£960 Million Parks Merger Deal

Posted on November 13, 2015

£960 Million Parks Merger Deal

The proposed merger of Park Resorts with Parkdean Holidays will create the UK’s largest holiday park operator.

A planned merger between Park Resorts and Parkdean Holidays would create the UK’s largest holiday park operator with 73 holiday parks with an enterprise value of £960m, turnover of £370m and EBITDA of around £92m. The combined portfolio would serve 1.8 million customers including 22,200 caravan owners and 35,400 pitches. With Parkdean’s strength in the South West and Scotland, and Park Resort’s sites predominately located on the East Coast and the Northwest, including the Lake District, the merger combines diverse portfolios to create a business with UK wide, national coverage. If given the go ahead by the Financial Conduct Authority, John Waterworth, the current chief executive of Newcastle-based park operator Parkdean Holidays is to remain in the top role. Both head offices in Newcastle and Hemel Hempstead will be retained. Alan Parker, chairman of Park Resorts, said: “The Park Resorts Group and Parkdean Holidays are an outstanding strategic fit with highly complementary estates and revenue mixes. “I am greatly looking forward to working with the teams to deliver further growth.”

Parkdean Ltd
Telephone: 0191 256 0795
www.parkdean.com

Park Resorts
Telephone: 0843 561 1239
www.park-resorts.com

Lincolnshire Parks Get Tough On Crime

Posted on September 2, 2015

Lincolnshire Parks Get Tough On Crime

Members of the Caravan Park Watch Scheme at Park Resorts’ Southview Leisure Park in Skegness.

Holiday parks in Lincolnshire have seen a 45 per cent drop in crime levels, thanks to a successful crime prevention scheme in the county.

A partnership between Lincolnshire police, local holiday parks and other stakeholders, the Caravan Park Watch initiative has gone from strength to strength since it was started in 2014 and now has in excess of 50 member parks.

Members of the Caravan Park Watch scheme and the National Caravan Council (NCC)recently met with Boston and Skegness MP, Matt Warman, to brief him on its success in the area.

MP Matt Warman said: “The Lincolnshire Caravan Park Watch scheme is leading the way when it comes to preventing crime and sharing resources and ideas across the sector.

“The huge reduction in crime to date is testament to all the hard work that has been put into developing this important partnership.”

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

“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

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

Holiday Snaps: Andrew Howe, Bridge Leisure

Posted on March 12, 2015

Holiday Snaps: Andrew Howe, Bridge Leisure

Andrew Howe is CEO of Bridge Leisure, which owns holiday parks in Cornwall, Yorkshire, Ayrshire and in Moray, Scotland. Andrew has worked in the leisure industry for 17 years, within both independent and plc companies including UK caravan park operator Park Resorts and Sandy Balls Holiday Centre.

How is 2015 shaping up for Bridge Leisure?

We couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the year; a new park acquired; new funding in place for more acquisitions and we are seeing good like for like growth in terms of holiday home sales and holiday sales at our parks. It’s looking like a great year!

How do you see the UK holiday industry at the moment?

The sector is in good shape as consumers and the economy gather confidence and momentum. Of course there are winners and losers and those operators with tired parks are struggling to retain ever more demanding customers.

What are the challenges facing holiday parks at present and how are you meeting those challenges?

Two main challenges; red tape and ever increasing regulation. No one objects to the sector being regulated but the burden is growing exponentially and affects good operators perhaps more than the poor operators it is aimed at. Secondly, the sector lacks coordination and a single voice. We have very good trade associations but park operators resist working together which is a shame.

What is the single best marketing or promotional tool for attracting visitors?

The internet – but only if you know what to do with it.

What is the best business advice you ever received and from whom?

Not something addressed to me directly but a quote from a former CEO of Swissair who remarked “if our tray tables are dirty our customers will worry that we don’t service our aircraft engines properly”. It’s worth remembering and encourages a customer eye view of what you are doing; no other view has any lasting relevance.

Who is the most important person in your business and why?

Front line staff; they see our customers and I don’t. It’s the team at the parks who make the difference between happy and unhappy customers.

Where do you go on holiday?

Sounds clichéd but I don’t get many holidays. I like ‘doing’ holidays and skiing particularly.

Anything else you would like to add?

Yes, we are looking for more parks to buy!

Park Resorts Launch Caravan Sales App

Posted on July 3, 2014

Park Resorts new caravan sales App is designed to make buying a caravan as simple as possible for prospective home owners.

Park Resorts Launch Caravan Sales App

Park Resorts has become the first UK holiday park operator to launch an App showcasing all of the current caravans, lodges and chalets for sale on its parks.

The free App is a one-stop shop for people looking to invest in a holiday home, as well as existing home owners.

Users can search for properties by location using a UK map, find parks closest to their current location, or search by model or price range. The App also allows prospective buyers to view details of the facilities at all of Park Resorts 38 parks as well as photo galleries of all of the caravans, lodges and chalets for sale. A useful finance calculator also helps them to work out costs and repayments.

Martin Abrams, head of digital at Park Resorts said: “We know that around a third of visits to the Park Resorts website are now made from tablets or mobile phones and we expect this number to further increase over the coming 12 months.

“Nowadays people want to easily access information when and where it suits them and often on the move. This new user-friendly App is designed to meet the growing demand for people browsing on these devices. This is just the first part of some big changes to our web and mobile offer this year and we’re excited at what lies ahead.”

The App was produced, built and tested by Park Resorts inhouse web team based at its Hemel Hempstead HQ. It is available to download for free from the App Store or Google Play.

Holiday Park Scene Magazine