Signature Living’s plans for Loyola Hall in Rainhill have been approved by St Helens Council. We purchased the beautiful Grade II listed building in 2017. Our vision was to restore the venue to its former glory and bring the area a luxury hotel venue.

Built by landowner Bartholomew Bretherton, the historic building dates all the way back to 1824. The family home was enlarged in 1869 to twice the original size by Bartholomew’s daughter Mary. Passed down through generations, Bartholomew’s grandson Frederick was the last of the family to inherit the building.

At one time, the family owned much of the Rainhill area. However, With no direct heir to pass down to, the building was sold to the Society of Jesus. Renamed Loyola Hall, the grand country house served as the society’s retreat home from 1923 to 2014.

Unfortunately, when the hall closed, the future of the building became uncertain. Passionate about saving the historic hall, residents set up a campaign group, hoping to see the venue retained.

With our hotel proposal accepted, the future of Loyola Hall certainly looks bright. We’re currently looking at creating rooms on the lower ground floor, upper ground floor and second floor. The hotel will also offer the use of a function room, bar and restaurant and a spa.

We hope to bring local people and visitors from across the world a special hotel experience, celebrating the history and charms of one of Rainhill’s most fascinating buildings.

The development project is expected to create around 70 new jobs for the area. For those interested in future positions, it’s well worth taking a browse of the Signature Careers website to get more of a feel for what we do and the type of opportunities likely to arise.

As always, we won’t be following the crowd with this development. Signature Living are renowned for thinking outside the box and really making the most of heritage buildings. This is certainly an exciting one and I’m delighted with the positive responses to our plans so far. I’ve yet to hear anything negative and am so glad those that treasure the building have shown their support.

Signature Living’s past heritage redevelopments include 30 James Street Hotel in Liverpool and The Exchange Hotel in Cardiff. This year, 30 James Street was awarded the title of Best Hotel in the UK by Travel Republic.

30 James Street was the start of our passion for heritage buildings. The impressive restoration saw the former headquarters of the White Star Line shipping company restored and designed around the building’s rich maritime past.

Taking on such large-scale projects has never been something we’ve been afraid to do. Cardiff’s former Coal Exchange building was in a state of disrepair when we made the purchase. Today, the iconic Grade II* listed building is open to the public once again, welcoming guests to enjoy a luxury stay surrounded by Welsh heritage.

Throughout the restoration, we were set on sympathetically restoring the building, and can proudly say that only 5ft out of 180,000 square foot was knocked down during the process. The grand hotel has created an array of jobs in the Welsh capital and has grown to become a popular wedding venue.

We couldn’t be more excited about bringing something new to Rainhill while also preserving an integral piece of history along the way.

To keep up with the latest news and updates surrounding the development, check back to the blog soon or head over to my Facebook page.