CENTER Parcs has announced it is going ahead with plans for a new UK holiday village – and is widening the search for where to put it.
The leisure resort firm previously abandoned proposals for a new 900-lodge site near Crawley in West Sussex.
But the company has now confirmed they do intend to go ahead with a replacement somewhere else in the south-east of England.
This is despite Center Parcs being up for sale for about £5billion.
The Crawley plans were scrapped in February after environmental surveys suggested the site was “not a suitable location” for a resort.
A new update to investors, however, said the hunt for a new base was not only broadened but also “very well progressed”, The Caterer reported.
Center Parcs, founded in the Netherlands in 1968, currently has five UK sites.
These are at Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Whinfell Forest in Cumbria’s Lake District, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk and Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire.
There is also a Center Parcs resort near Ballymahon in Ireland, opened most recently in 2019.
The company also today revealed a record year of trading, with revenue rising by 18 per cent in the 12 months to April 20 this year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up by 12 per cent to £275million – while occupancy of Centre Parcs holiday accommodation was 97 per cent compared to pre-Covid pandemic levels.
Canadian private equity group Brookfield Property Partners formally put Center Parcs up for sale in May, reportedly hoping to double the £2.4billion paid for it eight years ago.
Potential buyers are said to include private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, which last year took over the Pigs hotels group’s parent company.
The Crawley plans, first announced in 2021, were for lodges as well as indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, a Subtropical Swimming Paradise, a variety of restaurants and shops and an Aqua Sana Spa.
The last Center Parcs to open in the UK was at Woburn Forest in 2014.
And in 2020, Center Parcs’ Whinfell Forest resort launched their new luxury treehouses.
But Center Parcs missed out on top spot in a new table ranking Britain’s best holiday parks and resorts.
Consumer watchdog Which? went with family-run Potters Resorts in first place with an overall score of 88 per cent, after a survey of 1,000 members.
The all-inclusive resort, which has two locations in Norfolk and Essex, scored five out of five stars for all categories including customer service and value for money.
Second was the Waterside Holiday Group, which has four sites across the south of England – three in Dorset and the other in Cornwall.
Bluestone National Park Resort in Wales came third, with Center Parcs eighth out of 18 – rating highly for the quality of its accommodation but less so on value for money.
Meanwhile, traditional favourites Butlins scored 71 per cent and Pontins 59 per cent.
Last month Center Parcs changed its rules to allow teenagers to take holidays without older supervision, in a bid to attract a younger market.
Meanwhile, a mum revealed how you can save more than £500 on your next Center Parcs holiday.
Yet those wanting bigger bargains were told about a UK holiday park which people say is better and cheaper..
