HOLIDAY PARKS MANAGEMENT : GLAMPING BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Telephone: 01432 263219

February 2016 • Issue 21

m o .c t n e m e g a n a M s k r a P y a d i l o H . www

Holiday Parks M a n a ge m e n t The team at Holiday Parks Management continues to grow with the addition of a new member of the sales team; Kathryn Kelly.

Kath has worked for a number of years in the amusement machine industry and this month we bring you a feature on the phenomenon that is redemption.

Redemption machines are perfect for family friendly locations such as holiday parks because they are suitable for even the smallest children and everyone can walk away with a prize after playing – or save their tickets for something really special at the end of their stay. We asked a number of experts to give us advice on which machines and prizes to choose and we also bring you a report on the EAG show where all the latest video games, entertainment systems and related products were shown in January.

As well as entertainment, this month we highlight some practical issues around the park, including weed control and allergen legislation. This is a great time of year to start planning additional training for your staff.

We hope you enjoy the issue in its printed format and look forward to rolling out the next issue of Glamping Business which is within these pages as a separate printed publication in April.

Nina

Photo courtesy of The English Shepherd Huts Co.

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Industry news

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Redemption Machines

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The latest news and products from the world of Holiday Parks.

Bring a little retail magic to your amusement offering with this family favourite.

European Amusement and Gaming Expo Report The leading exhibition for coin-operated games and rides.

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Weed control In the never-ending battle against weeds, groundsmen and landscapers have never had such an effective armoury of chemical weed control options as they have today.

Allergens and how you can train your staff to deal with them You will need to be aware of the Food Information Regulations 2014.

What’s in this issue?

Next issue features include: ! Cash Handling Feature With the pound coin about to change what do you need to do to prepare?

! Adventure Play Areas Keep the kids and their parents happy with a special play area.

We look at the best around for all budgets.

Proud Member of the Association

Published by: Maggie Media Ltd, 2 Withypool, Hereford HR2 7PW UK t: 01432 263219 w: www.holidayparksmanagement.com Editor: Steph Curtis-Raleigh t: 07887 928819 e: steph@upgradepr.com Publisher: Nina Blanchard t: 01432 263219 e: info@holidayparksmanagement.com Advertisements: Kathryn Kelly t: + 44 (0) 7575 408580 e: kathrynkelly@swanevents.co.uk Design: Dean Coulter, