Half-term staycation surge gives huge boost to holiday park operator Haven
A HALF-term staycation surge has given thriving holiday park operator Haven another reason to celebrate.
It is the latest sign of a boom in business which has led the chain to recruit an extra 10,000 full and part-time workers this year.
Haven said bookings have climbed 14 per cent for this week, compared with the same time last year.
Parks in Lincolnshire and Norfolk have seen the biggest surge, at 22 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, as families seek affordable breaks.
Scotland, Wales and Devon have also proved popular, it added.
“Over the past few years we’ve seen terrific growth in staycations, as more and more holidaymakers enjoy all there is on offer in the UK,” said Haven boss Simon Palethorpe.
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The business has also benefited from holiday-makers spending more on food and drink when they visit its parks.
Ice cream sales are up by a fifth and pizza sales by a tenth.
There has been a four per cent year-on-year rise in beer and cider sold, with an eight per cent boost for fish and chips sales.
Earlier this year, Haven opened a Wetherspoon pub on its North Yorkshire site and it has plans to open more at its parks as part of a £4million investment being made to expand the food and beverage offering.
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Other household names already operating at Haven’s 41 parks include Burger King, Papa John's, Slim Chickens, Costa Coffee, Millie's Cookies and Chopstix.
The firm said it expected to welcome 3.6million holidaymakers this year, up 13 per cent from 3.3million in 2023.
Mr Palethorpe added: “The strong double-digit growth in bookings we’ve seen at Haven is helping to power regional economies by supporting thousands of jobs.”
Rival holiday park chain Butlin's is also booming from the staycation surge.
It said it was expecting occupancy this year to reach 93 per cent, up from 89 per cent in 2023, and well above pre-pandemic levels of about 80 per cent.
Revolution's nightcap No
TROUBLED hospitality group Revolution Bars has rejected a proposed offer from rival Nightcap, warning the deal is “incapable of being delivered”.
Revolution, which runs the Revolucion de Cuba and Peach Pubs brands, launched a sale process last month in a desperate bid to stay afloat.
Bosses shut 18 venues and raised fresh investment of £12.5million.
Nightcap has a total of 46 bars, including The Cocktail Club and Dirty Martini chains.
Revolution said the offer would not work as it was “highly conditional”.
The business said it would continue to attempt to gain shareholder support for its restructuring and funding plan.
Revolution added it “remains open” to any future proposals from Nightcap or other buyers.
M&S £30m for jobs
BUOYANT Marks & Spencer plans to open two new foodhalls and create 100 new London jobs.
It has said it will invest another £30million in its stores in the capital over the next year.
The iconic grocer and clothes chain posted its best financial results in almost three decades last week with profits up 58 per cent to £716million.
Whey to go as Bulk's up
BRITISH sports nutrition brand Bulk is booming on the back of a Europe-wide body-building craze.
It reported record revenues of £123million for 2023 — up 30 per cent over the year.
The brand said it added more than 790,000 new customers keen to buy its Clear Whey Protein and Creatine.
Market share is up in 16 countries, notably France, Germany, Holland and Italy.
Its range of value products launched during the cost-of-living crisis has sold well.
Founder Adam Rossiter said: “When we founded Bulk almost 20 years ago we had a vision to become the highest quality nutrition brand in the market.”
Mr Rossiter promised new products this year, customer loyalty schemes and technology “to enhance the consumer experience”.
UK's giga bit more
OPENREACH plans to build full fibre broadband in more than 500 more locations, covering a further 2.7million homes and businesses.
The work is part of a £15billion project to upgrade the UK’s broadband infrastructure.
The company hopes to make “gigabit-capable technology” available to 25million homes and businesses by the end of 2026.
More than 4.7million have already upgraded to full fibre, the firm said.
Victoria profits tap is on
BATHROOM retailer Victorian Plumbing saw orders climb two per cent in the six months to the end of March.
But savvy customers opted for cheaper own-brand items, meaning turnover fell by one per cent to £144.6million.
Pre-tax profit rose to £5.9million, from £5.6million over the same period in 2023.
The company finally put any name mix-ups to bed this month when it snapped up arch rival Victoria Plum in a £22.5million deal.
It gave Victorian Plumbing an increased market share, despite “subdued trading”.
The firm — which last year agreed its first sports sponsorship, a three-year shirt deal at League One Bolton Wanderers FC — said the completion of a distribution centre in Lancashire will help its expansion.
Boss Mark Radcliffe said the group’s increase in profits “consolidated our leading position as the UK’s number one bathroom retailer”.
Staying power
BUDGET hotel group easyHotel has been loaned £42.5million by Santander UK to support expansion in Britain and across Europe.
It has also been loaned £6million by Bred Banque for low-carbon investments such as heat pumps and smart metering systems in the UK, France, Belgium, Spain and Holland.
Boss Charles Persello said: “Our team are working on more new hotel deals than ever as we step up our growth of low-carbon and value hotels.”
A fourth opens in Zurich later this year.
Going West
NatWest apologised after customers could not log into mobile and online banking accounts for several hours yesterday.
It blamed a service “glitch” which led to a four-hour morning outage.
It later said: “The issue has been resolved.”
ICG profits rise
PRIVATE equity firm Intermediate Capital Group has warned the “investing environment is uncertain and potentially volatile” — as its profits more than doubled.
ICG saw annual profits reach £598million in the year to April.
It helped the asset manager raise its shareholder payout 2 per cent to 79p, the 14th consecutive hike.
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ICG has stockpiled around £21billion for acquisitions.
The news yesterday helped shares to climb around 4 per cent, meaning they have risen 45 per cent since January.