LIVERPOOL’S Adelphi Hotel shrugged off a hugely challenging year for the hotel industry to turn a break-even performance into a £1m profit.

In its latest accounts filed at Companies House, the 184-year-old hotel provided a rare bright spot in an otherwise difficult period for its owner, Britannia Hotels.

The group made a pre-tax loss of £6.44m in the year to last March despite the Adelphi’s significant improvement.

The Ranelagh Place hotel, which became Britannia’s third hotel when it was bought from British Transport Hotels in 1982, had £1.1m spent on refurbishing its facilities during the year, including adding a 10,000 sq ft function room. About 250 people are employed at the 402-bedroom hotel..

During the year, turnover fell £1.64m to £8.68m – although that is comparing it with a financial year that included most of the Capital of Culture celebrations – and it is back to near the level of two years ago, of £8.82m.

Robert Ferrari, chief financial officer of Britannia Hotels, said: “Going forward, we recognise that the opportunities for sales growth may be limited against the background of increasing competition.

“The continual investment in maintenance and refurbishment of the property is a sign of our intent to take maximum advantage of the available opportunities,” he added.