Parks group set for new growth following £362m sale

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By Tom Leaning

New expansion plans have been signalled by Park Holidays UK following the announcement of the company’s sale for £362m to the Intermediate Capital Group plc (ICG).

ICG has acquired the 26-strong parks group from Caledonia Investments plc which has owned Park Holidays UK for the past three years, and steered it through a period of rapid growth.

Specialist asset manager ICG aims to ensure the continuation of the group’s success story through investment both in the company’s existing parks, and in the making of new park acquisitions.

Parks Holidays UK says there will be no changes to its senior management team which has been in place since 2006 after acquiring the business from its founders through a management buy-in.

Since then, Park Holidays UK has grown to become Britain’s third largest holiday park groups with 26 coastal locations in southern England, from Devon in the west to Suffolk in the east.

The company’s parks have established themselves as one of Britain’s most popular providers of holiday lodges and holiday caravans for private owners.

Guests can also rent holiday homes for a stay, and touring pitches are also provided on some parks.

Bolstering the appeal of its parks is a reputation for providing first-class leisure and entertainment facilities, and extended opening seasons for owners of up to 11.5 months of the year.

Commercial director of Park Holidays UK, Tony Clish, said that 2016 had been a strong year for the group, and that it was now greatly looking forward to partnering with ICG:

“I believe that Park Holidays UK has played a very significant role in raising the bar for the UK parks industry, both in terms of the quality standards and value provided to customers.

“We will remain focused on these vitally important elements as we make plans to invest in our existing operations, and to acquire new parks which are a fit to our business model.

“Our company will continue playing its part in developing a vibrant UK tourism economy which benefits both employment and the widening of leisure opportunities for customers,” said Tony.

Completion of the transaction is likely to take place early in the new year once official approval has been received from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Caravan park operator Lifestyle Living UK goes into administration

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By Tom Leaning

Lifestyle Living UK is being marketed for sale as FRP Advisory administrators are called in.

Jason Baker and Miles Needham of FRP Advisory were appointed as joint administrators of the holiday and residential park group Lifestyle Living UK. The business continues to trade during the process and the holiday homes will continue operating as normal.

Jason Baker, joint administrator and partner of FRP Advisory, said: “Our priority is to maintain the day-to-day operations of the caravan parks to ensure that customers and users continue to enjoy the products and facilities offered by Lifestyle Living. We continue to trade the business and ensure that the holiday and residential parks operate as normal.”

An FRP Advisory spokesperson said that “staff total around 50 across all the sites are being retained while the administrators market the business for sale”.

The Group owns a number of sites UK-wide, including in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cheshire and provides a range of purpose built and individually designed luxury lodges and static caravan units.

Mr Baker concluded: “We have already engaged with interested parties and invite other interested parties to make early contact.”

Nissan continue to advance driverless technology with Intelligent Vehicle Towing

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By Tom Leaning

Japanese car manufacturer, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has moved one step closer to driverless technology.

Intelligent Vehicle Towing (IVT) is a fully automated vehicle towing system, and it has been unveiled at Nissan’s main plant in Oppama in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo.

The system has been introduced as part of Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility vision, which serves as a framework for how cars will be driven, powered, and integrated into society. This new project, which uses mapping and communication technologies to connect an intelligent and all-electric car to infrastructure, is a step towards the realization of Nissan Intelligent Integration.

The IVT system essentially uses a modified Nissan LEAF to autonomously tow trollies which are loaded with finished vehicles between designated loading and unloading points at the plant.

Conventional automatic guided vehicle systems which are used for transporting parts generally need expensive rails or extensive use of magnetic tape to function. This new system does not need any special infrastructure to operate. The car that has been modified for towing is equipped with an array of cameras and laser scanners which are used to detect lane markings, curbs and potential obstacles or hazards around the vehicle. This information is cross-referenced with map data, thus allowing the towing car to calculate its own location, and travel on its own to its destination. The towing car follows the speed limits that have been set within the factory, and automatically stops if it detects an obstacle or hazard ahead. Once the obstacle is cleared, it forges ahead again.

