Daro is a leading supplier of outdoor woven commercial furniture.
Daro designs, manufactures, and supplies commercial grade rattan furniture to the caravan park and leisure industry with a tailormade, bespoke design service. At Daro, we know a thing or two about creating beautiful rattan furniture for outdoor spaces, celebrating 50 years of cane and rattan design and production in 2023. Daro began as a family business, growing from strength to strength, developing the product offering and today, Daro continues to be a family business and one of the UK’s leading names in woven furniture. At Daro, we know a thing or two about creating beautiful rattan furniture for outdoor spaces, celebrating 50 years of cane and rattan design and production in 2023. Daro began as a family business, growing from strength to strength, developing the product offering and today, Daro continues to be a family business and one of the UK’s leading names in woven furniture. Design & Ranges Daro design and supply Outdoor furniture made with high quality Polyethylene material, powder-coated Aluminium frames and UK made upholstery to prestigious holiday parks and other commercial environments throughout the UK and Europe. From outdoor dining sets to bistro collections and sunloungers, Daro offers a full range of outdoor furniture solutions. Daro’s furniture can be adapted in style and size to accommodate a variety of different outdoor areas. A choice of weave styles and colours means synergy from indoors to outdoors is achievable. Key Benefits of Daro Furniture • Skillfully Woven Rattan – All our frames are skillfully handwoven using a variety of high-quality rattan, which is renowned for its incredible durability, UV resistance and low maintenance. • All-Weather Frames – Rust free and UV resistant furniture. Out outdoor furniture has been designed specifically to withstand all weathers and can be left outside all year around. • 3-year extended manufacturer’s warranty for commercial use with a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty on cushions. • Exclusive Designs – Our creative team of designers work closely with our manufacturing facilities in Indonesia to create unique, durable, and comfortable designs that you won’t find anywhere else. • UK manufactured soft furnishings. Daro is proud of its UK Soft Furnishings division in Derbyshire, ensuring all cushioning is produced to the highest quality and made to order. Daro boasts an extensive choice of over 25 outdoor performance fabrics including the iconic Laura Ashley brand. All our outdoor cushions are manufactured utilising high performance weather resistant fabrics. Daro is a part of the LOFA (The Leisure and Outdoor Furniture Association) Assured initiative. All our cushions are extensively tested and comply with the latest Government Fire Safety Regulations, offering peace of mind. Sustainable As a business, Daro has a commitment to sustainability. Daro’s commitment is to produce high quality products that are durable and long lasting. The sourcing of sustainable, raw materials is used to ensure that all materials in the product and packaging can be recycled and re used. Customer Relationships The relationship Daro build with their customers is paramount to a successful partnership. Customers have praised Daro on their ability to deliver stylish, quality furniture that ‘stand up to the test of time’. Working together to produce the perfect collection of furniture to suit the business requirements. Furthermore, Daro offer a very simple ordering process. Additional products and a mix and match option allow for furniture orders to be processed with ease. Daro’s replacement cushions service offers Parks to opportunity to refresh or renew existing cushions making Daro products the ideal long-term investment. You can view the complete Daro retail collection via the website, to provide a flavour of the ranges and fabrics available. However, Daro’s tailored design service for commercial applications allows for a completely bespoke offering and we encourage you to email Daro to discuss your project and requirements: sales@daro-cane.co.uk
Caravan Guard’s 12 days of Christmas giving
Halifax-based insurance specialists Caravan Guard are giving away nearly £5,000 to four local food bank charities this Christmas to help families in need across their district. A hamper full of a dozen assorted food essentials, worth more than £100, was given to Calderdale Smartmove, Halifax to kickstart the charity campaign. And then four charities were each given £1,200 – the equivalent of £100 a month for the next year – so they could buy the same essential items every month in 2023. These charities are Calderdale Smartmove, Focus4Hope, Halifax Community Fridge and Noah’s Ark. They all support vulnerable families in the Halifax and Calderdale area to access free food by providing food parcels and hampers. The Caravan Guard team also recreated the 12 Days of Christmas song to feature the donated food items, and enlisted the help of local singer, Chloe-Beth Hamer, to record the unique soundtrack. Click to watch our 12 days of Christmas video featuring our kind-hearted staff on Instagram. The food items in the Christmas hamper were: Caravan Guard’s Associate Director, Laura Wilby, said their 12 Days of Christmas Giving aimed to help vulnerable families put food on their tables over Christmas and throughout 2023. “With the ongoing rising living costs there are so many people struggling, and in some cases, they’re going hungry,” said Laura. “We hope our donation to these four charities will help make a positive difference to families in our community.” Dom Furby, Deputy Chief Executive at Calderdale Smartmove, was thrilled to receive the hamper full of food essentials. “This is amazing and will be welcomed by so many of our families,” he said. “The £1,200 donation will also allow us to keep our food room well stocked up with all the essentials throughout 2023. We’re helping more and more schools and families by providing regular food packages, which include everything from coffee and tea to rice, pasta, cereal and biscuits.” Caravan Guard has a strong culture of supporting charitable causes. Each year it donates tens of thousands of pounds to local and national charities, including Overgate Hospice, Heart Research UK and Yorkshire Air Ambulance and caring completely is at the heart of its company values.
