the complaints, Mr Kenwright has now spoken out in a bid to reassure those who have invested with the firm.

Mr Kenwright said: “Signature Living’s investors invested their money into various apartment blocks and hotels, all of which have significantly increased in value.

"Due to the uncertainty of Brexit, it is taking longer to secure finance across the property development sector, which is why Signature has opted to sell a number of sites in order to return money to investors.

"As a result, Signature Living, along with its investors, expects to shortly benefit from potential sales of £58m, of which £40m will be allocated to repay investors as soon as Signature gains receipt of monies from the imminent sale of these properties."

He added: "Signature Living regrets any inconvenience that investors may have experienced through the delay to their repayment or concerns arising from recent negative media reports. 

"We also recognise that we could have communicated the situation more clearly to investors and we are putting steps in place to do so from now on.  We would also like to emphasise that at no point has their investment been at risk.

“Signature Living is communicating with all investors to update them, and our senior team is happy to talk to anyone who has further questions.”

In May this year the ECHO quizzed Mr Kenwright directly about some of the 'horror stories' we had heard from investors struggling to get any payments - or answers from the company.

Mr Kenwright told the ECHO that only a small number of his 1,000 investors have ever had any problems and insisted the company was communicating with its investors.

At that point he revealed he would be putting his two flagship Liverpool hotels - The Shankly and 30 James Street - and was hoping to recoup more than £50m.

He has now said a vast proportion of any such sales will be used to pay investors.