Nearly £400k spent on upkeep of disused private school near York since closure

The historic country home, formerly occupied by Queen Margaret's School for Girls, dates back to the 1600s (Image: Submitted)

ALMOST £400,000 has been spent on the upkeep of a former top private school near York by administrators following its sudden closure in 2025.

A report published by the former Queen Margaret's School administrators, FRP Advisory Trading Limited, on August 7, showed that the company had accrued costs of £397,713 over a year-long period.

The school, which taught girls aged 11 to 18 for 125 years, announced its sudden closure on July 5, 2025.

It’s site, which included a Grade II* Listed former country home dating back to the 1600s and around 39 acres of grounds, was on the market for close to a year and required costly maintenance.

The property was placed on the market in August 2025, inviting offers in the region of £5 million

(Image: Submitted)

To oversee this, administrators were appointed on July 7, 2025.

From that date to July 6, 2026, the company spent £201,699 on security at the property, with a further £92,434 afforded to maintain its utilities.

Retained staff cost administrators £19,904, and £16,185 was spent on repairs and maintenance of the property – readying it for a sale, which estate agents Sanderson Weatherall was initially in the region £5 million.

The total cost for the year included legal fees and disbursements, agent’s and valuer’s fees, and insurance.

An administrators' report, published on September 2, 2025, said that 24/7 security was required at the site due to ongoing insurance needs.

The report also revealed that Queen Margaret’s has been operating at a deficit of approximately £1.29 million in 2023.

The Grade II* Listed estate has been sold to Escrick Holdings Ltd

(Image: Sanderson Weatherall)

It said that in response to the government’s introduction of VAT on school fees, governors and senior leaders had implemented a “series of cost saving measures” in 2024/5.

A statement from the report read: “Despite these efforts, with costs of approximately £300k being saved during the year, by February 2025, the company still had a projected deficit of £820k.

“The financial position was further exacerbated by the loss of business rates relief, increases in Employer National Insurance Contributions and the increase of national minimum wage.

“Unfortunately, even though open days for the school were busy, pupil enquiries for the academic year 2025/26 tailed off dramatically and the Governors’ analysis showed continued loss of pupil numbers.”

In February 2025, the school began seeking buyers or a merger and recruited FRP to provide related financial advice.

But in early June of that year, the last potential buyer withdrew, and the decision was made on June 13 to close the school when term ended on July 5, 2025.

The disused school accrued costs of £397,713 in the year after it was handed over to administrators in July 2025

(Image: Sanderson Weatherell)

A statement of the school’s affairs was published on September 3, 2025.

Its freehold land and property were given a book value of £8,154,597, but it was revealed that the school owed Barclays £2,868,673.

It was anticipated that Barclays would be repaid in full following the scale of the company’s property.

As reported by The Press, the school has now been sold to Escrick Holdings Ltd, a Bradford-based company, which specialises in property management and building development.

The sale price is yet to be revealed.