It is easy to alter the route of the vehicle to accommodate changes in production processes or vehicle transport routes. All the driverless towing cars are connected to a central traffic control system, which can keep tabs on their driving speeds, locations, the charge left in the vehicles and the operational status of each vehicle. If two driverless towing cars meet at an intersection, the control system’s algorithm is used to determine which car should be given right-of-way, and in the event of an emergency, the system can stop the vehicles remotely.

The introduction of the IVT technology will allow Nissan to improve production efficiency at the Oppama plant. The Japanese auto manufacturer began conducting trial operations of the system almost a year ago, and over 1,600 test runs have been carried out at the plant. The data acquired during the trial runs has been utilized to ensure that the system can work reliably within the plant’s premises. Meanwhile, a safety system and a fail-safe system have been developed to counter potential risks or unexpected conditions the IVT system may face during autonomous driving, like adverse weather and low light conditions. After the system is extensively tested at the Oppama Plant, Nissan will consider the possibility of introducing the system at the company’s other plants in Japan and overseas.

Are Caravans and Motorhomes converging?

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by Dan Cartwright

In the past motorhomes and caravans were seen as very different vehicles

Bought by very different customers and whilst used for very similar objectives there was almost an animosity between caravaners and motorhomers. Today this has changed with caravan owners swapping to motorhomes, motorhome owners swapping to caravans and new people entering the market undecided between which one to buy. 

If you are young or just starting in the motorhome / caravan world this might seem strange, they are both leisure vehicles that people use to get away and have fun.. but let me tell you, go back 10 to 15 years and the two worlds not only had little interaction but they were like the Mods and Rockers of the camping world. Behaving much like the rocker of the 70’s who would strenuously deny they even found the clash palatable, a caravan or motorhome owner on site would claim they are completely different pastimes for different people who do different things, even when parked on a site next to the other for a weeks holiday. 

Worth noting here, we love all equally at CaravanTimes much like if you have two dogs they’re never the same but each one is great. In the new year we will be bringing out some basic comparisons for new campers but for now, how has the gap between the two products and markets been bridged?

How Things Were
Motorhomes
Going back a generation the majority (of the very small amount) of motorhomes sold in the UK were of European manufacture – OK swift Launched swift motorhomes in 1987 and bessecar in 1997 but apart from this and a few smaller bespoke manufacturers, the market was small in the UK with limited choice so we went further afield and bought vehicles from Europe, where there was much more choice from more suppliers to a bigger European market. This meant that the UK motorhomer of the 90’s had either a specific need for a motorhome (towing a race car for example), a specific want for a motorhome, or a specific desire not to have a caravan! Prices were proportionally higher in comparison to caravans and this lead almost a class division and the motorhomer paying a lot of money to not be associated with caravaners. 

Caravans
Caravaners for their part were unimpressed by European specification on motorhomes. This was not a slight on European motorhomes or anything to do with how they were built, but the fact is that the European market has long hot summers (not everywhere but on the whole) and so they like to use their leisure vehicles as bases that they often cook outside of, they spend a lot more of the year in the sea and want separate garages and much like their houses they don’t want carpets. The UK caravan market was (and still is) dominated by UK manufactured caravans which had evolved to UK wants a needs with plush soft furnishings, big fridges, effective heating systems (even in the early 90’s) the kitchens included ovens and of course every model came with their very own carpets, basically a little home from home, perfect for those long rainy afternoons we’re all used to. All this meant that the caravaner looking at a motorhome was seeing a price tag of about 3x that of a caravan and still making compromises with living space and none of the things they expect in their caravan. “Mad” is how my caravanning dad explained it when I suggested we swap the caravan for a motorhome at the age of 12. 

What about now?
Motorhomes
Whilst motorhome sales in the UK are still significantly lower than caravans, motorhome sales have been increasing proportionally higher. Keen to capitalise on this demand the UK caravan manufactures started making motorhomes some time ago. Now 5 of the 6 biggest UK caravan manufacturers make motorhomes and have been doing for more than 5 years. These manufactures make very UK specific motorhomes with all the bells, whistles, carpets and ovens we expect in the UK. Also European manufacturers have responded. Rather than ship a European motorhome to the UK they have started making UK specified motorhomes with things like doors on the correct side, ovens carpets and mood lighting. 

