Park Holidays UK

Park Holidays UK operates 33 holiday parks in the South of England and is the largest holiday park operator along the South Coast, offering caravan and lodge holidays, touring and camping, and holiday home ownership. It has parks in both country and coastal locations.[1] The company is a member of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BH&HPA).

Park Holidays UK Limited
TypePrivate Limited Company
IndustryLeisure / Holiday
PredecessorCinque Ports Leisure Ltd
(to January 2007)
Founded1984 (original co.)
HeadquartersBexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
Number of locations
33 caravan holiday parks in southern England
Key people
Jeffrey Sills
ServicesOperation of holiday home parks
Revenue £154.8m (2018)
£38.5m (2018)
£21.9m (2018)
Number of employees
Park Holidays UK employs between 630 staff out of season to 1650 in the summer months
ParentICG (Intermediate Capital Group)
Websitewww.parkholidays.com

In 2009 the company was nominated for 'Best UK Domestic Holiday Operator' in the British Travel Awards and in early 2019, for the third year in a row, global ratings and reviews provider Feefo awarded Park Holidays UK the Gold Service Award.

History

The company was founded in the mid-1980s and originally called Cinque Ports Leisure. Frenchmans Beach, renamed Rye Harbour, was the first park to be owned, and as the company expanded to include other Kent and East Sussex parks, the name Cinque Ports Leisure was introduced to emphasize the regional base; the name being associated with the port towns that helped defend the UK during the Napoleonic wars.

The company significantly expanded in 2001 with the purchase of ten parks from Haven Holidays, which extended the company's presence west into Dorset and Hampshire and north into Essex and Suffolk. It has continued to expand over the intervening years with significant park acquisitions.

In 2006 the business was acquired by Graphite Capital, and changed name to Park Holidays UK in 2007, to reflect its expansion away from the Kent and East Sussex area, and the growing holiday and short break aspect of the business.

In 2008, the company acquired two new holiday parks in Dawlish Warren, Devon: Golden Sands Holiday Park and Peppermint Holiday Park. These were later amalgamated in 2013 to a single park location.

In November 2013, Caledonia Investments[2] became the owners which facilitated continued investment and further acquisitions.

In December 2015, Park Holidays UK relocated its head office from Coghurst Hall, Hastings, to Glovers House, Bexhill-on-Sea with approximately 90 staff members, the first development to be completed in the newly built Bexhill Enterprise Park. Keeping with the company’s growing ambition Glovers House is a modern, low-energy building with panoramic views over the surrounding Sussex countryside, housing a three-floor, 25,235 square foot set of offices. In December 2016 it was announced that Caledonia Investments had agreed terms on a sale to Tiger Bidco Ltd,[3] a company incorporated by Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), who remain the current owners.

Other parks locations have been added to the company over recent years. Broadland Sands Holiday Park in Suffolk was completed in December 2014, followed by Two Chimneys Holiday Park in 2015, which was renamed Birchington Vale, to reflect its location in the tranquil North Kent countryside. Tarka Holiday Park near Barnstaple, North Devon was added in April 2016.

In June 2017, Park Holidays UK purchased Carlton Meres[4] in Suffolk, just ten miles inland from the picturesque seaside town of Aldeburgh. In August 2017, the company bought Martello Beach Holiday Park (renamed as Pevensey Bay Holiday Park) near Eastbourne, East Sussex. In May 2018 they purchased another park named Martello Beach Holiday Park (keeping the original name) which is next to their St Osyth Beach resort, and then, in December 2018, the company purchased Dovercourt Holiday Park[5] in Essex. In November 2019 they acquired a park on Mersea Island (Seaview Holiday Park), renaming it West Mersea Holiday Park. Wood Farm in Dorset and Pakefield Holiday Park in Suffolk were added in December 2020, bringing the total number of holiday parks to 33.

Over the last 5–10 years Park Holidays UK have carried out major refurbishments to its holiday parks,[6] in particular focusing on infrastructure, clubhouses, new swimming pools, additional facilities, and upgraded holiday accommodation,[7] with a strong focus on developments for luxury lodges.[8]

Locations

Park Holidays UK operates six parks in Devon (Riviera Bay, Landscove, Waterside, Dawlish Sands, Golden Sands, Tarka), two in Dorset (Sandhills, Wood Farm), one in Hampshire (Solent Breezes), six in Sussex (Beauport, Coghurst Hall, Chichester Lakeside, Winchelsea Sands, Rye Harbour Holiday Park, Pevensey Bay), six in Kent (Marlie, New Beach, Alberta, Seaview, Harts, Birchington Vale), seven in Essex (Steeple Bay, Oaklands, Seawick, St Osyth Beach, Martello Beach, Dovercourt, West Mersea) and five in Suffolk (Felixstowe Beach, Suffolk Sands, Broadland Sands, Carlton Meres, Pakefield).

References
  1. "About Park Holidays UK". Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  2. "Graphite Capital". Graphite Capital. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  3. "Private Equity Wire". Private Equity Wire. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  4. "Ipswich Star". Ipswich Star. Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  5. "Savills". Savills. Savills PLC. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. "Natwest Bank". Natwest Business Hub. Natwest Bank. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  7. "Insider Media Limited". Insider Media Limited. Insider Media Limited. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  8. "BH & HPA". UKParks.com. BH & HPA. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
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