Holiday park news round-up: Big profit rise at Park Holidays UK

Park Holidays UK reveals big profit increase

A holiday park operator is celebrating a boost in revenue after recording a near £7 million rise in pre-tax profits.

Park Holidays UK, which was bought by private equity firm Caledonia Investments three years ago, runs 26 holidays parks across the south of England.

Its latest accounts show that it generated a turnover of £119.2 million for the year to December 31st, 2015. This compares to £91.8 million for the previous period. Pre-tax profits were £26.4 million, compared to £19.8 million for the previous year.

Park Holidays said the UK economy during 2015 was “relatively stable” with “continuing low interest rates and growth in residential property values”, reported Insider Media.

It added: “Holiday home ownership for UK residents has shown steady increases in recent years and this trend continued during 2015. The holiday home market has seen a move towards lodge units, which are of a much higher specification and size, usually located on premium plots within parks.

Static caravan plans could boost jobs

Plans for 171 static caravan pitches have been submitted by five-star rated Clayton Caravan Park in Scotland.

The park wants to create the pitches on neighbouring agricultural land, between Cupar and St Andrews.

Andrew Kennedy, managing director, put forward the economic case for the proposal.

“Our holiday park has been operating for 50 years and we have never seen such strong demand for static holiday caravans in Fife,” he told Fife Today.

“Much of this demand is unmet as almost all the holiday parks in the area are fully developed. “As more individuals turn their backs on expensive foreign holidays, and the travel concerns that go with them, it is important we continue to provide quality accomodation to the many visitors to the area.”

Big investment for Lincolnshire caravan park

A Lincolnshire holiday park operator is investing £1.5million in new leisure facilities for its customers.

Blue Anchor Leisure is to invest £1.5 million into a new development at The Chase caravan park in Ingoldmells to help meet the demand from families wanting to come to Lincolnshire for holidays, reports the Lincolnshire Echo.

A spokesman from Blue Anchor Leisure told the paper: “We are committed to continually invest in our parks to make them the best they can be.

“This new facility will be a fantastic centrepiece on a wonderful park.

“As a family run business, we understand the need to create jobs in our local area so the surrounding villages have prosperous communities to live in.

“Developments such as this fuels local employment not just in the bars and hospitality sector but also the construction industry.”

The development on the park on Anchor Lane will boast a large family bar and restaurant offering a large variety of food and drink, live entertainment as well as broadcasting live sporting events.