A family-owned East Yorkshire holiday park business has expanded its portfolio across the wider county, as more than a decade’s growth is marked with expansion of the original site.
Larkham Leisure, headquartered at Cowden Holiday Park, near Hornsea, started out in 1991, with 60 non-serviced caravans on a then 20-acre coastal site.
Now after seven park purchases across Yorkshire in a 14-year-period that has seen sustained investment in the quality of facilities – with English Tourist Board five-star ratings proudly achieved – it is growing significantly on its own doorstep.
The addition of Southfield Caravan Park, beside Cowden, stretches the flagship park to more than 85 acres, with restaurant, bars, coffee shop, convenience store, fishing lake and neighbouring beach access all for holiday homeowners to enjoy.
Three brothers, Tyrone, Rolson and William Larkham are the second-generation team behind the brand.
“We take pride in what we do, having started from a small family business we are now helping thousands of families make memories on holiday parks away from their everyday lives,” Tyrone said.
Bought in the early Nineties, having launched in the late 1940s, Cowden operated with toilets and shower blocks only when the Larkhams arrived, with the cliff-top on-site accommodation not supplied with water, electricity or drainage.
Now the wider portfolio includes glamping pods, lodges, cottages and a golf course, and expansion has led to more than 100 staff being employed.
“We are very keen to support local businesses wherever our parks are located,” Rolson added. “We know those holidaying with us will want to get out and explore all of what Yorkshire has to offer, supporting the economy around us as they do, and we are keen to work with as many local businesses as possible – from the many manufacturers in the region, to trades and service providers within the park locations.
“We look forward to creating exciting new growth opportunities alongside those eagerly-awaited family breaks.”
The first additions were Maustin Park and Springmoor Lodge, both located by the River Wharf between Harrogate and Wetherby, and acquired in 2012. Centre Meadows at Ulrome, near Bridlington, followed in 2014, with Jamie’s Cragg Holiday Park, close to Castle Howard, added in 2016.
High Farm at Routh, near Beverley, became part of Larkham Leisure in 2018 – the single largest acquisition by the team – with South Lea near Pocklington added in 2022, Orchard Farm near Filey and Fox Hill Holiday Park at Claxton, near York in 2024, before the flagship site’s recent expansion.
Larkham Leisure has also added a distribution business, The Holiday Home Centre, at Beeford, near Driffield, which supplies parks with brands including Europa Caravans, Carnaby Caravans, Love Holiday Homes and Sunseeker Holiday Homes.
