Caravan Park Operators

SIMPLY THE BEST

Posted on April 27, 2022

SIMPLY THE BEST

Willow Park is the perfect place to relax and enjoy retirement…

WILLOW PARK IN BURNHOUSE, North Ayrshire is a select development of 26 homes

Willow Park in Burnhouse, North Ayrshire proves the point that you don’t have to be big to be beautiful, writes Jane Herbert. This select residential development of just 26 park homes spread over 3 acres of picturesque Scottish countryside was purchased ten years ago by Mr and Mrs James. The couple, originally from Yorkshire, have family connections in the industry but were keen to forge their own path.

At the time, Willow Park was newly developed but only had four residents. Mr and Mrs James spotted the potential and duly invested in their first park. Willow Park Manager and ten-year park resident, Cathy Gillingham, picks up the story. “Right from the beginning, the James’ had the philosophy that if something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing well,” says Cathy.

HAPPY PLACE

“When they started the business, they said they wanted to build the best residential park in Scotland. And really, I think they’ve achieved that. “Willow Park is full now and has completely thrived in the time they have owned it. But more importantly, everyone on the park is happy. It’s a lovely, friendly community that we’ve built and the residents – and the owners – really look out for each other.” Willow Park’s location is perfect for the over 50s age group. Situated within the rolling Ayrshire countryside, the site offers glorious 360 open views of the scenic Burnhouse Hills.

The development lies within the tiny village of Burnhouse, just one mile from the larger traditional Scottish village of Dunlop. The park’s enviable location means that residents have the very best of both worlds – peaceful country living, combined with easy access to all the attractions of the sea and nearby cities. “It’s so quiet and rural here, it’s easy to think that you could be in the middle of anywhere,” laughs Cathy, “but the funny thing about Willow Park is that it’s twenty minutes – literally – from everywhere!”

“The park is 20 minutes from the scenic west coast and its beautiful beaches and tourist spots like Prestwick and Troon. Dunlop, which is just a couple of minutes away, has a train station and it takes twenty minutes to travel into Glasgow Central Station. We’re also twenty minutes from Glasgow Prestwick Airport for anyone wanting to travel further afield.” It’s easy to see why Willow Park’s location makes it a truly popular choice for retirees and those who want a better work / life balance as they get closer to retirement.

The James’ also pride themselves on keeping an immaculate park. Residents are responsible for the upkeep of their own private gardens, but communal areas are really well kept by their contracted gardener, and Mrs James, herself, ensures that there are plenty of flower borders and hanging baskets to brighten up the grounds. “All the homes are nicely spaced out,” says Cathy. “No-one overlooks each other, and every home has a private parking space and there’s lots of communal parking too. Each resident is given a remote-control key fob to operate the secure electric entry gates to the park.”

EACH HOME ON WILLOW PARK benefits from a private parking space, as well as communal parking.

ALL BUDGETS

With most plots ranging from 40-50 feet in size, there are some magnificent luxury homes on Willow Park including an Omar Middleton and Manor Park White House that are both currently for sale. The owners are keen, however, that there are homes for all budgets on the park and work with a variety of manufacturers according to customer’s wishes, and also what stock is available to order at the time.

Owing to the park’s popularity, the James’ sought to expand Willow Park into an adjoining field that they own. With residential planning permission still sometimes difficult to acquire, the couple have chosen instead to focus their investment on an adjacent development of an additional 20 homes that will be for holiday use. This is sure to be a big boon for the area, which is as attractive to tourists, as it is for residential home owners. “We’re really excited about the holiday development,” says Cathy.

“The new park – as yet un-named – is also going to be for the 50+ market which means it will perfectly complement Willow Park. The residents have all been involved in the decision-making process about the facilities that will be chosen for the new holiday park. Top of the list at the moment is a bespoke coffee shop and gym space that owners from both parks will be able to access. The plan is to have chairs and tables around a feature duck pond, which will be a lovely place to meet and chat, as well as make some new friends.”

SECOND LOCATION

Work on the holiday park next to Willow Park is due to start this year, and it will hopefully open in 2023. The James’ are also developing their second, smaller residential park which is located in Yorkshire. Manor Park, Flockton, which is equidistant between Wakefield and Huddersfield, was acquired two years ago and has 20 homes on site. Owing to the timing at the start of lockdown, the couple haven’t yet been able to start any refurbishment work on the park, but the plan is to replace the older homes with newer models as they become available.