Riding the energy rollercoaster – finding ways to control your overheads
Here at Helec we have certainly had our fair share of ups and downs recently – from the Covid lockdowns, when we couldn’t have anyone on site, through to the post-Covid staycation boom, when we all wished we had more space. And now we’re on our way down again thanks to the increasing cost of energy, which is driving up the cost of virtually everything we buy. And we’re not the only business affected by the energy crisis – many others have been hit by the energy price increase and are under serious financial pressure. While companies have always tried to keep costs down, now that energy prices are going through the roof, many business owners will be asking themselves: “What else they can we to take back control of our energy bills and make our outgoings more predictable?” Businesses will certainly welcome the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), with a maximum discount of £345/MWh for electricity and £91/MWh for gas becoming available. This will be backdated to run from October 2022 to March 2023, providing a six month window for companies to invest in insulation, energy efficiency measures, and – where possible – switch to a more sustainable energy supply. But before you rush off, let’s first analyse the situation. Here are my thoughts: What next for business? From the above list I can see that we can take some control over the cost of the electricity we use and that, rather than throwing out our gas boilers, reducing our gas consumption is the most sensible route forward. The most obvious choice is Photovoltaic (PV) panels.They provide zero carbon electricity, are simple and low maintenance and so can be considered for every site. However, PV panels aren’t always suitable as it takes quite a large area of panels to make a good contribution to the site load. They’re also less effective during our winter months. Businesses that use a lot of hot water – e.g. those in hospitality, leisure or agriculture – may benefit from installing a Solar Thermal system. The heat is generated through roof mounted solar panels which are used together with a boiler, collector or immersion heater. When the sun shines on the solar collector, it heats a transfer fluid, which is then pumped to a heat exchanger. The heat from the exchanger then heats the water inside the water tank. But, like solar PV, solar thermal is affected by the loss of direct sunlight during the winter months, when we most need heat. If you have land surrounding your business premises, you may consider installing one or more wind turbines. Like solar energy, wind energy, while intermittent, generates 100% renewable electricity and is free at source. However, wind turbines can be difficult to site due to the required planning permissions. Heat pumps are generally most effective when generating low temperature heating (less than 60°C), which makes them best suited to newer buildings designed for low temperature space heating systems. Heat pumps run on electricity which, with a typical Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 1:3, means that with the current cost of electricity you could be paying around 20p/kWh for your heat compared to a typical gas boiler, which will provide heat at around 16.5p/kWh. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is a cogeneration technology that generates electricity while producing hot water, helping to optimise energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions. CHP units are compact, quiet electricity-generating sets that can produce power at around 11p/kWh while dramatically reducing your heating loads. They are usually installed within existing buildings, don’t require planning permission and can in some cases also provide backup power in case of a grid power cut. You can also use this electricity to power your heat pumps, reducing your heat cost to 3.6p/kWh from the heatpump instead of the 20p/kWh when using the grid to power them. According to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme Guidance for CHP, where the scheme CHP registered capacity under Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance (CHPQA) determination is less than 5Mwe, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) consider that reducing relief would be administratively burdensome and therefore full relief will be allowable on all gas used by the CHP. If your registered CHPQA capacity is below 5MWe, you will be able to claim on the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. However, if your registered CHPQA capacity is greater than 5MWe, you will not be able to claim full relief on your gas used. So, as a summary, the right solution for every business is of course an individual decision. There is no “one size fits all” solution, only the right combination of the best options available. I hope you’ll be making the right choice for your business to help you reduce not just your CO2 emissions, but your energy bills at the same time. Feel free to contact Helec (info@helec.co.uk) to let us evaluate the potential solutions on offer in order to help you make that journey to lower energy costs going forward.
