Park Holidays gains nine new holiday parks in group acquisition

Park Holidays UK has announced its acquisition of holiday parks group Bridge Leisure which owns nine holiday parks in the West Country, Peak District, Yorkshire and Scotland.

It brings to 42 the number of parks now operated by Park Holidays UK – and provides the group with a strong national platform from which to serve the fast-growing staycation market.

Contracts for the sale were exchanged this week (09 April) and is now only subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Park Holidays UK director Tony Clish said the coming together of the two well-established groups presented exciting new opportunities in one of tourism’s most dynamic sectors:

“Both companies have invested substantially in their parks over recent years, and created a range of high quality holiday products which people clearly enjoy,” he said.

First Class Holiday Experience

“Whether customers are looking for holiday stays or to buy a holiday home, these parks have everything in place to deliver a first-class experience at an affordable cost.

“We will now be committing even more investment to ensuring that park facilities and services meet the highest possible standards, and in further upgrading accommodation and infrastructure.

“But it is important to both customers and staff that our investment plans are sensitive to the individual park identities and character which each has established over the years.

Park Holidays UK was formed over 35 years ago, and its portfolio of coastal parks has been built up largely in southern England, from Devon in the west to Suffolk in the east.

Bridge Leisure was founded in 2008 and has grown through the acquisition and development of selected holiday parks.

Parks in both groups provide extensive leisure facilities and family entertainment, together with carefully managed landscaped grounds in which holiday lodges and caravans are located.

Creating the Best of British Holiday Parks

“Make no mistake, the quality bar is being raised ever higher all the time on Britain’s holiday parks – and this union between our groups will accelerate the process even faster,” said Tony.

“With our industry now poised to re-open, and holiday bookings and holiday home sales continuing to gather pace, everyone is feeling very upbeat at this announcement!”

Andrew Howe, CEO of Bridge Leisure, said: “We have spent more than ten years growing Bridge Leisure from nothing, and are enormously proud of the people, parks and culture that make the business today. We couldn’t have done it without support from Kings Park Capital initially and Phoenix Equity Partners latterly, but my greatest thanks go to the small central team who grew the business year after year, and the hundreds of people who work so hard to make our parks the wonderful places they are. We wish the Park Holidays team continued success with their growing business.”

There is more information about Park Holidays UK at www.ParkHolidays.com, and Bridge Leisure’s website is at www.BridgeLeisure.com