Center Parcs UK

Center Parcs UK
Industry Leisure
Founded July 1987
Headquarters New Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Number of locations
 5 villages
+ 1 under construction
Area served
 United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
Key people
 Martin Dalby (chief executive)
Products Short breaks, family holidays, leisure activities
Owner Brookfield Asset Management
Parent Brookfield Properties Corporation
Elveden
Longleat
Woburn
Sherwood
Whinfell
Longford

British Isles Center Parcs locations
Website CenterParcs.co.uk

Center Parcs UK is a short-break holiday company that operates five holiday villages in England, with each covering about 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland. The company's first village opened at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, in 1987 and its fifth, at Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire, opened in 2014.

A similar enterprise operates in continental Europe also under the name Center Parcs, however the two companies are separately owned. Center Parcs UK marked its 30th anniversary year in 2017.

History

In 1968,[1] Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen purchased woodland near Reuver so that staff and customers of his 17 store sporting goods chain could relax in small tents. The park, De Lommerbergen,[1] was successful and tents were quickly replaced by bungalows.

In July 1987,[2] Center Parcs opened its first UK resort at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. In 1989 it opened its second park in the UK at Elveden Forest.[1] Center Parcs sold the Sherwood Forest and Elveden Forest parks in 1989 to Scottish & Newcastle.[3]

During a move in 2001 to concentrate on their core brewing business, Scottish and Newcastle sold the UK side of Center Parcs to venture capitalists Deutsche Bank Capital Partners.[1] In 2003 S&N sold the mainland European sites to a joint venture of France-based Pierre & Vacances (P&V), who already owned the competing Gran Dorado Resorts, and German investment group DBCP. The two companies have since operated under the same brand, but ever since have been owned and operated by two separate and different companies.

In December 2003 Mid Ocean agreed to sell the UK resorts to Arbor Ltd for £285 million, a special vehicle set up to float Center Parcs UK on London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market, and in 2005 it moved to the main stock market listing.[1] In May 2006 Center Parcs UK Group PLC was sold to The Blackstone Group for a reported £1.1 billion,[4] and subsequently re-registered as a private company. Under a separate deal at the same time, Blackstone also bought the freehold of the European sites from P&V, which allowed them to rebrand all of the European sites as Center Parcs.

In June 2015, it was announced that Blackstone had agreed to sell the company to Canadian-based Brookfield Properties Corporation for £2.4bn. At the time Center Parcs UK employed around 7,500 people and received around 2 million guests in 2015.[4][5]

Resorts

Center Parcs is widely known for its Subtropical Swimming Paradise

Center Parcs has short-break holiday resorts in five villages in the UK, with a sixth due to open in Ireland in 2019. Each village covers around 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland, with a standard set of facilities,[2] and have around 97% occupancy annually.[5][6]

No personal cars are allowed into the villages except on arrival and departure days.[7]

Sherwood Forest

The boating lake at Sherwood Forest with The Pancake House on the right.

The first Center Parcs holiday village in the United Kingdom was opened in July 1987.[2] It is located in 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland at Sherwood Forest, near Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire.[8][9] The site was formerly owned by the Forestry Commission, and was chosen as it was "pretty central [in the UK], it had the right maturity of trees and was in an area affected by the demise of the coal industry".[10]

In November 2006 around 30 people were infected by Cryptosporidium, causing vomiting and diarrhoea, suspected to have spread through infected faeces in a pool at the park.[11]

By 2012 it was receiving around 400,000 visitors annually, mostly from outside of Nottinghamshire.[12] It can have around 4,000 visitors at any one time.[11] The occupancy rate was over 90% in the first 30 years of operation.[10]

A £3 million refurbishment of the spa finished in April 2017,[10] and a £15 million refurbishment of the swimming facilities at the park started in September 2017.[13][10] The park employs 1,500 people, of which around 700 are housekeepers.[10]

