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Center Parcs UK and Ireland
Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with each covering about 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland. The company's first village opened in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, in 1987 and its sixth, at Longford Forest, Ireland, opened in 2019.
A similar enterprise operates within continental Europe, also under the name Center Parcs; however, the two companies have been separately owned since 2001.
In 1968, Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen purchased woodland near Reuver so that staff and customers of his 17 store sporting goods chain could relax in small tents. The park, De Lommerbergen, was successful and tents were quickly replaced by bungalows or chalets.
In July 1987, Center Parcs opened its first UK resort at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. At that time, "Center Parcs" (under that name, with no regional qualifier) was a single global company owning both British and continental European resorts. In 1989 it opened its second village in the UK at Elveden Forest. Center Parcs (including the Sherwood Forest and Elveden Forest villages) was bought in 1989 by (the now defunct) Scottish & Newcastle. In 1994 it opened its third village in the UK located west and southwest from the first two and near Longleat Adventure & Safari Park.
After the Longleat Forest and Whinfell Forest villages opened and during a move in 2001 to concentrate on their core brewing business, Scottish and Newcastle sold the UK side of Center Parcs to venture capitalists Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, and it became a separate company known then as Center Parcs UK. The remainder of Center Parcs continued to operate, becoming known as Center Parcs Europe. The two companies have since operated under very similar branding, but are now owned and operated by two distinct companies.[citation needed] (In 2003 S&N sold Center Parcs Europe to a joint venture of France-based Pierre & Vacances (P&V), who already owned the competing Gran Dorado Resorts, and German investment group DBCP, hence completing the divesting of Center Parcs from the restructured S&N.)
In December 2003, Mid Ocean agreed to sell the UK resorts to Arbor Ltd for £285 million, a special vehicle set up to float Center Parcs UK[citation needed] on London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market, and in 2005 it moved to the main stock market listing. In May 2006 Center Parcs UK Group PLC[citation needed] was sold to The Blackstone Group for a reported £1.1 billion, and subsequently re-registered as a private company. Under a separate deal at the same time, Blackstone also bought the freehold of the European sites from P&V, which allowed them to rebrand all of the European sites as Center Parcs.[citation needed]
In June 2015, it was announced that Blackstone had agreed to sell the company to Canadian-based Brookfield Properties for £2.4bn. At the time Center Parcs UK employed around 7,500 people and received around 2 million guests in 2015.
Center Parcs has short-break holiday villages in five locations in the UK, with a sixth in Ireland which opened in 2019. Each village covers around 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland, with a standard set of facilities, and have around 97% occupancy annually.
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Center Parcs UK and Ireland
Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with each covering about 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland. The company's first village opened in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, in 1987 and its sixth, at Longford Forest, Ireland, opened in 2019.
A similar enterprise operates within continental Europe, also under the name Center Parcs; however, the two companies have been separately owned since 2001.
In 1968, Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen purchased woodland near Reuver so that staff and customers of his 17 store sporting goods chain could relax in small tents. The park, De Lommerbergen, was successful and tents were quickly replaced by bungalows or chalets.
In July 1987, Center Parcs opened its first UK resort at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. At that time, "Center Parcs" (under that name, with no regional qualifier) was a single global company owning both British and continental European resorts. In 1989 it opened its second village in the UK at Elveden Forest. Center Parcs (including the Sherwood Forest and Elveden Forest villages) was bought in 1989 by (the now defunct) Scottish & Newcastle. In 1994 it opened its third village in the UK located west and southwest from the first two and near Longleat Adventure & Safari Park.
After the Longleat Forest and Whinfell Forest villages opened and during a move in 2001 to concentrate on their core brewing business, Scottish and Newcastle sold the UK side of Center Parcs to venture capitalists Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, and it became a separate company known then as Center Parcs UK. The remainder of Center Parcs continued to operate, becoming known as Center Parcs Europe. The two companies have since operated under very similar branding, but are now owned and operated by two distinct companies.[citation needed] (In 2003 S&N sold Center Parcs Europe to a joint venture of France-based Pierre & Vacances (P&V), who already owned the competing Gran Dorado Resorts, and German investment group DBCP, hence completing the divesting of Center Parcs from the restructured S&N.)
In December 2003, Mid Ocean agreed to sell the UK resorts to Arbor Ltd for £285 million, a special vehicle set up to float Center Parcs UK[citation needed] on London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market, and in 2005 it moved to the main stock market listing. In May 2006 Center Parcs UK Group PLC[citation needed] was sold to The Blackstone Group for a reported £1.1 billion, and subsequently re-registered as a private company. Under a separate deal at the same time, Blackstone also bought the freehold of the European sites from P&V, which allowed them to rebrand all of the European sites as Center Parcs.[citation needed]
In June 2015, it was announced that Blackstone had agreed to sell the company to Canadian-based Brookfield Properties for £2.4bn. At the time Center Parcs UK employed around 7,500 people and received around 2 million guests in 2015.
Center Parcs has short-break holiday villages in five locations in the UK, with a sixth in Ireland which opened in 2019. Each village covers around 400 acres (1.6 km2) of woodland, with a standard set of facilities, and have around 97% occupancy annually.