Today we have Andy Edge with us from Park Resorts. Andy, could you give us a brief history please of your company?
Yes, Park Resorts was formed in 2001 when we acquired 15 parks. The company was then merged with another company in mid 2005/2006, acquired a couple more parks so we have now got 39 in total from Scotland down to Devon, nothing in Cornwall but 39 parks in total at this point in time.
So that’s quite a big jump from the initial 15 to have more than doubled the whole scope of your business. That’s fantastic.
Yeah, we are the largest, in terms of size, the largest operator in the UK now. Haven has got I think in the region of 35 parks so we have got more variety than any other UK operator.
Sure, now as you already know I have actually stayed at your park with my little girl, so I know you are very much a family orientated company. What kind of thing do you offer therefore families?
There is a whole raft of things to do ranging from, pretty much all the parks have got swimming pools, entertainment complexes, outdoor play areas on a large majority of parks, sports courts, so it does differ in terms of facilities but then also we lay on activities so we have got kids clubs, we have got activities for babies where we use the pool to lay on games and activities. We have also got our Team stars on the parks every day organizing perhaps football games, cricket matches, anything to keep the kids active and busy. So a lot of people use the parks as a base because we are all coastal so if the weather is fine people will tend to leave the parks during the day, go to the beach and then come back at night, but then, there are things on the parks if it is a slightly rainy day to keep people occupied too.
In the evenings, I have actually witnessed myself the high quality of entertainment you do offer at the parks. Can you tell us a bit about the various offerings you have entertainment wise?
What we try to do in the evening entertainment is just have activities for the younger kids obviously earlier in the evening, we have party dances, games using our Team stars and our character Sparky Narky which are our on park characters. Then going into the night we have shows, caberats for when the kids go to sleep more for the adults but we cater from young kids right the way through to teenagers with the product that we offer on the park.
Great, so basically whether you are a couple or you are a family then there is plenty on offer for a very nice relaxed break?
There is something for everybody. It is very family focused but also we understand that at certain times of the year it is more for couples, be it young couples or older couples. Our philosophy is very much about, we lay on things for you to do, if you want to dip in and get involved that’s great, but if you just want to purely use us as a base to explore the locality we are not trying to ram any kind of entertainment down your throats. You take it or leave it.
Right, ok, so anyway you mention that a lot of people use your sites as a base, are there any particular sites you can think of that have attractions nearby?
To be honest pretty much every park has, we very much focus on helping you to explore the local attractions so all our customers before they arrive at the parks, in the pre-arrival letter get a discount booklet that offers them discounts off local attractions, because we know that is part of the holiday. In our brochure we very much feature what you can do around the parks, so I think it is fair to say that all parks have got something going on within a short drive of the park themselves. We do discount booklets to help you get the most out of your stay.
Great, so you can even save money actually visiting some of these attractions that you might have ordinarily gone to?
Yes, we know from all our research that people will use local attractions so we do the discount booklet to help you save money when you do come.
Can you tell me a bit about which different kids clubs you run please?
We have got 3 types of kids clubs. We have got Little Sparks which is for the under 5’s. We have got Sparky’s Crew which is for the 5-11’s and then we have got the Excite which is for the teens. We tailor the entertainment to the kind of age band of the kids so that kids are with their own age doing the activities.
Right, that sounds like each child would go into the club geared for their age, so they might be sort of separated and get independence from their siblings I suppose.
Yes, it is also obviously a great way to meet friends on the park whilst on holiday as well.
I must admit all round it sounds like a great good value offering for anyone, be it a couple, a younger or older couple, or a family so thank you so much for actually coming to speak to us today.
Being a small business owner like myself I know that do you have facilities such as WIFI on your site for other business owners or people that just check their e-mail?
We do. Each of the club houses has got WIFI set up, it is chargeable but we think it is pretty reasonable rates so you can always, if you do want to keep connected with the outside world, you can link in at the club houses.
Great, so people can keep up-to-date with business goings on whilst having a relaxing break with their family.
Yes, that is exactly right.
One last question I wanted to ask you, what can you offer our members to make them opt to go and visit yourselves?
Well, what we would like to do is offer a 15% off our school holiday pricing to your members, and we can offer 25% off post peak holidays with Park Resorts as one of our affiliate partners.
Anyway, thank you so much for talking to us today. I am sure our members will be very grateful for the fantastic offer you have put up there for us.
Great, thank you and have a great summer.