PARKDEAN Resorts, the holiday parks business with eight sites in Scotland, has lifted revenue to more than £400 million in its latest financial year.
Turnover at the company jumped to £400.7m from £370.7m in the year to December 31, with the figure representing the combined revenue streams of Parkdean and Park Resorts. The two merged in November to create Parkdean Resorts, and booked combined EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) up 16 per cent at £106.6m on a pro rata basis.
Parkdean, which has sites in Nairn, Sutherland, Ayrshire, Wemyss Bay, Berwickshire and Dumfries & Galloway, said it is continuing to benefit from pre-school and school-age families holidaying at its resorts, as well as the growing number of active “empty-nesters” electing to visit its parks.
Chief executive John Waterworth said the company was not seeing any notable uplift from UK residents eschewing holidays abroad in light of terror attack fears. He said: “There has been quite a lot of growth in the sector, particularly over the last 20 years. The season is longer, the accommodation is better, there are more lodges than there are static caravans, there are more centrally-heated caravans – 20 years ago they didn’t really exist.
“There’s been a lot of investment by all kinds of operators in the sector.”
Parkdean invested £36m in is sites over the year, adding to its tally of private pitches for holiday home owners, expanding and upgrading its holiday hire fleet and developing facilities. Some £2.5m of that went on improving its Scottish parks, which will receive a further £3m of investment this year.
Mr Waterworth said the Scottish market had been “robust” since he first became involved in the sector in 1985. And he declared that the market offered scope for expansion, either by adding to its portfolio or developing existing sites.
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