Devon's Broomhill Estate announces closure

Broomhill Estate's current owners have put the site up for sale

The husband and wife team behind a sculpture garden and hotel are closing and selling the site.

Alex and Michele Kleiner bought the Broomhill Estate near Barnstaple in north Devon in 2020 and spent £1m refurbishing the site.

The business featured a hotel, restaurant and sculpture park, along with being a wedding venue.

However, financial challenges and a lack of footfall has forced the Kleiners to close it down.

Its American owners said due to their nationality, they were unable to obtain support funding from the government during the Covid pandemic, which they said contributed to the closure.

"I was denied support for being in an 'affected industry' during Covid because I wasn't British, which made no sense to me," Mr Kleiner said.

In response, a government spokesperson said: "In unprecedented times, we stepped up to support the country - funding almost 1.7m businesses and delivering £78bn of vital finance.

"If the government and lenders had not moved as quickly as they did, more businesses would have failed, and many more jobs would have been lost.

"Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, the business' eligibility was not dependent on the nationality of the owners."

Rising costs

The property has been put up for sale for £1.3m with Mr Kleiner saying it was "time to pass the baton onto a faster and stronger runner".

• Dad hands out 2,000 pairs of football boots a year

• Metered parking will be a 'disaster' for town

• Devon freeport to get £3.5m of land for jobs

Rising costs across the board coupled with not getting enough footfall also played a part in the business' collapse.

Alex and Michele Kleiner set up a cinema room at Broomhill Estate with lots of movie memorabilia

Along with its artworks, the estate also featured a cinema room with movie memorabilia inside, including costumes from Aliens, Predator and 300 along with a sword from Highlander and bar of soap from Fight Club.

The venue has also played host to a music festival and was the location for Max Woosey's final night in his charity tent challenge.