Rashmi Dedigama and Peter Karan bought the hotel from Finesse Collection

•  Late Queen Elizabeth II dined in 2010   

A leading hotel in Derby, in the United Kingdom - Cathedral Quarter Hotel - has been sold to a Sri Lankan company, Derbyshire Live news agency reported.  

The Grade II-listed Cathedral Quarter Hotel in St Mary’s Gate has been bought by Rashmi Dedigama and Peter Karan of Lavendish Leisure, a subsidiary of the Dedigama Group, for an undisclosed amount.  

The city centre hotel, where the late Queen Elizabeth II dined in 2010, which earned the head chef her personal thanks, has 38 individually designed ensuite bedrooms. It is a Victorian property that previously served as a police station and also as council headquarters.  

In 2008, the previous owners, The Finesse Collection, purchased the property and converted it into a boutique hotel. 

The property still retains its period features, including Victorian mosaic floors, stained-glass windows and a grand central staircase.  

This is the second UK hotel purchased by Lavendish Leisure, which has purchased eight hotels since 2005, with the parent company based in Sri Lanka. Rashmi Dedigama said: “We’re thrilled to be taking on this stunning period hotel which marks our second acquisition in the UK. We look forward to capitalising on the existing reputation of the hotel whilst putting our own stamp on it.”