“It takes time to build a community like Willow Park,” says Cathy. “But it’s such a positive place to live. Residential parks are brilliant for my age group. Our park is a really safe and friendly environment. No issues, no crime. “Everyone who lives here, loves it. Willow Park really is the perfect place to relax and enjoy your retirement in Scotland.”

GLAMPING OFFERS STAYING POWER

Posted on April 27, 2022

GLAMPING OFFERS STAYING POWER

THE LOVE2STAY location is set in 22 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds.

The rise in popularity of UK staycations has inspired the impressive Love2Stay resort, on the outskirts of Shrewsbury, to invest further and offer a collection of luxury bespoke lodges to complement their existing Glamping portfolio Celebrating its fifth birthday, the Love2Stay resort is set in 22 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds and enjoys magnificent views over Wales on one side and the Shropshire Hills on the other.

The resort offers 122 hardstanding touring pitches and 11 Safari Glamping Lodges with private hot tubs, glamping site bookings were up 60 per cent, the fifth straight year of growth. “Glamping was already on the upswing throughout the UK before the COVID-19 pandemic started,” shares Chris Skitt Love2Stay, General Manager. “Last year, Love2Stay saw bookings explode, with families experiencing and enjoying glamping for the first time.

“All signs point to continued growth in the coming years. We believe that luxury and comfort should not be sacrificed while enjoying the great outdoors,” ,” he continues. “So, we decided to expand further with our new Black Barn Lodges. Glamping with us is simple. We combine the need for modern comfort with a desire to be as close to nature as possible.”

A total of 12 custom-built single lodges and two twin lodges have been purchased by the resort’s owner, Salop Leisure, to be used in the new Black Barn Lodges development. After a £1 million investment in the resort last year, the Love2Stay glamping village now boasts 36 deluxe lodges, including the original 11 Safari Lodges and 11 Woodland Lodges, which were added last year as part of the planned phase of development. Lowfield Leisure, based in Marton, near Shrewsbury, designed and created the new Black Lodges for Salop Leisure, Love2Stay’s parent company.

The new lodges can accommodate from four to six guests. Each of the three bedrooms, which include a king-sized main bedroom, a twin mezze room, and a sofa bed in the living area, is equipped with high-quality appliances and a log burner. Every lodge has its own private hot tub as well as an outside fire pit for guests to enjoy. In addition to the luxury glamping experience offered by the custom built Black Lodges, guests can enjoy a range of amenities, including a natural bio swimming pool, splash pool, and beach, as well as an on-site cinema. There are also wellness services, and a huge variety of outdoor activities for the whole family to enjoy. High season rates for these unique glamping lodges are £963 for three nights, while the low season rates are £558, with a minimum stay of three nights.

Love2Stay
Tel. 01743 583124
www.love2stay.co.uk

CHILDHOOD DREAM COMES TRUE

Posted on April 27, 2022

CHILDHOOD DREAM COMES TRUE

CAROL GERRARD- HUGHES and daughter Sophie at Forest View.

Carol Gerrard-Hughes has realised a childhood dream by investing £300,000 to improve the Forest View pub and caravan site in Oakmere, Northwich using a Business Finance loan from Reward Finance Group. Carol fell in love with the site when her parents bought a caravan when she was six and the family spent weekends and school holidays at Forest View.

At 13, she started washing up in the pub, then worked behind the bar and, ultimately, finished up running it. Realising her ambition to own Forest View has not been easy. Having bought the tenancy for the pub and the site in 2007, she was advised by pub operator and owner, Scottish and Newcastle, that they were planning to sell the site to a housing developer in 2009. To prevent this from happening, she moved quickly and bought the whole lot from them.

As well as the pub, the site has 45 static caravans and 26 touring pitches. Recognising The potential for Forest View, which overlooks Delamere Forest, Carol was keen to make a significant investment in the site. Her plans were to extend and refurbish the pub, build a new toilet block, create 20 more touring pitches, provide additional electrical points for the caravans, as well as landscaping and tidying up the site to further enhance its appeal.

Despite the equity in the site, none of the banks would lend her the money to carry out her plans. However, Matthews Sutton & Co Accountants in Liverpool introduced Carol to Reward Finance Group, who quickly provided the funds having been impressed with Carol’s enthusiasm and tenacity, as well as her plans for the site and the additional revenue this would generate.