Mature planting brings instant returns
As all successful operators know, a holiday park business cannot rely solely on their location or the surrounding countryside and must provide attractive, functional spaces to make their site a destination in itself – especially now in a shrinking economy as customers feel the pinch. Failing to understand the business need for well-maintained outdoor spaces, especially in failing to see them through the eyes of your customers, will lead to poor budgetary decisions and missed opportunities. (Planting provides a softer effect than fences or walls for dividing areas for privacy and security) So, how to go about improving the outdoor spaces of your site, and most specifically how to use plants and soft landscaping to do it? Top tips to improve outdoor areas: i. Have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, how it will benefit your customers, and how it will benefit your business. ii. Prioritise key areas and the timescale in which you need to address them. Large planting schemes, as well as needing significant initial outlay, will also require maintenance so plan for this from the start and don’t take on more than you can handle in one go. Balance this with the logistical benefits (lower transport costs, less disruption in the long term, etc) of larger jobs and decide whether to undertake a single, major project or whether to break it into smaller, more manageable chunks. iii. Know the conditions on site, and specifically the growing conditions in each location (drainage, soil type, exposure, etc) as well as any other limiting factors, such as access by children, proximity to grazing animals, etc, and select plants accordingly – planting the right plant in the right place will avoid problems later. iiii. There is often a wider, or cheaper, selection of suitable plants available during the traditional planting season, which is during dormancy (November to March); for many holiday parks this coincides with the off season, so this is the ideal time to plant horticulturally, commercially, and logistically to minimise disturbance to your customers. However, demand for planting services at this time of year is high so plan ahead. v. Understand why your customers are there – this may seem obvious but sometimes it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Decide what the USP of your site is, whether that is a particular view, proximity to local facilities or whatever, and plan your outdoor spaces accordingly. For example, don’t plant a windbreak if it compromises a key view, or don’t block off a shortcut route to town or the beach for perceived/feared (but unproven) security reasons if it then costs you bookings due to increased walking times to the local facilities and attractions. If you cater for lots of young families ensure that there are plenty of play spaces, both “formal” (with play equipment) and informal, and that they are all safe spaces. If a significant proportion of your guests are young adults on a short stay, such as for stag weekends and hen parties, provide “robust” spaces with plenty of secure seating and areas for privacy where appropriate, and use security planting (prickly/thorny plants if needs be and where appropriate) to deter access to private business areas. If the bulk of your long-term residents are more mature, ensure that there are safe and attractive ornamental spaces immediately around the living areas and communal spaces, but keep them clear from debris and obstacles and use non-slip surfaces. (Instant hedging provides structure and security) (A combination of evergreen structure and seasonal plants provide year-round interest) Pitfalls to avoid: i. Failing to understand the business need for well-maintained outdoor spaces, especially in failing to see them through the eyes of your customers, will lead to poor or incorrect budgetary decisions. Prioritise spending on what is essential and urgent, such as security, privacy and shelter planting and also on planning issues, then on what is urgent and of benefit, such as an attractive entrance and reception/office area, then on what is essential but less urgent (such as areas where you can afford to plant smaller stock and wait for them to grow), and only then look at the “nice to haves”. Don’t get carried away allocating budget on highly ornamental areas if security and privacy issues haven’t yet been addressed or if messy bin areas need to be screened off. ii. As already discussed, know the growing conditions (or get expert advice) to avoid costly mistakes – this is hugely important. iii. Don’t forget to plan and budget for maintenance, both