VALUE-ADDED PRICES ON OFFER

VALUE-ADDED PRICES ON OFFER

FAMILIES CAN ENJOY a weekend camping break at Drayton Manor Club Site from £39 a night.

The Camping and Caravanning Club has launched offers on touring pitches, lowering prices at more than 60 of its Club Sites across the UK. As pressure on household finances continues, the Club remains committed to providing great value campsites with quality facilities in amazing locations.

Discounts can be enjoyed on stays between April and September, with seven Club Sites included in the ‘Ultimate10’ offer, where campers save 10% on stays all year round. With camping proven to make people happier and healthier*, the Club hopes even more campers will reap the benefits of the incredible outdoors this year.

There are eight offers in total, including 35% off stays at 14 Club Sites in July and August. Families can enjoy a weekend camping break at Drayton Manor Club Site, in the grounds of the Staffordshire theme park, from £39 a night, based on two adults and two children on a grass with electric pitch.

HUSH QUIET WORK MACHINES

HUSH QUIET WORK MACHINES

THE THREE CLIFFS BAY has invested in three battery-powered utility vehicles.

When machinery and guests co-exist, the best thing a utility vehicle can bring to a holiday park is to be seen but not heard. With many visitors residing under canvas, it’s essential that the operation of the site is quiet, clean and unobtrusive at the five-star Three Cliffs Bay, in Gower, Wales offers luxury glamping, camping and touring pitches. Previously the machines, tasked with site maintenance, were petrol.

When the time came to update the site’s maintenance fleet, owner Tom Beynon chose three battery-powered utility vehicles. He opted for the STAR EV offering of two Capella HCX; market-leading when it comes to towing capacity and the amount of payload they can handle. Tom also specified the Capella Lifted, which is ideal for off-road load carrying situations.

The Capellas were put to work transporting guests and their luggage around the site, as well as rubbish collecting and recycling, with the Lifted being used for gardening jobs. The machines quickly proved they could take on all the tasks required without any difference in productivity to their petrol counterparts and without disturbance. Tom’s been so impressed with the Capella Work Machines that he has plans to expand their job requirements by hiring them out to guests for the duration of their stay.

REESINK e-VEHICLES
www.reesink-evehicles.co.uk

CHILDHOOD DREAM COMES TRUE

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.

VERDANT CELEBRATE IN STYLE

VERDANT CELEBRATE IN STYLE

Bespoke holiday park operator Verdant Leisure recently celebrated its 10th birthday in style with gifts for staff and holiday homeowners. Through its social media pages, Verdant gave away 10 holidays to one lucky family who has a child that turned 10 years old in September. Verdant Leisure runs ten UK holiday parks in spectacular locations across South East Scotland, Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire, Perthshire & North East England offering a wide range of accommodation from self-catering caravans, deluxe lodges to camping pods, glamping pods and touring pitches at selected parks.

BEATING HEART

Customers and staff have been at the heart of the business since it was born in 2010 – the brainchild of founders CEO Graham Hodgson, Commercial Director Bev Dixon and Finance Director Andrew Wall. The company employs over 300 staff and is passionate about building a solid team, who are invested in the brand and deliver exceptionally high customer service. As a testament to their engaged and happy employees, Verdant Leisure were awarded 13th Best Company toWork For in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies List in 2020, 3rd in the North East and 9th Best Company in Scotland. “We value all members of the Verdant Leisure team and really treasure the people who make our company what it is. It has been the same since 2010 and each and every one of them has played a large part in our success, today is really about them and our customers – both new and existing,” says CEO Graham Hodgson. Verdant Leisure’s service levels ensured that 2019 saw 60% of guests booking again and the latest customer satisfaction survey results show that 95% of holiday guests would recommend Verdant Leisure to family and friends. “The 2020 customer base has shifted slightly, we’re welcoming lots of new customers into the Verdant family, many of whom may not have enjoyed a British holiday park break for a number of years,” continues Graham.

A significant number of new customers are also deciding to purchase holiday homes on Verdant Leisure’s parks as the post-Lockdown staycation uplift sees no signs of abating. Verdant Leisure was founded in September 2010 following a management buy-in of Dunham Leisure Limited, owners of Pease Bay and Thurston Manor Leisure Parks in South East Scotland. Verdant went on to purchase Viewfield Manor Leisure Park in Ayrshire in July 2011 and Riverside Leisure Park in Northumberland in 2012. Kingfisher and Heather View Leisure parks in Wear Valley, and Coldingham Bay were then acquired. Scoutscroft Leisure Park was purchased in February 2018 followed by Queensberry Bay in Dumfriesshire in October 2018. In January 2020 Verdant Leisure purchased Erigmore in Perthshire bringing Verdant Leisure’s portfolio to ten parks across Scotland and North East England. This deal continued the company’s growth strategy to create a strong regional group with significant scale, and Verdant Leisure remains keen to add further parks to its group over the next 18 months.

Verdant Leisure
Tel. 03300 535524
www.verdantleisure.co.uk