The site originally had 609 lodges, which increased to 900 by the end of 2017.[10] It has a mixture of Woodland Lodges, New Woodland Lodges, Executive Duplex Lodges, Penthouse Duplex Lodge, Executive Apartment, Executive Lodge, New Executive Lodge, and Treehouses, with between one and four bedrooms in each.[14] Three luxury Treehouses were opened in 2010, each with four bedrooms.[8] A six-bedroom Woodland Lodge was opened in 2017, along with 27 other woodland lodges.[15]

The activity areas include:

  • Village Square,[14] including:
    • Subtropical Swimming Paradise indoor water park. Includes spa pools, wave pools, rides, flumes, and slides. Opened in 1987, extended in 1990, and a raft ride was added in 2002. Refurbishment started in September 2017, and will add toddler pools, raft rides, and a children's adventure cove.[13]
    • Other activities: Falconry, Leisure Bowl, Pottery Painting Studio.[14]
    • Shops: Parc Market supermarket[14] (refurbished in 2017),[16] Aquatique, JustKids, Spirit, Time for Shade, The Store Room, Treats.[14]
    • Food: Bella Italia,[14][17] Café Rouge, Dexter's Kitchen, Dining In, Huck's American Bar and Grill, Rajinda Pradesh, Starbucks, The Canopy Café.[14]
    • Other facilities: Medical centre.[14] The Venue, a 600-person conference centre.[18]
  • Jardin des Sports. Gym, courts Activity Den, Astro Turf, bowling green. Also Sports Café and Starbucks, and Refresh and Sportique shops.[14]
  • The Country Club. Forrester's Inn, Nature Centre.[14]
  • The Beach and The Boathouse. Adventure golf, The Pancake House.[14] Sandy beach.[9] The Boathouse hires out boats for use on the lake. Closed in winter months.
  • Aqua Sana Spa.[14] Six zones containing 25 experiences including a Treetop Sauna 10 metres (33 ft) from the ground, as well as an ice cave,[19][20] outdoor hot tubs, and a volcanic steam room. Opened in April 2017 having cost £3 million[13] to refurbish.[19][10]
  • Action Challenge. Abseiling, climbing walls and high-rope course.
  • Outdoor Activity Centre.[14] quad biking, archery, paintball, laser combat.
  • Cycle Centre. Hires out bicycles. Mobility scooters, wheelchairs, cycle trailers, D-locks and helmets also available. The park originally had 500 cycles, which increased to 3,000 by 2017.[10]

There is a watersports lake near the Village Square,[18] although only craft hired from the Boathouse may be used upon it.

Elveden Forest

Elveden Forest Village Square South

Two years later, in 1989, a second village was added, at Elveden Forest. It makes up a small area of Thetford Forest west of the B1106 road and near the town of Brandon in Suffolk, England. It is named after the nearby village of Elveden.

Just before 10am on 4 April 2002 a major fire destroyed the central plaza and sports centre of Elveden Forest. One member of staff was treated for smoke inhalation, but there were no serious injuries.[21] The plaza was destroyed and more than 100,000 people had their breaks at the village postponed.[22] The fire also destroyed seven bars and restaurants, a disco, some gift shops, a sports centre and a bowling alley. The damage to the forest was minimal.

Elveden Forest re-opened in July 2003 after a major re-design, less susceptible to the potential spread of fire. The most dramatic difference was to the village square which was rebuilt with an open-air Mediterranean theme. The sub-tropical swimming paradise re-opened having mostly survived the blaze; the sauna complex was changed to a Balinese theme, and a new Sports Plaza was opened. Whilst it was closed, the rest of the village was also improved including the refurbishment of the country club and the addition of a spa and new three- and four-bedroom lodges.

Elveden Forest Village Square North

Elveden Forest has a total of 866 units of accommodation which range from 'Woodland' grade to exclusive villas and include rooms at the Lakeview Hotel. These villas and rooms can accommodate up to 4,216 guests. Villas are located in six different areas with each area mostly including every type of accommodation, but the Ash and Oak areas are predominantly made up of executive and exclusive villas. Ash was extended in 2007 to include new four-bedroom two-storey villas.

