North East holiday park company Parkdean Resorts has posted a 54% jump in revenues after continuing to invest against a backgrop of operational challenges over the last two years.
The Newcastle company, which owns and operates 66 holiday parks on 3,500 acres of land across the UK, saw adjusted revenues rise from £348.4m to £537.4m in the year ended December 31 2021. The firm, which offers options including static caravans, lodges and glamping, as well as hotel accommodation at two sites, also converted the previous year’s operating loss of £18.8m to profit of £135.7m, while adjusted Ebitda also almost trebled from £58.1m to £144.7m.
During the year the Gosforth based business made a record investment of £80m into its parks, including further investment into its ‘Park of the Future’ programme, to improve its food and drink offering as well as general facilities, children’s activities and accommodation. Three existing parks were developed in the year, and the business has plans to carry out similar works at 36 additional parks .
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Across the whole estate, significant spends were made into park facilities and accommodation, Wi-Fi connectivity and new pitch developments.
A focus on its website resulted in a shift towards online bookings, which now generate more than 85% of its holiday sales, and online revenues have increased by 90% since 2019.
Parkdean has also committed to a 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2025, and to achieving a net zero position by 2040.
In the accounts report, Steve Richards, chief executive of Parkdean Resorts, said: “I am very proud of the Parkdean Resorts teams across the business, who have shown outstanding resilience in the face of some very difficult operational challenges over the last two years, never losing sight of the fact that our primary purpose is to ensure we create amazing memories for our holiday guests and owners. The group delivered a strong financial and operational performance this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic, building on the £189.1m investment in the business over the last three years, and driven by the dedication, enthusiasm and hard work of our people.”
Following publication of the accounts Mr Richards added: “2021 was a year of significant progress, in which we saw high returns on the capital investment we made in the quality of our accommodation and park facilities, whilst further digitalising our customer journey, resulting in 85% of our revenues now being booked online, and with 83% of guests voting us great value for money and 78% stating they would return.
“We have just traded through a very busy summer period in which our parks were full and looking ahead Parkdean Resorts is well placed in a growing and resilient staycation market that will benefit from high demand next year, but of course the business is not immune from the current macro pressures of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis that our customers face.
“We remain confident that demand for our value for money, family friendly and well-located parks will be strong, and we are cautiously optimistic in outlook.”
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