Royal Horseguards Hotel Royal Horseguards Hotel The Royal Horseguards Hotel is a 5-star London hotel situated in the area of Whitehall. It is operated by Guoman Hotels, a subsidiary of Thistle Hotels. Whitehall Court was constructed as a block of luxury residential apartments in 1884 by the Liberal MP and property developer Jabez Balfour. The building's construction was the centrepiece of an elaborate pyramid scheme for fraud by Balfour, through the Liberator Building Society which he controlled. In 1892 the Society collapsed, leaving thousands of investors penniless. Instead of advancing money to home buyers, the Society had advanced money to property companies to
Hinckley and Rugby Building Society 26 years of service, during which time assets had grown from £2 million to over £100 million. Anthony Payne was appointed his successor as general manager and secretary, becoming chief executive two years later in 1987. Hinckley & Rugby, in common with all other building societies went through very tough times in the early 1990s, as house prices slumped by up to 30% and mortgage interest rates soared to over 15%. Following Anthony Payne’s retirement from the Society in December 1992, Barry Hunt was appointed chief executive, and he led a change of strategy that put sound building blocks in