Parkdean Resorts launches substantial capital raise to fund future growth: Parkdean Resorts, the UK’s largest holiday park operator, is launching a £250m capital raise to fund future growth. The Steve Richards-led business is understood to be looking to raise the new funding to take advantage of the opportunity it has to invest in and grow its business and comes off the back of a strong trading. This includes record Easter trading with 98% occupancy, and with the company’s resorts being 60% booked for 2025 already. It also comes off the back of strong guest scores of 4.6/ 5 based on 5,000 reviews on TripAdvisor, while a record number of parks have this year received a TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award, with 31 parks in the top 10% of all hotel, restaurant and hospitality venues. Over the past three years, the company is understood to have invested £100m on capex, with a further £37m to be invested this year. The business has 66 parks (and 3500 acres) across the UK. It has so far invested in ten parks to a next generation format, with revenues up on average 24% post investment. These parks feature “next-level amenities and activities designed to drive the guest experience and on-park spend”. Steve Richards, chief executive of Parkdean Resorts, said: “The UK staycation market is strengthening as hard-pressed families prioritise spending time away together, and with 66 parks in popular hot spots including the Lake District, Cornwall, Devon, Norfolk, Wales and Scotland, Parkdean Resorts is ideally placed to capitalise on this growing demand. Accordingly, the business has just delivered record Easter trading, driven by consumers seeking out high quality, self-catering, short breaks and holidays at affordable prices. The company has ambitious investment plans and our shareholders, Onex, are fully supportive of the company’s growth strategy. Over the past few years, we have invested over £100m upgrading accommodation, facilities and kids activities, and our customers have clearly noticed with 2025 Trip Advisor scores now averaging 4.6 stars out of 5. Bookings for the peak summer holiday period are in strong growth, with multiple parks already approaching 100% occupancy.” Parkdean Resorts features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club members and features 1,108 companies. Parkdean’s turnover of £507,000,000 for the year ending 31 December 2023 is the 29th highest in the database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Government ‘ignoring damage packaging tax will do to hospitality’: Leading pub, hospitality and brewing bodies have warned that the government is ignoring the damage a packaging tax will do to hospitality. Since April 2022, HMRC has imposed a tax on plastic packaging manufactured or imported into the UK containing less than 30% recycled content. In the last Budget, it was announced this levy will continue to rise in line with CPI inflation, reaching a rate of £223.69 per tonne from April 2025. The bosses of UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, British Institute of Innkeeping, Campaign for Real Ale, Society of Independent Brewers, Wine & Spirit Trade Association, Independent Family Brewers of Britain, Federation of Wholesale Distributors, Cider UK and British Glass have written to the prime minister and chancellor, saying said it does not believe “due regard” has been given to the economic impact of extended producer responsibility (EPR). This makes producers responsible for their products along the entire lifecycle, including at the post-consumer stage. The letter highlighted the fact that hospitality venues will pay twice for waste collection due to poor policy design incorrectly classifying bottles of beer and wine as household waste and subject to a packaging levy, despite not leaving hospitality premises. Venues will have to pay for existing business waste collection to dispose of glass, as well as face additional costs passed on by producers under EPR. It said this, and the fact there has been no final announcement of the prices involved in EPR, is negatively affecting investment decisions and business confidence. The letter warned that additional costs for hospitality businesses will be passed onto consumers, affecting performance in the sector and creating inflationary pressure. Finally, the letter said, disproportionately high indicative fees for glass is likely to drive certain product types into plastic, undermining the high recycling rate for glass and the EPR’s objective to drive recycling. The letter said: “The sector and its supply chain are deeply concerned at the introduction of EPR in its current form. There is a widespread belief that this legislation is being introduced far too quickly, and the financial burdens placed on businesses and their impact on growth, are not being acknowledged. We do not believe that due regard has been considered to the full economic impact of this policy measure on investment and growth in the UK, and therefore efforts to alleviate them have been deprioritised.”