initially to help new planting establish, but also on an ongoing basis as required. Your supplying nursery should be able to provide you with all of the information you need. iiii. Don’t treat all areas the same. Vary them according to usage, especially if this changes throughout the year, and don’t treat areas for tents or mobile caravans the same as those for fixed caravans or lodges; there is even a need to landscape small fixed living quarters, such as pods, in a very different way to how you might plant around large fixed caravans, lodges or cabins. It is also important to plant sympathetically with the surrounding landscape. v. Consider your neighbours. Dense planting to protect neighbours from unsightly views of your site, to give them privacy, and to help absorb noise, will help to improve the value of your site and to elevate the experience of your guests, but avoid unnecessarily casting excessive shade onto a neighbour’s property or causing other issues to avoid damaging and potentially stressful boundary/neighbour disputes. Call in the experts for instant results: With decades of experience in supplying the holiday park industry, as well as expert horticultural knowledge and advice, Wykeham Mature Plants are experts in supplying instant transformations tailored to the site conditions and to the requirements of your business. Supplying the trade with high quality large trees, specimen shrubs, instant hedging and screening plants for over forty five years, Wykeham Mature Plants spans 150 acres of nursery, located in a frost pocket ten miles from Scarborough; the Yorkshire-grown stock is guaranteed to be hardy and
Cumbria park’s guides lead to cheque-in for Air Ambulance
Willerby cuts energy bills for holiday home owners and parks with new sustainability standard
Holiday homes market leader Willerby is introducing a new, ground-breaking standard specification for its models to cut their carbon emissions, make them more energy efficient, cutting energy bills meaning they are cheaper to run. Willerby is the first UK holiday homes manufacturer to introduce any kind of sustainability standard and the only one to offer a green build specification across the board. Willerby’s new GreEN Standard will apply to all static caravans1 manufactured from October 2022 and will be adopted in the design and production of all future new models. The change is the most significant innovation in the holiday homes industry since the introduction of double glazing and central heating. It’s a key part of Willerby’s drive to put sustainability firmly at the heart of all its design processes and manufacturing operations and reinforces the company’s status as the UK holiday homes brand leader. The GreEN Standard will reduce the energy consumption of Willerby’s holiday homes by up to 28%3, compared to models built to the previous specification. The new standard will mean Willerby’s holiday homes … Willerby has carried out comprehensive research into the carbon impact of its holiday homes in order to understand how this can be reduced. This included calculating the embodied carbon – emissions associated with materials and processes during manufacture – as well as the carbon footprint of holiday homes once in use. As a result, Willerby’s new GreEN Standard incorporates: Willerby CEO Peter Munk said: “Our new GreEN standard is a hugely significant development in our ongoing commitment to tackling the climate crisis. “Our industry has an important role to play in the pathway to a sustainable future and I’m proud we’re leading the way in our sector with the introduction of this new specification. It puts sustainability at the very heart of all our product development and manufacturing operations. “Further improving the energy efficiency of our holiday homes has the additional benefit of enabling owners to make significant savings on their energy bills, which is particularly important at this time when living costs are rising sharply. “Holiday park operators will also benefit from reduced running costs on their Willerby GreEN Standard rental units, as well as this initiative contributing to the increased sustainability of their operations. “In short, this is great for the environment and good for the pocket.” Willerby has worked with several of its customers in the UK holiday parks sector during the research and development project that has led to the introduction of the GreEN Standard. Willerby’s technical director Simon Tempest, the company’s board champion for sustainability, said: “As a major employer, and a leading player in the holiday homes industry, we recognise our responsibility to reduce