Caravans 
Caravans have changed a lot over the last 10-15 years, the cold, white, damp box image of old has dwindled. Ok some are still white but some aren’t. There have been many styling updates from beautiful skylights to sleek windows and graphics packages. Additionally caravans construction has changed drastically from all manufactures to make them better, warmer and lighter. There has been a specification explosion from fridges as big as your home to full programable wet central heating, LED lighting, satellite TV and even self levelling systems. If no one has been in a caravan for 10 years they might still have an image in their mind that couldn’t be further from truth. Modern caravans are like sleek self catering apartments you can take anywhere. 

These two significant changes mean that for people entering the leisure vehicle market in 2016 both motorhomes and caravans offer a lot of products the UK leisure vehicle owner wants with little compromise. 

For the Motorhome owner in 2016 they can see sleek, modern caravans that are now lighter and easier to tow with so many aids to help with hooking up and pitching. Combine this with the living accommodation you get in caravan compared to a motorhome and some are choosing to trade motorhome for caravan. 

For the Caravan owner in 2016 they are able to get a motorhome with all of the specification of their beloved little home from home caravan. Prices have also been converging with the typical motorhome costing 2.5x that of the equivalent caravan meaning some caravaners are swapping to motorhomes. 

There are still some die hard caravan and motorhome enthusiasts who will never change their vehicle type but as the caravan manufacture owners clubs start accepting and encouraging motorhomers to join, we know times are changing!  This for me is a fantastic thing, not because I want everyone to come together and hold hands, but because as the markets converge as too will design principles between the two vehicles, making even better and more exciting products in the future – could we see a motorhome with a detachable cab? who knows. 

Management Buy Out at Coachman Caravans

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By Tom Evans

Coachman, celebrates it’s 30th anniversary this year

With that milestone comes a passing of the torch. Founder, Jim Hibbs, will be leaving the manufacturers reputation as among the best quality Caravan manufacturers in the country, in his sons hands.

Elliot Hibbs, as part of a management buyout, to continue as Managing Director alongside the existing team boasting over 70 years of experience in the leisure industry, in Ian Kershaw, Steve Shipley and Jason Thompson. Experience aside, I’m sure they’ll all be comforted by Jim’s plans to stay on as a consultant over the next few years, to ensure a smooth transition.

Elliot Hibbs has commented “The senior management team have worked for Coachman for many years and it is very pleasing, that the commitment and hard work can be recognised through this wonderful opportunity. We will continue to grow manufacture exceptionally high quality caravans that the company remains a very good employer to all our 1888 staff”

We think this is great news and look forward to hearing Elliot and the team’s “Vision” for the future of Coachman. Our Director Dan Cartwright who has worked with coachman on a number of campaigns over the years says “This is excellent news and im sure it is something that has been long planned. The Coachman management team have been working hard over the past 4 years to bring lighter and more competitively priced caravans that still offer that Coachman quality to the UK market and im sure the team will continue in this successful direction”.

Caravan Park opens gates to homeless for Christmas

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Open house for homeless over Christmas at Moffat Manor Country Park.

A Scottish Caravan Park is bringing festive goodwill to the region’s homeless this holiday season by offering them food and shelter.

Moffat Manor Country Park, based in the village of Beattock in Dumfriesshire, are making five of their caravans available for a week to homeless people or locals who have to rely on food parcels.

The accommodation is available from 20 to 27 December with the park also providing meals and entertainment.

Communications assistant Colin MacDonald said: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

“Essentially, we are aiming to help people out who would perhaps normally go without. We want them to have a memory that will last instead of feeling isolated at this time of year.

“Any help in filling the caravans with people in need would be greatly appreciated.”

This is not the first time that the caravan park have opened their doors to those in need free of charge. Last winter, following the extensive floods in Carlisle, they offered accommodation to flood victims.

And the park also created a monthly free lunch club for seniors in Beattock and Moffat to tackle loneliness.

If you know anyone at risk of being homeless this Christmas, or are at risk yourself, call Colin on 01683 300313 to arrange accommodation.

I’m A Celebrity winner to buy Dad a caravan with prize money

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By Tom Leaning

Scarlett Moffatt is on the lookout for a luxury caravan for her parents after reality show win.