SECONDS OUT FOR STONHAM BARNS

Posted on April 27, 2022

SECONDS OUT FOR STONHAM BARNS

FORMER PRO BOXING LEGEND Glenn McCrory and Stonham Barns Park Owner Alan Forward

Former professional US boxing legends Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney will be the stars of a ‘Nights With’ Evening at Stonham Barns Park – one of Suffolk’s premier destination venues - hosted by the venue’s ambassador UK pro boxing giant Glenn McCrory. Stonham Barns Park is a day out for all the family to suit all ages.

Other activities at the leisure, retail and holiday venue include The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, The Bistro, The Golf Centre including Adventure Golf and FootGolf, The Teapot Pottery, Escape Rooms, holiday lodges, a caravan park, camping and glamping, Tumbledown indoor play barn and fishing lakes. Larry ‘The Easton Assassin’ Holmes, so called as he was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight World Title belt against top contender ‘Gentleman’ Gerry Cooney in 1972 outdoors at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Holmes (72) and Cooney (65) have been close, lifelong friends. Stonham Barns Park owner, Alan Forward said: “We are beyond privileged to be hosting these outstanding personalities from the world of boxing. It’s a historic day for us to be launching our ‘Nights With’ Evenings with such respected names from the sporting past.’ Full ticket info for the event on May 16th is available at Stonham Barns Park, www.stonhambarns.co.uk or call 01449 711111.

WISH YOU WERE HERE – Monkton Wyld

Posted on April 26, 2022

WISH YOU WERE HERE

Picture postcards from Monkton Wyld, West Dorset…


Monkton Wyld, near the coastal village of Charmouth in West Dorset, should be rightly proud of its quarter-century of providing families with first-class holiday experiences. Joanna and Simon Kewley first started welcoming guests to their family farm in the early nineties, and its idyllic location and friendly atmosphere quickly won them a large following.

Over the years, the couple have invested much time and energy into ensuring that the park offers families the perfect surroundings for a memorable Dorset holiday. The holiday park is situated in West Dorset’s Area of Outstanding National Beauty, only three miles from the World Heritage Jurassic Coast line of Devon and Dorset. Joanna and Simon have created many wildlife habitats in their 26-acre grounds where wild flowers flourish and provide foraging for honey bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

They have always been keen to run their park along sustainable lines and have been presented with the David Bellamy Conservation Award at its top gold level for many years. The tranquil atmosphere is maintained by the park’s division into small paddocks for camping, caravan and motorhome guests who come from across Britain and mainland Europe. The summer camping field offers wonderful spacious camping for families and friends. A level rally field offers a great destination for small and larger groups with a number of 10amp pitches are available.

As well as pitches for caravans, motorhomes and tents, Monkton Wyld has a small but prestigious development of luxury caravan holiday homes. The 17C farmhouse sleeps up to nine people and pets are welcome to a four bedroom, holiday bungalow. A fully stocked shop is available on site for all those essentials and little luxuries. The site currently have three different food vans visiting weekly. Fish and Chips, Wood-fired pizzas and a Pie and Burger Van.

 

Monkton Wyld
Tel. 01297 631131
www.monktonwyld.co.uk

 

STEPPING UP THEIR GAME

Posted on April 22, 2022

STEPPING UP THEIR GAME

A personal view by Jamaine Campbell of MD Elite Dynamics

THE PANDEMIC INTRODUCED a new audience of people to caravan and lodge holidays.

Solely from an industry viewpoint, if two years of Covid have shown us anything it’s that holiday parks are an increasingly attractive proposition. In the last 12 months we’ve seen huge international conglomerates want a piece of the pie with CVC Capital Partners acquiring Away Resorts & Coppergreen Leisure Resorts, Sun Communities acquiring Park Holidays and Cove Communities acquiring Argyll Holidays – the value of those three combined deals alone close to £1.5bn.

Manufacturers have been responding to record demand for caravans and lodges and holiday parks have had a strong 2021 on the back of what was a challenging 2020 for everyone within the travel and hospitality industry. Almost every week, there’s a new report about land somewhere in the UK being turned into new holiday parks.

Added to that, there’s some pretty impressive amounts of money being invested by holiday park operators to improve, enhance, and introduce new facilities to existing holiday parks and resorts. There will inevitably be people who are desperate to board a plane and fly off to the sun at the first opportunity -- we’ve seen the photographs from UK airports at Easter to prove it! However, for every one of those people, there will be another who can’t face the hassle or who still feels apprehensive or vulnerable travelling anywhere.

