Upmarket hotels group Eton collapses

Tyrie sold the business, whose hotels include Threadneedles in the City, in August 2007 to Saudi-based billionaire Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber's JJW hotels group for a reported £70 million just before the worst of the credit crisis struck.

The Academy in Bloomsbury and The Colonnade in Little Venice are among its venues.

Jane Moriarty and Allan Graham of KPMG were appointed as joint administrators to the company this afternoon. None of the 250 employees have yet been made redundant.

Moriarty said: "We are continuing to trade the business while we assess the position of the hotels. Historically, however, they have traded successfully and are well-regarded at the luxury end of the market so we are hopeful of securing a successful resolution to this situation."

Administrators have been kept busy in the past year with hotel companies going under as the recession hits international travel, although the London market has been faring better than the provinces thanks to the high numbers of tourists lured by the weak pound.

The Chancellor's Budget cuts next week are widely expected to further dampen spending by British consumers.

Al Jaber is a philanthropist and entrepreneur who made his fortune through oil, property and land. He is number 93 in the Forbes Billionaires list and has donated millions to British universities and has a hall in Corpus Christi, Oxford University, named after him. JJW owns 63 hotels and resorts around the world.

KPMG said two other Eton Collection hotels - 42 The Calls in Leeds and The Scotsman in Edinburgh are not affected by the administration although The Glasshouse in Edinburgh and Quebecs in Leeds are.