put on the market.

The Harmony Club has been sold in a management buy-out to a Bermudian-led consortium -- which includes House Speaker Ernest DeCouto, Oleander Cycles owner John Leseur and William Griffith, who now manages the hotel.

Last night Mr. Griffith promised no redundancies and revealed the new consortium was planning a major refurbishment of the hotel.

"Obviously it is going to be a challenge. I have worked for the company for 17 years, and ultimately you want a stake in your own future,'' he said.

The 71-bed hotel was put on the market last September after UK-based Forte Hotels was taken over by the Granada Group.

Recently a new majority Bermudian-owned company called Harmony Properties Ltd (HPL) was set up to take the Club over if the deal went through.

Mr. DeCouto is the HPL chairman, Mr. Lesure the vice-chairman and Mr. Griffith the president. Chief finance officer will be Bodipala Wijeyisinghe, who was previously Forte's finance director for hotels.

Yesterday pen was put to paper and the hotel was signed over to HPL by Forte's property director Marten Foxon.

The hotel was on the market for $4.5 million, but no-one would disclose how much the consortium actually paid for the property.

Mr. Griffith added: "The important thing is that the hotel was bought as a going concern which means that HPL will keep the existing staff. There will be no replacement or displacement of staff.'' He said traditionally the hotel, which employs 51 people, closed for eight to ten weeks in January and February each year.

"We will maintain the closure period this year and we will be doing some fairly extensive renovations which will include refurbishment of the bedrooms.

"There will also be a new jacuzzi and spa, a swimming pool and generally there will be a facelift of all the public areas of the hotel,'' said Mr.

Griffith, who was executive director of the Harmony and Belmont Hotel.

He added: "I have always found the Harmony Club to be different from other properties. It is a unique little property that I think has tremendous potential to be successful in the long-term.'' Last night Mr. Foxon said it was the first management buy-out of a Forte Hotel in the company's history.

He also scotched reports that the Belmont was up for grabs, saying no decision had yet been taken by Forte on whether to sell the property.

William Griffith