Reality star Scarlett Moffatt has declared that a new caravan for her parents is at the top of her gift list after bagging a £1 million windfall from after winning ITV’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

The newly crowned Jungle queen told The Sun: “It would just be nice to buy my dad a caravan. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as happy or content as I have now, so a million pounds isn’t going to make any difference.

“I’m really sensible with my money. So I would like to own my own house rather than rent.

“That’s really boring isn’t it? What else can I buy? Loads of chicken kebabs!”

The Gogglebox star, who beat comedian Joel Dommett on her way to the annual IACGMOOH title, charmed TV audiences with her witty one-liners and upfront honesty.

During her three week ordeal in the Australian outback, Ms. Moffatt had to perform a whole host of gut-wrenching challenges, including eating camel nipples and other horrific ingredients.

The Caravan Times would like to congratulate the I’m A Celebrity winner, and offer a playful suggestion of which caravan would make a fun Christmas present for her lucky parents:

The Sol Cinema is the smallest solar powered cinema in the world, and can seat eight adults in its comfortable interior with a wide LED screen playing your favourite movies or episodes of Gogglebox and I’m A Celebrity.

Contact the lovely people at The Sol Cinema for a quote on buying or renting this glorious home caravan cinema on wheels.

The Sol Cinema

A look inside Marquis’ new Lifestyle 4SB

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By Tom Evans

CaravanTimes are always interested in a dealer special.

In general they’re a great way to up-spec a base level van and end up with something a little more unique. The Lifestyle brand from Marquis are no different and the stylish-on-the-outside, airy-on-the-inside 4SB, is a case in point.

Built on the Sprite Major 4SB, an interesting van in it’s own right, with it’s transverse rear bed and end washroom (a very unusual sight in this price range), the Lifestyle 4SB starts at £18,495.

And for that it comes loaded with features, most notably the Mini Heki Rooflights which really illuminate the space well, a Duvalay Duvalite mattress which if you’ve ever tried, you’ll know are second to none and the tasteful furnishing pack which keeps it modern but still homely, unlike some of the colder “scandi” interior design we’ve seen coming through this year.

It’s been pitched to us as a 4 berth, which it will handle well, but we at CaravanTimes think it’s a couple that will get the most out of this van.

Check out our video for a more in depth look.

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Tornado strikes campsite on Pacific volcano

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By Tom Leaning

Dust devil tornado wrecks havoc on a campsite in a volcanic crater on the isle of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean

International campers were left shaken after witnessing a powerful dust devil tornado rip through their campsite in the Marum Crater on the isle of Vanuatu.

During an expedition to the top of the volcanic crater in the Pacific ocean, Briton Chris Horsley and New Zealand photographer, Geoff Mackley, noticed the weather turning hazardous, before seeing the weather phenomenon heading straight for their camp.

Mr Mackley, who was able to capture the dust devil on camera, told The Caters News Agency: “[The dust devil] did quite a bit of damage in the camp, bottles were flying around and tents unpicked, but we fixed it quite quickly.

“It was fairly hard to see when it ripped through camp, due to the dust and rocks it picked up.

“Dust devils are not too common up there but on this day there were literally hundreds of them.”

Dust devils range from half a meter wide and a few meters tall to more than 10 metres wide and more than 1000 metres tall.

Something a little different this Christmas?

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by Dan Cartwright

Something a little different this Christmas?

It’s that time of year again. The season of good will to all and hopefully a chance to take some time off and relax.

Between now and the big day there is going to be much talk of presents. Children will want the latest games machine, or impossible-to-find-sold-out-everywhere fad toy, Mums will want everyone to be happy and no one ever knows what Dad wants… until now

CaravanTimes started looking at what, in the world of caravanning, you could get for the price of a modern games machine? We planned to do a Christmas present feature but we were immediately struck by this Eccles Topaz which we think is a 1982 model though not certain.

This little beauty is on eBay right now for the next 8 days with the very round buy it now price of £360.

As you can see from the photos it looks like its been loved and is well traveled. The seller “Angel-Greav” (eBay name) describes it as “easy to tow” which from the photos of them towing it with a Fiesta must be correct. They also describe it as an “ideal starter caravan”.

If you already have a caravan, what about family and friends who have thought about it? this could be a real Gem (get it?).

Please note we have not seen the caravan in person and have no idea of it’s condition or reliability.

