John Fowler Holidays

JOHN FOWLER GROUP ACQUIRES RUDA PARK

Posted on July 31, 2025

JOHN FOWLER Holidays Leadership Team on Croyde Beach

John Fowler Holidays has announced the high-profile acquisition of Ruda Holiday Park at Croyde Bay from Parkdean Resorts, marking a major milestone for the family-run business. The multi-million-pound deal adds one of the UK’s most iconic coastal holiday parks to the North Devon-based operator’s growing portfolio— bringing its total to 14 parks across the South West and Wales.

“This is a landmark day for us,” said Managing Director Martyn Fowler. “Ruda’s location and reputation are second to none, and we’re proud to continue its legacy.” The 300-acre park features 817 pitches, a glamping village, a tropical pool and flume, multiple food and drink outlets, and direct access to Croyde’s blue flag beach—now under John Fowler’s stewardship.

Parkdean Resorts, who owned Ruda for 23 years, said the sale aligns with its strategic goal to reinvest in its wider UK park network. CEO Steve Richards praised Ruda’s staff and legacy, confident John Fowler will maintain its high standards. The deal cements John Fowler’s position as one of the UK’s largest family-owned holiday park groups, with over 800 employees and a turnover of £50 million. Guests with existing Ruda bookings will be contacted directly as the site transitions to new ownership.

BIGGER NOT ALWAYS BETTER

Posted on August 2, 2023

BIGGER NOT ALWAYS BETTER

THE TWO CENTRE RESORT Potters tops the Which? holiday park survey

Butlins, Pontins and Center Parcs were all beaten by smaller independents in the Which? annual survey of holiday park destinations published this summer. The consumer group asked 1,355 Which? members and members of the general public to complete an online survey about their experience of recent stays at UK holiday parks and resorts.

Which? rated 18 holiday parks for cleanliness, accommodation, facilities, customer service, entertainment, food and drink, value for money and costs per night. It was the lesser known names that triumphed over their megabrand rivals in the results which were undertaken from April 2022. Only the top performing parks and resorts have been awarded Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) status.

Respectable marks were attributed to Center Parcs at 72% and Butlins with 71% but Pontin’s could only manage 59% based on reviews of ‘grotty chalets’ and ‘lacklustre’ entertainment. First and second-placed Potters Resorts and Waterside Holiday Group, are both family-run brands that have been in the business for decades. They scored five stars in every category, including customer service and value for money.

Operating for over 100 years, Potters was opened by founder Herbert Potter after he won £500 in a competition. With all-inclusive resorts in Norfolk and Essex, Potters scored top marks with an impressive overall score of 88%. More a resort than a park, accommodation at Potters is in bungalows, hotel rooms and suites. Nudged into second spot with 87%, the small regional brand, Waterside Holiday Group has four luxurious parks, three in Dorset, one in Cornwall.

INDEPENDENTS like Fowlers scored highly in the Which? survey

Their caravans are as classy as they come – at least 3.6 metres wide, with central heating and double glazing, plus fully equipped kitchens and widescreen TVs. Or you can glamp in a safari lodge with a private hot tub. Unlike Potters, Waterside does not offer an all-inclusive rate, meaning visitors pay extra on top to dine at its beachfront bars or restaurants.

A close third, Bluestone Wales attracted a customer score of 81%. Founder William McNamara originally opened up his dairy farm to guests in the 1980s when milk quotas threatened his livelihood. Today this single five-star resort has expanded to a sprawling 500 acres, where rolling countryside meets rugged coastline within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

Scoring 78% in fourth spot, John Fowler began in 1953 as one caravan in a field but has expanded to 11 coastal locations across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, with a wide range of accommodations and prices. Like many independents, John Fowler Holidays stood out for its customer service – rated five stars with the Which? verdict: “It’s cheaper than Pontins and about the same price as Butlin’s, but better than both.”