Longleat Forest

Main entrance to the Center Parcs resort in Longleat Forest

The third park opened in 1994. It makes up a large area of Longleat Forest in the county of Wiltshire, England, and is co-located on the site of Longleat Safari Park nearby, approximately 5 miles east of Frome and a few miles west of Warminster, Wiltshire. This village has fewer lodges than Elveden Forest and Sherwood Forest due to the steep topography of the site.

The site comprises three main areas of activity (Plaza, Village Square and the Jardin Des Sports) surrounded by other activity areas and enough villas to hold approximately 4,000 people at any one time. The Plaza is the main building on the park, comprising the swimming pool (known as the Subtropical Swimming Paradise); seven shops; five restaurants; a bowling alley; an arcade and "The Venue" (a multi-function suite of rooms). The Village Square is in the centre of the park, and comprises three restaurants, the medical centre and the rangers lodge. The Jardin Des Sports is the next venue along and is situated towards the south west of the park. The Jardin Des Sports (regularly mentioned as "JDS") is the venue where most of the sporting activities take place, either inside or close by. Aside from the sports, the "JDS" also comprises two restaurants, two shops, an arcade and a photography studio. The watersports lake, with its own beach kiosk, is also close to the "JDS". It is enclosed by a large deer proof wire fence topped by razor wire. It is animal friendly, so dogs are allowed on site; although they must be kept on a lead outdoors except for the designated "dog exercise areas".

Whinfell Forest

Footpath along outer edge of Whinfell Forest boundary fence
Recording the 1998 visit of Elizabeth II to the Oasis Lakeland Forest Village

In 1997, the Rank Organisation had opened a similar style holiday village in Whinfell Forest near Penrith, Cumbria, under the name Oasis Lakeland Holiday Village, which featured commercial restaurants and businesses such as Burger King and a Hard Rock Cafe. Bought by Center Parcs UK in 2001, who removed the commercial ventures, the site was rebranded as Center Parcs Oasis Whinfell Forest, before 'Oasis' was dropped from the name in 2006.[23] The set up at Whinfell is slightly different in that the style of accommodation is more akin to two-storey Scandinavian-style lodges, the main centre of the village is under cover, and there is no country club like at Elveden Forest and Sherwood Forest. Center Parcs have updated many Whinfell Forest lodges, and added new lodges of an identical style at their other UK parks.

Whinfell Forest is the largest of Center Parcs' five UK holiday villages, with accommodation for 4,668 people in 861 units.

Woburn Forest

Center Parcs Woburn Forest (formerly Center Parcs Warren Wood) is located on the outskirts of Flitwick and Ampthill (7–8 miles from the Town of Woburn) in Bedfordshire in the UK. It commenced operation in July 2014.

The chief executive, Martin Dalby, said that the company might add a fifth village. In December 2004, Center Parcs UK announced that it had identified a location named Warren Wood near Flitwick at Woburn, Bedfordshire. Despite the land being designated as greenbelt, the company sought planning permission and had already completed the signing of a lease on the land from its owner, the Duke of Bedford. The project was expected to cost approximately £160 million, including the construction of accommodation, indoor and outdoor facilities, the sub-tropical swimming complex, restaurants and a spa, but this has since risen to £230m. It was anticipated that, given planning permission, the project would take between three and four years to complete.[24]

In July 2006, Bedfordshire District Council turned down Center Parcs' application for planning approval on the grounds that the project breached policy safeguarding Metropolitan Green Belt land, leading the company to lodge an appeal against the decision later that year.[25] The inspector hearing the appeal recommended that the Council's decision be upheld. In September 2007 the council's decision was overturned by the government as Secretary of State Hazel Blears overruled the inspector's advice. She acknowledged that the scheme breached both local and national policies on safeguarding Green Belt, but argued that "in this particular case, the economic and employment benefits of the proposal, when taken together with the ecological and biodiversity benefits... constitute very special circumstances and are sufficient to clearly outweigh the harm to Green Belt". and outline planning permission for the site was granted. In November 2010 Center Parcs gained full approval for the plans of the village including designs of facilities, restaurants, shops and accommodation[26] and in 2012 secured £250 million of investment to build the new resort, to be known as Woburn Forest.

