Devon's Beverley Holidays was celebrated as one of Britain's most outstanding family businesses this summer at London's Wembley Stadium. The Paignton park was among those selected to tread the red carpet at the 2018 National Family Business Awards after winning through to the glittering finals.

Founded 60 years ago by the same family which remains at its helm today, Beverley was the sole representative of the UK holiday parks industry at the prestigious event.

Organised by Britain's largest network of family-run companies, the annual awards are designed to highlight the important roles played by family-run businesses.

Holme Valley camping and caravan park is nestling in a valley on the edge of the Peak District. Surrounded by sixteen acres of woodland it is a perfect place for families to explore the outdoors. 

The family run business involves three generations. In 1986 Philip and Hazel opened the park after converting a derelict mill site. The park is popular with fans of the BBC series Last of the Summer Wine. The programme lmed at the site several times in the 1990’s. 

Facilities recently expanded which involved the construction of a luxury toilet and shower block. Cubicle Centre ordered the layout and design advice in the early stages. This resulted in the modern design the owners were looking for. 

Porthdinllaen Caravan park is located on the beautiful coast of North Wales. The site is next to a spectacular beach, Nefyn Championship golf club and the famous Ty Coch Inn. The Ty Coch Inn was recently voted in the ‘World’s Top Ten Beach Bars’ by a recent survey. 

In 2016 Porthdinllaen secured planning to almost double the size of the park from 36 touring units to 60. The expansion also included a brand new amenities block which includes, showers, washrooms, a canteen area and a shop. 

Last weekend (8th- 9th September) Willerby launched the 2019 collection at The Lawns in Cottingham.

Despite the wet weather, the crowds turned out in their thousands with over 17,500 guests stopping by to view the new collection from the UK’s largest manufacturer of holiday homes and lodges.

In a first for the company, this year Willerby revealed its brand new Park Homes by Willerby collection which launched in May this year with three brand new models. Those on display at the show were the charming Charnwood and dazzling Hazlewood both set within Willerby’s beautiful English rose themed garden.

Showgoers were treated to two brand new never before seen models, 

Following a record year for visitors, Silverdale Holiday Park says it's now putting staff recruitment plans into overdrive in readiness for an even more full-on 2019.

And to help attract new team members, the business is offering a list of perks including free saunas, spa baths and pool sessions, plus access to the latest keep-fit technology in its gym.

The family-owned park currently has 20 full-time positions to fill after end-season figures showed this summer to have been the busiest by far in its 60-year history.

But business owner Michael Holgate says is keen to give priority to applicants from south Cumbria, and will only be announcing the posts locally and on his website.

More than 8,000 caravan and camping sites across the UK enjoyed the warm summer, with the two largest clubs reporting bookings up on last year and over one million leisure vehicles currently owned in the UK according to the NCC*, the event arm of which runs the UK’s largest leisure vehicle event, the Motorhome and Caravan Show 2018 in October.

The Caravan and Motorhome Club, with nearly a million members and 2,700 locations, saw a 12% uplift in 2018 summer bookings over 2017. There was also a 17% year-on-year increase over the May bank holiday across its sites network and a 5% growth in August bank holiday bookings. The August bank holiday produced record bookings for the club.

by Nick Glaves

Leading East Yorkshire caravan manufacturer Victory Leisure Homes outperformed expectations at this year’s Cottingham Parks Lodge and Caravan Show, after concerns Brexit might dampen the market.

Managing director Peter Nevitt, who has more than 40 years of experience in the industry, said he thought show attendance and overall spend would be down, due to continued turmoil in the UK’s political landscape.

But Mr Nevitt’s fears were allayed from the very start of the show, when the company immediately began making sales.

Park owners and operators were particularly impressed with Victory’s latest lodge model, the Cézanne, which launched at the show and racked up a solid number of orders. 

A Lancashire holiday park is claiming victory in its bid to persuade youngsters to abandon their mobile devices for a day – and to tackle a series of traditional summer games instead.

Moss Wood caravan park near Lancaster threw down its challenge on the last Saturday in August during one of the school holiday's busiest weekends.

It invited all families staying on the park to go cold turkey on their phones and tablets, and to spend a click-free day swapping Facebook for old fashioned fun.

The digital detox experiment, said the park's Henry Wild, was an outstanding success and drew a huge crowd to the specially constructed games arena in the grounds.

Many Caravan Industry readers will be aware of the major research being carried out this year into the impact of the holiday-park sector on the UK economy, funded by the Economic Impact Research Group (the BH&HPA, the Camping and Caravanning Council, the Caravan and Motorhome Council and the NCC).  Both individual parks and groups in all four countries have been contacted by the EIRG to encourage them to take part – as with all research, the more information gathered, the more robust will be the output!  

Such a UK-wide survey has not been done before and the report will be of significant importance not just to the sector as a whole, but potentially also to individual parks when applying for planning permission.  

A campsite on the grounds of a fairytale castle has become Ayrshire’s first ever Five Star Touring Park following a grading by VisitScotland.

Culzean Castle Camping and Caravanning Club Site, located on the South Ayrshire Coast, received the award from the national tourism organisation’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme in recognition of its exceptional standards. The QA Scheme is a benchmark for quality across the tourism industry and operates across accommodation, visitor attractions and food sectors.

The 90-pitch site, just a short walk from the 18th Century Castle, has always looked after its patrons to a high standard with showers, toilets, a washing up area and a children’s play area among the facilities available.