Company plans to buy Barclay properties in Sark

The Barclay estate in Sark includes more than 100 properties

A company has announced its intention to buy the Sark properties previously owned by the Barclay brothers.

The estate covers about 20% of the island and includes more than 80 residential properties, five hotels and 19 commercial premises.

The Sark Property Company is preparing a cash bid for the estate.

It said Sark Estate Management, which runs the estate, was currently owned by Alistair Barclay, the heir of the late Sir David Barclay.

The BBC has approached Sark Estate Management for comment.

The Sark Property Company was established earlier in 2023 by the island's Seigneur Christopher Beaumont and businessman Swen Lorenz.

Mr Lorenz said it was the "biggest portfolio of real estate in Sark" and an initial agreement on the sale had been signed.

Some of the hotels owned by the Barclays including The Moinerie have reopened in recent years

Some of the hotels in the portfolio, including The Moinerie and Dixcart, have reopened in recent years after closing to the public eight years ago.

The Barclay brothers, Sir Frederick and the late Sir David, bought the properties in Sark in 2007, after buying the nearby island of Brecqhou.

Buying Brecqhou - and the castle built by the brothers - is not part of the deal.

Linda Williams has run a B&B in Sark since 1997.

Linda Williams said improvements to some buildings on the island would be a good thing

She said developing the buildings involved in the deal could help boost Sark's population, encourage trade in the local shops and pubs, and be "good for the island".

It had been "sad and frustrating", she said, to see the state of disrepair some of the properties had fallen into.

"Especially when we've been advertising the island as a lovely tranquil place to come to," she added.

"If they get cleaned up, rebuilding, or whatever needs doing and people are living in them it can only be good for the island."

Christopher Beaumont said the company was "working to secure the best possible outcome for the long-term sustainability of the community"

Mr Beaumont said the company was "working to secure the best possible outcome for the long-term sustainability of the community".

"We will invest in affordable housing and financially support a mortgage programme," he said.

Mr Beaumont said if the purchase was successful, there would be local job opportunities "straight away".

Swen Lorenz said they had been working on the deal for two-and-a-half years

Mr Lorenz said he understood islanders would be concerned about a single investor buying up property on the island.

"We've been working on this for two-and-a-half years, so this is not a sudden development, we've been engaging with what I would describe as a group of two dozen high net worth investors," he said.

He said he would make money from the project but said it would be transparent as the company would be floated as a publicly limited entity and all accounts would have to be published.

He added: "We are in the final steps of putting together a funding package which will allow us to make an offer to Alistair Barclay and then we will see where this goes."

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