A COUNTRY hotel which closed earlier this year as the economic crisis deepened will reopen next month.Southwold-based brewer and hotelier Adnams has signed up to run Fritton House on the Somerleyton estate, near Lowestoft.

A COUNTRY hotel which closed earlier this year as the economic crisis deepened will reopen next month.

Southwold-based brewer and hotelier Adnams has signed up to run Fritton House on the Somerleyton estate, near Lowestoft.

Operations at the nine-bedroom hotel were suspended in January this year as the economic slowdown worsened. Now it is hoped that the business will be up and running again by July 1, creating about 25 local jobs.

Fritton House owner Hugh Crossley, the son of Lord and Lady Somerleyton, said: “Obviously this is great news for us. It is fantastic for the estate and we are delighted to have them coming in to take over where we left off.

“Two or three other very competent operators were interested, but choosing a local company was very important to us. We also share a lot of core values about protecting the local environment and sourcing local food.

“Adnams are very hot on their ecological policies and so are very closely aligned with our estate management plan.”

Francis Gildea, general manager for Adnams Hotels, said: “We are very excited - this is such a fantastic property.

“We feel that it fits very well with our existing brand and feel that the addition of the Adnams brand will be beneficial for the business.

“We've now got a four-week period in which to get the hotel up and running once again.

“One of our biggest tasks is also recruitment; we're going to hold a couple of open days locally in the next month because we would like to have an impact on the local economy, both as a business and as an employer.”

Mr Gildea said that the feel of the business would change from being a boutique hotel to a more relaxed restaurant with rooms.

“It will be somewhere that is very accessible to the local community and somewhere which they can use for everyday treats and not just for special occasions,” he said.

“We're also looking to create somewhere where the room rates will be fantastic value and where visitors will be wowed by the rooms they see.”

The building, a 15th-century former coaching inn at the gateway to the Fritton Lake country park on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, opened as a hotel in 2006 after �500,000 was spent to convert it.