An ‘entrepreneur’ who took over one of Tenby’s most iconic seafront hotels, only to see the premises go into administration, has now seen an investigation launched against him by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Suspected fraudulent business dealings by Gavin Woodhouse, who raised more than £80m to refurbish hotels and build care homes, were first revealed by an undercover investigation by the Guardian and ITV News two years ago.

Tenby’s Grade II-listed 40-bedroomed seafront Fourcroft Hotel situated along The Croft overlooking the North Beach and Carmarthen Bay, was was one of several properties acquired by Mr. Woodhouse’s Northern Powerhouse Developments company in 2017, after it was purchased from the family that had owned the Georgian-era premises for over 70 years.

However, the hotel went into administration back in August 2019 following a high court hearing where the hotel company’s boss was removed, with Mr. Woodhouse losing control of three of his companies after a high court judge ruled that his business model appeared to be “thoroughly dishonest” after publication of the undercover investigation which posed questions about the business interests of Mr. Woodhouse, who raised more than £80m from private investors, but whose firms had a multimillion-pound “black hole”.

At a high court hearing Judge Sally Barber ordered that two care home businesses owned by Mr. Woodhouse, along with the entrepreneur’s planned £200m outdoor adventure resort near Port Talbot - Afan Valley Ltd, be placed instantly into interim administration.

Following the hearing any powers that Mr. Woodhouse possessed as a director were immediately removed and administrators from the insolvency firm Duff & Phelps took over the running of his companies.

The UK’s anti-corruption agency the SFO has said this week that it is investigating “suspected fraud and money laundering” in relation to Mr. Woodhouse, along with individuals and companies associated with him

“The conduct currently under investigation by the SFO relates to investments offered in care homes and hotels between 2013 and 2019,” the SFO has stated.

Mr. Woodhouse raised more than £80m from amateur investors over several years to build care homes and buy hotels to refurbish, promising generous returns.

At the time, several investors, who in some cases had paid hundreds of thousands of pounds into Mr. Woodhouse’s projects, said they had not received the annual dividends they had been promised.

Derrick Towlson who invested in the Fourcroft Hotel, told BBC Wales back in 2019, that he and his wife had spent their lifesavings on a hotel room at the premises.

The couple were told their £75,000 investment would help fund the renovation of the hotel, and that it would earn a 10 per cent return on their investment plus two weeks’ free use of the room per year; and after 10 years, the company pledged to buy back the room at a 25 per cent profit.

But after two years the couple had seen no payments and were left angry when administrators were called into the business in 2019.

“I retired early but it looks like I might have to go back to work now,” stated Mr. Towlson at the time.

“You feel stupid one minute, angry…when you look back now I think it’s pure madness really, but it was so convincing,” he added.

At the time of the purchase in January 2017, Mr. Woodhouse outlined his plans for expansion to complement his company’s existing hotels up and down the coastline of the UK, stating that the Fourcroft Hotel would be the sister hotel to the Llandudno Bay Hotel and Spa and part of the group’s premier ‘whisper hotels’ collection.

Plans to purchase the neighbouring Croft House Apartments which forms part of the Georgian terrace, constructed in 1830, were also in the pipeline.

The SFO inquiry is now understood to be at a stage where it wants to gain more information from Mr. Woodhouse’s investors, and so the agency can make it public.

The agency is asking anyone who believes they have been affected by Mr. Woodhouse’s investment schemes to check its website for updates and information on support services.

If an SFO investigation produces enough evidence to support a realistic prospect of conviction, and if a prosecution is considered to be in the public interest, the agency has the power to bring charges, which often result in a court trial; whilst anyone found guilty of fraud or money laundering can be sent to prison.

Despite apparent discussions ongoing with a potential new operator of the Fourcroft Hotel, in recent weeks, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s planning enforcement department have issued an ‘Untidy state of land’ notice on the premises, in order to establish whether a breach of planning control has occurred.

At the start of the summer, work was carried out by Pembrokeshire County Council to cut growth from the hotel’s private gardens over the road, which was encroaching onto the public pavement; whilst further work has been undertaken in boarding up the ground floor tunnels of the hotel site to secure it against vandals, after reports of anti-social behaviour occurring at the premises.