ARGYLL HOLIDAYS JOIN COVE UK
ALLAN CAMPBELL (Argyll), Mark Seaton (Cove UK), Keith Campbell (Argyll) pictured at Loch Lomond Holiday Park.
One of Scotland’s leading holiday brands has been sold to international resort operator Cove Communities. Argyll Holidays, which owns eight holiday parks across Argyll and Bute, will be the fifth acquisition by Cove Communities under Mark Seaton as Managing Director of Cove UK.
Cove Communities is continuing its UK expansion following its first purchase which was the Bunn Leisure Family Resort, a 300 acre site in Selsey, West Sussex, now marketed as Seal Bay Resort. Cove also recently bought Medmerry Park, near Chichester which adds to its previous acquisitions of Gwel an Mor in Cornwall and Kings Park in Essex. Owned by the Campbell family who started out as sheep farmers, Argyll was established in 1967 with the development of its flagship park, Drimsynie Estate. Since then, it has grown to a group of eight holiday parks in and around the breathtaking Loch Lomond and Trossachs region of Scotland, just an hour’s drive north of Glasgow.
Keith Campbell, Director of Argyll Holidays, said: “Whilst we have been approached over the years by different buyers, Cove was the first company that we felt understood what we stand for and could continue what we started.” Cove UK is intent on building on Argyll Holidays strong reputation and commitment to serving its owners, guests and the local community for years to come. Cove UK has a pledge to source at least 20% of produce locally, build local partnerships and actively engage in local community initiatives. Cove UK’s Go Wild outdoor activities and environmental education programme is already flourishing at its other Parks including Seal Bay Resort (formerly Bunn Leisure) in West Sussex and Gwel an Mor in Cornwall.
Mark Seaton, Cove UK Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to add Argyll to our portfolio and will continue the exceptional work that the Campbell family has started. “Most importantly we will grow and develop the vision of Argyll under Cove, through sustainable business practices, a commitment to environmental conservation and investment in people and the local community.”
The park is set to benefit from further investment as Group’s Operation Manager Bruce Thomson explained: “We are excited to be upgrading facilities at the park. We will create 10 new fully serviced pitches with new state-of-the-art touring bollards as well as increasing the number of hard standing pitches available for use throughout the Winter months. “We would like to welcome families from Scotland and beyond to come and make this park their second home,” adds Bruce. Guests seem to have appreciated the makeover. This is what Steven said in his review on TripAdvisor having stayed at the park in July: “Having only stayed at Lomond woods holiday park before we were sceptical about trying somewhere new. But were we delighted with our stay in Callander. “We were greeted by Cameron, really friendly and he explained all about the park and the area. Our caravan was brand new and it was perfect, stocked with everything you could need. “The park is large and the caravans are sited in a lovely spot at the back of the site, really quiet and peacefully, perfect for a relaxing stay. We travelled into Sterling on the bus which stops just outside the park, also travelled to the safari park which is just a short drive from the park. A wonderful site that we will visit again, good luck and best wishes to the Wood family on their new site.”
Some of touring guests have chosen to put down roots at the park. This is what a lady called Lynn said in her review on TripAdvisor after she stayed at the park in July: “We came here for two weeks in a tourer and loved it so much that we bought a static from the new owners. The site is extremely clean and well ran. The shower block is lovely and lots of showers so u don’t have to queue. The play is wonderful for the kids - they had a ball. I would very highly recommend this caravan park, you will come back again and again. Within the proposed plan for 2019, in line with other Wood Leisure holiday parks, the family are enthusiastic to extend the opening at Callander Woods to give holiday guests greater flexibility. They will be adding ten extra weeks to the holiday year and remain open until the end of December, instead of closing for the season in mid-October. Wood Leisure is a family-owned holiday park group that has been welcoming visitors from the UK and beyond since 1981. Committed to maintaining and upgrading their holiday parks to meet customer expectations, Wood Leisure’s efforts have been recognised with a number of awards including ‘Family Business of the Year’ at the Scottish Outdoor Leisure Awards, Best Caravan Park Group and Best Glamping to name just a few.