the carbon impact of our operations. “We’ve done a great deal in this area already, with the introduction of a raft of green initiatives. These include installing biomass boilers at our Hull site which convert waste wood into energy to heat our manufacturing facilities, saving 1,000 tonnes of C02 annually and avoiding hundreds of truck trips to remove this waste. “The introduction of the GreEN Standard is a major leap forward in our sustainability journey and a game-changing innovation for the holiday homes industry.” For more information on the GreEN Standard, go to www.willerby.com/green-standard What it means for holiday home owners The GreEN Standard responds to the ever-growing desire for holiday home owners, like everyone else, to live more sustainably, reduce their energy consumption and save money on fuel bills. What it means for holiday park operators The GreEN standard delivers a series of benefits for Willerby’s customers in the holiday parks sector. 1Due to pitch constraints, our Ashurst models will not be built to the GreEN Standard specification. 212ft holiday homes only. 3Figure based on a Brookwood 40ft x 12ft three-bedroom model and 90 days occupancy. Saving based on 18p per kwh. 4Figure based on a Brookwood 40ft x 12ft three-bedroom model and 270 days occupancy. Saving based on 18p per kwh.
Papa John’s Delivers First Modular Pod to Haven’s Riviere Sands Resort
Leading pizza franchise Papa John’s has literally ‘delivered’ a new store to UK holiday park operator, Haven’s Riviere Sands resort in Cornwall. The new ‘modular pod’ is a new containerised solution, mainly built off site and craned into position ready for the holiday season. Amit Pancholi, business development director, Papa John’s UK explains: “We offer flexible formats for our franchised stores. This may be a mobile delivery unit, right up to a fully built and customized store. We worked together with Haven to develop the Riviere Sands modular pod which now demonstrates Papa John’s flexibility and diverse franchise options suitable for resorts, stadiums, leisure venues, amusement parks and more! “For Haven’s Riviere Sands park the team chose a bespoke modular 12x5m unit which is built off site and delivered on a low loader. The modular pod is an efficient, effective solution that minimizes site construction disruption. Once in situ, finalization of the build, including the heavy items such as oven and refrigeration are added, and connection to be up and running is completed in a matter of days.” Lucy Greene, Brand Opening & Development Manager, Haven confirms: “We are super excited about the modular unit! We lacked space within our existing buildings at Riviere Sands and so the pod is ideal! We have been able to place it precisely where we wanted – in the highest foot-fall area of the park – with minimal disruption for our guests. “Going modular also offers more opportunities to add further Papa John’s to other Haven parks in the future too. The format is totally bespoke, so we could even opt for a larger unit encompassing indoor seating for example. As for now, our guests are certainly enjoying a taste of Papa John’s at our Riviere Sands park.” Haven, part of the Bourne Leisure Group, owned by Blackstone, now has 29 Papa John’s located at its popular seaside holiday parks around the UK. The holiday park operator also opened new Papa John’s at Berwick Holiday Park near Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Wild Duck near Great Yarmouth earlier this year. Amit Pancholi continues: “The delivery of the pod at Riviere Sands is proof of concept that complies with all building regulations and opens up opportunities for leisure venues, stadiums and holiday parks and could even be supplied to be positioned in a pub car park. Planning permission can be easier to obtain depending on site, and with a 40-year design life, the pods can be more cost effective than a long property lease.” For those interested in running a multi-unit franchise or opening-up in a ‘non-traditional’ location, Papa John’s offers incentives in addition to world-class support, comprehensive training and national marketing. As a franchisor, Papa John’s supplies all the assistance needed to get your successful Papa John’s up and running. For further information please see: www.papajohns.co.uk/franchise For further information about Haven please see: https://www.haven.com/
Leading holiday resort operator, Darwin Escapes, turns to Elite Dynamics for software solutions