Have any of our readers owned a topaz in the 80’s? If so let us know what they were like and anything to watch out for when buying?

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Glamping: A fun fad or here to stay?

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Dan Cartwright

Glamping – What it means to the camping, caravan and motorhome community.

Glamping seems to be taking over the world – its one of the hottest topics on forums and glamping sites have sprung up all over the country and even further afield.

This year I have been to many glamping sites to test out the different types but more importantly talk to the people. We will be bring more detail on each type of glamping in the current weeks but before we start on the detail here some thoughts about it in general and where it sits with the camping, caravanning and motorhome community.

So what is glamping? on the face of things glamping is exactly what the portmanteau word describes, glamorous camping. It is camping where you don’t have to take a tent, caravan or motorhome. Your glamping tent invariably comes with different levels of amenities from cooking facilities to bedding and towels depending on your location (please check carefully before you arrive incase these things are not included).

This means glamping can be seen as a drive in drive out, almost hotel-like experience or more importantly it can be marketed in this way. From the original idea of a few yurts at the bottom of a farm you can now buy glamping “experiences” in Argos! The proliferation of marketing from websites like AirBnB, to Groupon mean this is now big business in the UK and it looks like it is here to stay.

There is some bad press and comments around glamping, especially more recently. This is a little unfair on glamping and it is probably more about the way it is marketed. To friends who ask about it that have never been camping I will advise them to not forget the camping part. Im sure many of the bad comments have been made by people who buy a glamping “experience” and are glamoured (get it) by the idea, the romance of sleeping under the stars with no idea of the practicalities of using a portaloo at 3AM or shower block on a rainy morning.

Now we have addressed the negativity lets look at the positives. Given your reading this on CaravanTimes I expect you have some experience with camping, caravaning or motorhoming so I won’t dumb things down. The main advantage of Glamping is that it opens up more of our amazing countryside and coastline to more people. It makes it possible for people to get a flavour if not a taste of what keeps us camping, caravanning or motorhoming. Thats a good thing, trust me – whilst no one likes crowded beaches having more people camping/ caravanning or motorhoming means better facilities, better investment from local and national government for the industry, better legislation and more product innovation in the industry. If some of these glampers get the bug and profess out camping, caravanning or motorhoming on there own then as far as I’m concerned glamping is brilliant.

Now where does glamping fit if you’re already camping, have a caravan or motorhome? should you give it go? Well in my opinion yes, some of the more remote locations are amazing and very off the beaten track, potentially more remote than CL sites or even rallying. But do be warned if you are used to a caravan or motorhome this is still camping, most glamping tents don’t have central heating, dual fuel cooking facilities, satellite TV or 90 litre fridges!

But where I see the real benefit in glamping is about opening up our world to our friends and family. I’m for ever going on to anyone who doesn’t camp about the wonderful locations and fantastic breaks we have as a family but unless they spend a lot of money to try it they can’t come with us… now they can. There will be a glamping site just about anywhere, meaning you can go to your favourite location and your friends or family can go glamping near by and you can all have a fantastic time together. Some of the big site companies such as Parkdean Resorts offer glamping and touring facilities on the same site, as do caravan club with there camping pods. So next time you’re telling someone about your fantastic holiday you can invite them along to the next.

Over the coming weeks we will be looking in more detail at the different types of glamping from pods to yurts to safari tents and everything in-between to give you more ideas to inspire your friends and families.

Christmas in a Caravan

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By Dan Cartwright

Christmas in a caravan? The great mug giveaway!

CaravanTimes have tested caravans and motorhomes in the coldest conditions from cold chambers in Derby to ski resorts in Austria our reporters all conclude that our leisure vehicles are not only capable but enjoyable in these low temperatures.

But what about spending Christmas in a caravan? We know the caravan or motorhome will keep you warm we want to see pictures of the big day in a caravan or motorhome. We’ve heard it happens but we have never seen it!

Are you planning on spending Christmas in your caravan? If so take a photo, email it to us at editor@caravantimes.co.uk or post it on our Facebook
and we will send you a wonderful and free CaravanTimes mug.

We currently have about 30 in the cupboard and once they’re gone they’re gone but please do send your photo’s and if you use twitter and want to hashtag then use the
#christmasinacaravan

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