Before Center Parcs could start construction, there were a number of planning conditions that had to be satisfied, most notably the improvement of local road junctions to allow smooth access to the Village. They also had to submit a local employment strategy, local purchasing policy and a forest and ecology management plan.[27] This represents final approval of the detailed designs of buildings and landscape as well as local sourcing, employment strategies and green travel plan. The next stage of the project will be the construction of a new roundabout, as well as the diversion of the public rights of way that cross the site.[28]

The site will be slightly smaller than its other four sites at 375 acres (1.52 km2). It will include:[29]

  • 625 villas, Possible future expansion on an additional 75 Lodges.
  • A 75 bedroom hotel will accompany the lodges.
  • There will be six Spa Suites.
  • A 17,000m² lake in the heart of the village.
  • Aqua Sana & 6 bedroom spa accommodation
  • Two main centres with restaurants, retail outlets and Subtropical Swimming Paradise
  • 1400 space car park
  • Activity areas
  • Seven miles of road ways have been created.
  • 1,800m of public rights of way and bridleways have been diverted.
  • Two nearby junctions are being turned into roundabouts: Millbrook, which was completed in 2011 and Steppingley, which was completed in 2013.
  • This is a £250 million development, one of the largest leisure projects in the UK.

In March 2012, Center Parcs announced that it had met all requirements for work to start and that it had secured the £250 million funding required for construction of the site. The company also announced the official "Woburn Forest" title for the site.

It is the smallest UK Center Parcs village and opened in spring 2014.

Longford Forest

In a 2008 interview, Martin Dalby, the chief executive of Center Parcs UK, stated that Woburn would be the last village the company constructed in the UK and that if a sixth village was considered it would probably be located in Ireland. In September 2015, Center Parcs UK announced its intention to build a new site in County Longford, Ireland. Named Longford Forest, it is expected to open in Summer 2019.[30]

Facilities

Accommodation

Each village has a number of different lodge types that range from one- to four-bedroom accommodation for up to 8 people, however, Sherwood Forest recently opened 6-bedroom lodges for 12 people.. Some larger lodges include their own games room and hot tub. Lodges are usually in small clusters and give a good degree of privacy, whilst allowing for self-catering and communal BBQs. Elveden Forest has no one-bed lodges, but instead includes the Lakeside View Hotel.

All beds at the villages were replaced in 2008.[1] In 2011, Center Parcs began refurbishing all of its lodges. The beds were all replaced and new interiors introduced to help brighten up interiors. A new style 'Woodland Lodge' replaced the previous basic lodges to become the entry-level standard accommodation. Executive lodges were also upgraded.

Activities

Guests are able to book and participate in a wide range of activities at the various villages.

