Tue, 11 Aug 2026 | BUSINESS NEWS
The Stafford London, a 107-room five-star hotel in Mayfair, has been served a winding-up petition by HMRC, with the tax authority also filing a separate petition against the hotel's parent company, BHL Global.
The petitions were filed at the High Court. A winding-up petition is a formal legal mechanism used against a company that has failed to pay its debts, and is a tool HMRC deploys after other debt-recovery options have been exhausted.
BHL Global oversees The Stafford Collection, which encompasses The Stafford London, Norma, a restaurant in Fitzrovia.
and Lympstone Manor, a luxury hotel in Devon (owned by Michael Caines since opening in 2017). Lympstone Manor was entered into The Stafford Collection as an associate member in 2025 but remains independently owned by Michael Caines.
The Stafford is one of London's oldest luxury hotels, with origins dating to the 17th century and wine cellars believed to be among the oldest in the capital. BHL, then trading as Britannia Hospitality, acquired the property for £77.5 million in 2009. The group is owned by the El Sharkawy family, Egyptian property and hospitality entrepreneurs.
BHL Global's most recent accounts show turnover fell five per cent to £30.5 million in the year to December 2024. The group cited pressure from an "increasingly competitive" London luxury hotel market, alongside rising wage, food and utility costs and what it described as a "shortage of skilled labour" in the hospitality sector.
The HMRC action comes months after John McLean, The Stafford's managing director, left the role after less than a year in post. McLean had previously held senior positions at The Kensington, Brown's hotel in Mayfair and The Lanesborough.
The Stafford is not the first West End luxury hotel to face this situation. In January, Hotel Cafe Royal was served with a winding-up petition by HMRC.
An HMRC spokesperson said: "We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we've exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers' money."
Image above courtesy of Anthony O'Neil
For the the current listing of UK winding-up petitions, please click here.
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