EUGENE MURTAGH’S five-star Hempel hotel in west London has been busy filing its annual accounts of late in a move to avoid strike-off by the companies office in Britain.

The 2008 accounts for Hempel Hotels Ltd were lodged just this week and show that its losses ballooned to £483,017 (€564,000) last year from a more modest deficit of £14,873 in 2007.

This resulted in accumulated losses widening to £2.2 million.

Turnover was comparatively flat at £4.4 million while the company’s cost of sales rose by 4 per cent to £1.6 million.

It was a 12.7 per cent increase in administration expenses that put the biggest dent in the bottom line. These amounted to £3.2 million in 2008 compared with £2.9 million in the previous 12 months.

Cavan-based Murtagh, who made his name with building materials group Kingspan, trimmed the Hempel’s workforce from 76 to 70 during the year but the aggregate payroll costs still rose by 2.3 per cent to £1.53 million.

The accounts state that Murtagh was owed £3 million at the end of 2008.

The Hempel, which opened in 1996 and featured in the film Notting Hill, is described on its website as a “hidden gem”.

Judging by its losses, it’s a bit too well hidden.