Caravan park operator Parkdean is hoping to double the size of its business over five years after a rise in site acquisitions.
According to The Journal, the Newcastle company believes it can now reach its longheld target of running forty sites within four or five years due to a sharp growth in the market for UK caravan holidays. Parkdean said it had seen sales rise again from £120m last year, which resulted in profits reaching £31.5m as more families took a staycation in one of the firm’s 24 sites.
The company has more than 2,000 staff and is the UK’s third largest caravan park operator next to Park Resorts and Haven operator Bourne Leisure. Parkdean’s sites are located in the south-west of the country, in the main due to the recent purchase of Exeter-based Weststar Holidays three years ago. Yet the firm is now hoping to achieve more national coverage and chief executive John Waterworth is optimistic about the future.
“I think the future is looking particularly strong for the UK holiday market at the moment” he noted. “People are realising how easy it is to holiday at home and it has been an even better season than last year. We are seeing a lot of people going for weekend breaks as well as the one big summer holiday”.
Having launched Parkdean in 1999 with one park, the company was floated on the stock exchange before being taken over for £139m by an investment firm and then delisted. And Waterworth was quick to sound a note of caution.
“You don’t want to expand too quickly and there was a lot of uncertainty in 2008/9. You have to have a sustainable business, to stick to your knitting and do what you do best in situations like that.”
Click here for more on caravan holidays offered by Parkdean.