  • Arrivals lodge. Each village has an arrivals lodge situated on the main drive and slightly east of the village entrance at Whinfell Forest. Guests are directed here for check-in from 10 am on their arrival day.
  • Security lodge. Each village has a security lodge staffed 24 hours a day. Security staff help with directing traffic to the arrivals lodge, identifying all visitors to the village, staffing barriers, and assisting arrivals lodge staff on changeover days. They also staff the emergency phone number given to guests to call in the event of an emergency.
  • Subtropical Swimming Paradise. The village swimming complex is known as the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and contains a wave pool, slides and chutes, wild water rapids, outdoor pools, a 'lazy river', flumes, a children's pool and food outlets. Rides vary between villages. Used to feature the iconic Tarzan call to signal the start of the waves crashing in the wave pool. This sound effect was replaced by a riff of a Bongo drum.
  • Village Square/Plaza. The main hub of restaurants and shops as well as other facilities such as Guest Services and the medical centre.
  • Sports Plaza/Jardin Des Sports. Contains most of the indoor sports facilities such as squash courts, badminton courts, pool and snooker tables, gymnasium, table tennis tables, golf simulators, indoor wall-climbing and an aerobics studio. There is also a themed restaurant, a sportswear shop and a newsagent.
  • Boathouse. For all water-based activities on the lake including canoeing, fishing, pedalos, windsurfing mini captains and raft-building.
  • Aqua Sana. The village spa includes various themed rooms as well as a central pool with jacuzzis.
  • Activity Den. The village crèche.
  • Leisure Bowl and House of Games. A ten-pin bowling alley and coin-operated arcade games.
  • Country Club. Contains additional restaurant and leisure facilities at some villages.
  • Shops/Retail. Includes supermarket "ParcMarket", newsagents "Refresh" and "ParcMarket Express", toy shop "Just Kids", gift shop "The Store Room", sweet shop "Treats", clothing and shoes shop "Spirit", sunglasses shop "Time for Shade", sports and fashion shop "Sportique" and swimwear equipment shop "Aquatique".[31] Some shops are owned by Center Parcs, whilst the rest are operated by the Nuance Group. JustKids and The Store Room replaced "Funtastic" and "Natural Elements" respectively in 2012.. Starbucks cafés were introduced to all villages in 2008.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History". Center Parcs. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "About Us". Center Parcs. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Rankin, Jennifer (2 June 2015). "UK Center Parcs sold to Canadian investment firm for £2.4bn". The Guardian.
  4. 1 2 "Center Parcs bought 'for £2.4bn'". BBC News. 2 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Brookfield Agrees to Acquire Center Parcs from Blackstone". The Blackstone Group. 2 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Company Information". Center Parcs. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "Minimising traffic on the Village". Center Parcs. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Center Parcs unveils the height of luxury with new Treehouse accommodation". Mynewsdesk. 9 August 2010.
  9. 1 2 "Sherwood Forest Holidays". Center Parcs. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Robinson, Dan (22 August 2017). "How Center Parcs Sherwood Forest has changed over 30 years". Nottingham Post.
  11. 1 2 "Bosses at camp apologise over bug". BBC News. 9 January 2007.
  12. ↑ "Holiday park 'boosting economy'". BBC News. 14 April 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 "Center Parcs Sherwood Forest to receive £15m revamp". Blooloop. 1 August 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Sherwood Forest Village Map" (PDF). Center Parcs. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  15. ↑ Robinson, Dan (28 November 2017). "28 new lodges built at Center Parcs as part of £6.3m upgrades". nottinghampost.
  16. ↑ "Centre Parcs - Sherwood Forest". The Jordon Group. 19 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "Bella Italia - Center Parcs Sherwood, Center Parcs, Newark". Fish2Fork. 15 December 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Center Parcs Sherwood Forest". events.experiencenottinghamshire.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  19. 1 2 "Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest- Aqua Sana Refurbishment". Togel Contractors. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  20. ↑ "Aqua Sana Sherwood Forest is having a makeover". Aqua Sana. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  21. ↑ "Holidaymakers escape resort fire". BBC News. 4 April 2002.
  22. ↑ Loudon, Andrew (5 April 2002). "Blaze rages at Center Parcs". Daily Mail.
  23. ↑ "Center Parcs Whinfell Forest £30 Million Invested And A New Name". Center Parcs Press Office. 2 January 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-10-09. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  24. ↑ BBC article from September 2007 detailing the granting of planning permission
  25. ↑ "Center Parcs Press Office - Center Parcs Lodges Appeal Against Warren Wood Planning Decision". Press.centerparcs.co.uk. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  26. ↑ "Center Parcs Completes Planning Process For Fifth Site At Woburn". Center Parcs Press Office. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  27. ↑ "Fifth Center Parcs Village Update". Centerparcs.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  28. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110315040038/http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/discover/archived_news/woburn_planning.jsp?uri=%2Fdiscover%2Farchived_news%2Findex.jsp. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ↑ "centerparcs woburn news_items". Centerparcs.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  30. ↑ "Holidays & Breaks In Ireland | Short Family Breaks Ireland". Center Parcs Longford Forest, Ireland. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  31. ↑ "Center Parcs Shops | Shopping". Center Parcs. Retrieved 10 January 2018.

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