NEW AUDIENCE

The pandemic introduced a new audience of people to caravan and lodge holidays, and for the first time in their lives they’ve had their eyes opened to how great they can be and can’t wait to go back. If someone has paid thousands of pounds out for an amazing lodge with a hot tub, they’ll be going back to that park time and time again. Like anything in business… you’ll win some customers, and you’ll lose some, but the demand is still there, and the forecast is still bright. Thanks in part to that demand and in response to new players entering the market, holiday parks are stepping up their game on all levels - investing in facilities and investing in technology.

For many, it’s more than a holiday park now, they’re growing into holiday resorts with multiple revenue streams; everything from golf courses to spa treatments to a range of added value activities. They’re branching out and at the same time coming to understand the benefits of modern business software solutions that can handle multiple revenue streams and growth to multiple parks. Yes, they need a park management system that manages bookings and owners. But now, they also need an integrated CRM system and an Owners App as everyone knows how important it is to engage with customers and owners.

MEMBERSHIP MODULE

They want a membership module if they’ve got any type of leisure facility, they want an Events module if they offer weddings and conferences, they want an activities module if they do yoga or bookable kid’s activities. Then they want key integrations to EPOS and Digital signature and to third-party payment gateways like WorldPay or Sage Pay. The more revenue streams a holiday park has, the more they need a software solution that can bring it all together. For us at Elite Dynamics, the future is more integration and deeper integration to the Microsoft platforms our products are built on.

There are so many exciting third-party integrations and power apps available that can change the way holiday parks operate in terms of efficiencies and exceeding customer expectations; from contactless check-ins and payments to RFID tagging of caravans to scan them on and off parks. For the last six years we’ve been doing what we can to help educate the holiday park industry on the benefits of technology. Although as an industry we’re still several years behind the hotel market on adopting technology, we’re definitely moving in the right direction.

I love this industry. From the first moment I set foot on a holiday park, I loved it. That’s why the driver for everyone at Elite Dynamics is to get the industry to move toward a position where technology isn’t something to be feared, but part of a strategic move to improve business. With dedication, commitment, and focus everyone connected to the industry can benefit from adopting technology and have a greater awareness of what is possible.

FORESTRY ENGLAND LAUNCH SEARCH FOR CAMPING OPERATORS

Posted on March 9, 2022

FORESTRY ENGLAND LAUNCH SEARCH FOR CAMPING OPERATORS

Following the announcement last week that the Camping and Caravanning Club have sold the Camping in The Forest (CiTF) business to Forestry England and Forestry and Land Scotland, Forestry England are now looking for new operators to run their sites.

There are 13 sites available in England (on a leasehold basis), and they have been split into four lots. The existing offer at these sites includes a total of over 4,000 pitches and represents a significant opportunity within the camping industry.

The lots are at Sherwood Pines (Nottinghamshire), Bracelands (Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire), Postern Hill (Savernake Forest, Wiltshire) and 10 sites across the New Forest (Hampshire).

These hugely popular and market-leading campsites provide guests with forest immersion and direct access to miles of walking and cycling trails and other outdoor activities. Each site is individual, and they range from those without any facilities, to sites with full amenity blocks, as well as some with cosy glamping pods and pre-erected tents.

The camping and touring market in England has remained resilient over recent decades and is now considered as being in a growth phase linked to the continued strength of the domestic tourism market and the affordability of camping as an accommodation choice. In recent years the standard of the camping and touring offer has had to evolve and innovate to meet the demands of a wider range of customers leading to an increasing sophistication in camping equipment and motorhomes, and the introduction of alternative accommodation types such as glamping.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant boom in camping and touring as UK residents, and increasingly, families, have sought to enjoy experiences closer to home. Forestry England Camping provides an excellent opportunity for operators to benefit from the sustained, elevated interest in camping, especially as camping is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to holiday.

Forestry England are very excited about the potential of working with new operators across these sites. Although the offer at each campsite is established, they are looking for operators that are keen to innovate and expand the offer at these special locations. This could include experiential activity packages linked to nature, wildlife and recreation, and broadening the portfolio of camping accommodation where appropriate.

Working with Forestry England gives operators the unique opportunity to capitalise on the millions of people that come to enjoy the nation’s forests by converting day-visitors to overnight guests.

The campsites will be continue to be operated by the Camping and Caravanning Club in 2022 and there will not be any disruption to the high levels of service and experience for customers during this transition.

Forestry England are inviting expressions of interest from organisations who would like to hear more about the opportunity to operate and evolve one or more of the campsites. More information including how to register your interest can be found here.