Fowler Group Swoops For Welsh Acquisition

Posted on January 16, 2020

Fowler Group Swoops For Welsh Acquisition

  • ABOVE: John Fowler Holidays sales director Cathie Higgs and managing director, Martyn Fowler.
  • ABOVE: Llanrhidian Holiday Park, on the Gower Peninsula.

John Fowler Holidays has announced its acquisition of Llanrhidian Holiday Park, one of Wales’ largest parks. The move will make the North Devon based holiday park group one of the principal privately-owned holiday park groups in the country. A family business, started in 1953, John Fowler Holidays has expanded to operate 12 holiday parks throughout Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Wales. It employs almost 1000 people across the region. Every year more than 300,000 visitors stay at their parks.

Llanrhidian Holiday Park, on the Gower Peninsula, an area of outstanding natural beauty, was previously owned by the Richards family for more than 27 years. John Fowler Holidays managing director Martyn Fowler said: “We are delighted to have been able to add Llanrhidian to our business, it forms an important part of our planned expansion. It has been a pleasure to work with a family with a similar ethos to ours during this process and we are looking forward to continuing their excellent work as we take the park forward.” Ollie Fowler head of development for the group, added: “We intend to add further parks in exceptional locations in the future but it will be hard to beat the beauty of the Gower Peninsular.”

Memory Makers

Posted on July 2, 2015

Memory Makers

Above: Holidaymakers are now more than ever regarding their break as a chance to enjoy a new experience. Pic: Park Resorts

Holiday park operators remain cautiously optimistic as Ashleigh Mackenzie reports…  Above: Holidaymakers are now more than ever regarding their break as a chance to enjoy a new experience. Pic: Park Resorts

2014 was a strong year for UK tourism. Not only did we see record breaking numbers of holidaymakers from abroad visit the country, but tourist spending hit the dizzy heights of £21.7 billion – three per cent up on 2013 and a record in both nominal and real terms.
Building on the success of last year’s tourism boom, the industry has enjoyed a solid start to 2015, but holiday park operators remain cautiously optimistic.
Latest figures from the International Passenger Survey show that overall visitor numbers for the first three months of this year were up by one per cent compared to 2014, while UK-based holidays have seen an increase of four per cent.

ABOVE: Britain’s holiday parks industry, comprising more than 3500 parks in total, plays an important role in the country’s economy. Pic: National Caravan Council

ABOVE: Britain’s holiday parks industry, comprising more than 3500 parks in total, plays an important role in the country’s economy. Pic: National Caravan Council

“The industry in general is reporting steady performance across all business fronts and is optimistic about future prospects in the short to medium term,” says Bob Hill, sites director at The Camping and Caravanning Club.
“There is growth across most aspects of the sector and the majority of operators are reporting an increase in consumer confidence.” “These are very positive times for the holiday park industry,” comments Dan Steadman, sales and marketing director of Hoburne Holiday Parks, that operates seven holiday park sites.
“At Hoburne we have seen booking figures increase every year since 2008 and manufacturers are seeing increases in the numbers of holiday homes built and sold. This is an area we have seen particular growth in with holiday home sales across our seven parks more than doubling in the past year.” “It is shaping up to be a good season for us,” agrees Cathie Higgs of John Fowler Holiday Parks, like Hoburne with parks centred around the south west of England. “We are up on 2014 figures in terms of sales and growth and the reduction of petrol prices has certainly had a positive effect on our business.”

VITAL ROLE
Britain’s holiday parks industry, comprising more than 3500 parks in total, plays an important role in the country’s economy.
The sector provides one in six of all holiday bed-nights in Britain each year and generates a huge £2.26 billion annual turnover - with the vast majority of the cash being funnelled by park visitors into local businesses.