Elite Dynamics, a leading provider of IT business solutions to the holiday home and parks’ industry, has signed up another prestigious holiday resort company taking the total number of parks they provide software solutions to ever closer to 300. Flintshire-based Darwin Escapes, one of the UK’s leading holiday park resort operators, is switching its ever expanding portfolio of award-winning holiday resorts and world-class golf courses to Elite Dynamics’ exciting suite of industry focused software solutions. With 24 holiday resorts located in stunning locations across England, Wales, and Scotland, Darwin Escapes is one of the fastest growing leisure brands in the UK employing 900 people across all sites in peak season. By migrating its holiday resort management functionality over to Elite Dynamics, Darwin Escapes will continue to enhance the holiday experiences of the tens of thousands of holidaymakers and holiday homeowners visiting its resorts every year. Jamaine Campbell, MD at Elite Dynamics, said: “Every new holiday park customer we welcome into the Elite family is special. It doesn’t matter if they’re a family-run single park operator or have multiple sites like Darwin, its always about how we can work with them to add value through our software solutions. However, on a personal level for myself and many of the Elite team, being successful in securing Darwin Escapes as a customer feels almost like a homecoming. “Twenty years ago, I designed the incarnation of what is now our flagship ‘EliteParks’ business solution for Darwin Escapes. So, in a sense it’s gone full circle now. Not to mention, there are a few of our team, including co-founder Nicola, who have all worked for Darwin at some point in their careers.” Darwin Escapes holiday bookings are all handled by Hoseasons, so it was crucial they worked with a technology provider that was able to integrate bookings and share availability at each of their 24 resorts with the self-catering accommodation specialists. Claire Lloyd, Head of Finance at Darwin Escapes, added: “We chose Elite for a number of reasons but ultimately we recognise they provide the leading UK based IT solution for the holiday park industry. EliteParks with its enhanced functionality has the flexibility to manage all of our business processes and activities in one system.” Jamaine Campbell continued: “The holiday park industry is about experiences and we are all focused on the same goal of providing the absolute best customer experience. Darwin Escapes is striving to raise the standards of the industry by creating brand new resorts in stunning locations with accommodation and facilities to rival 5-star hotels. Likewise Elite Dynamics is striving to digitally transform the industry by delivering trusted products and services to bring the holiday park industry into the 21st century. We are a great fit! “For a business that started with a team of just three when we designed EliteParks in 2015, every day we’re blown away by the impact we’re having on the holiday park industry. We are being contacted by more and more holiday parks and resorts like Darwin Escapes who want to make the transition to EliteParks from alternative park management systems and it’s exciting to see where we can take them.” For more information on Elite Dynamics or to arrange a demo of the market leading Microsoft powered software solutions, visit https://www.elitedynamics.co.uk.
How Do I Best Identify My Park Visitors?
There are lots of options to consider when it comes to making sure the visitors to your park or campsite are where they need to be and everything is set for them to have a great time; is the laundry for their caravan clean, are they on the right pitch, how many vehicles are permitted per booking. The list can seem endless, but there are some products that will allow you to keep everything simple and easy for you and your staff. An easy way of identifying a variety of vehicles are car window stickers – these removable, bright branding stickers make sure your staff know that the vehicle is permitted to be on site. Pitch tags are another way you can ensure any campers are where they need to be with a pass that matches with their pitch number behind them, strong, weatherproof materials are a must have for the British weather! Used vs clean laundry is easy to identify with a simple tie-around tag that goes on your laundry bags. Take the stress away from having to sort linens in to different bins, just read the tag, or opt for colour coding for long distance identification. Hang tags are a great versatile option that can be used for a welcome sign for statics or lodges with site information or to identify cars or motorhomes. If you need some advice, why not speak to the experts at Dura-ID on 01803 668 090 or email sales@dura-id.com.