Above: Henry Wild, national chairman of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) says that frequent shorter breaks is the continuing pattern of holiday-taking

Above: Henry Wild, national chairman of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BH&HPA) says that frequent shorter breaks is the
continuing pattern of holiday-taking

For many such local enterprises, tourism is crucial for their survival and ability to sustain jobs. Parks are estimated to provide some fifteen percent – a total of 53,000 - of all full-time and seasonal tourism-dependent jobs in Britain.
The majority, some 95 percent of UK parks are family-owned businesses, some with farming histories stretching back over generations and for which tourism is now a much more realistic alternative to the declining agricultural industry. The sector also comprises a number of extremely successful holiday park groups including Haven Holidays, Park Resorts and Park Holidays UK.
“While it has been a strong start to the year, there is no complacency among BH&HPA; members and nobody assumes that the main factors which influence our sector and UK tourism as a whole – principally the economy and the weather – are always going to take our side,” says Henry Wild, national chairman of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BH&HPA;).
STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY
It should be remembered that the term ‘the industry’ pulls together a diverse range of businesses from small farm-based parks with a handful of touring pitches to major multi-park operators with incomes dependent on holiday homes sales and rentals. Some of these parks may be affected by factors to which others are immune. For example, a touring park in a remote part of the country may see rising car fuel costs as its chief enemy – while parks with holiday homes to buy might find that lending restrictions by banks are putting a ceiling on the number of people able to take out personal loans to fund their second home purchase.
“It’s important to use both experience and common sense to try and determine what changes are likely to be in the park’s long-term interests, and which are unlikely to have any lasting impact,” says Henry.

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CONTRIBUTING COMPANY CONTACTS

BUTLINS Tel. 01442 230300 www.butlins.com

BRITISH HOLIDAY AND HOME PARKS ASSOCIATION Tel. 01452 526911 www.bhhpa.org.uk

THE CAMPING AND CARAVANNING CLUB Tel. 024 7647 5448 www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk

HAVEN Tel. 08712 301900 www.haven.com

HOBURNE HOLIDAY PARKS Tel. 01425 277661 www.haven.com

JOHN FOWLER HOLIDAYS Tel .01271 866766 www.johnfowlerholidays.com

PARK HOLIDAYS UK Tel. 01424 751185 www.parkholidays.com

PARK RESORTS Tel. 01442 414100 www.park-resorts.com

Tributes For Holiday Stalwart

Posted on November 4, 2014

jf

Holiday park magnate John Fowler
has passed away at the age of 86.

Tributes For Holiday Stalwart

The holiday park industry has bid a sad farewell to John Fowler, founder of the largest privately owned holiday group in the West Country – John Fowler Holidays.

From humble beginnings, the company was founded when John left his Merchant Navy ship in 1953 with aspirations of a business life ashore in Cornwall and with just his £300 pay-off in his pocket. Without a house, job or car to help him in his determination to start a business, John bought an old pre-war caravan for £100 and completely refurbished it. He had noticed visitor demand for the independence of a self-catering holiday as an alternative to traditional boarding houses or hotels.

After a round of phone calls from the village green phone kiosk he found a neighbouring farmer with permission to site the van. The agreed place was no more than a lonely grass field, without electricity or roads, but just a short scramble to a sandy beach, and a brief bus ride to Newquay. A single chemical lavatory, plus an outside tap for drinking or washing water, were the only two concessions to holiday facilities. John spent 6/6d (33p) on a small advert in a Midlands newspaper and when cash bookings started to arrive in the post ploughed all income straight into more caravans.

Within weeks he had the beginnings of a very small holiday business. Now a multimillion-pound chain of 14 holiday parks spread across the south west, John Fowler Holidays was recently ranked at number 32 in a list of the 150 biggest firms operating out of Devon and Cornwall.

The company has also been recognised in the Sunday Times Profit Track 100 list of the UK’s 100 fastest firms for profit-growth. John, who passed away in September, leaves behind his wife Susan, five children and several grandchildren. There is no doubt that he has left a large gap in the industry, in many people’s lives and some very happy memories too.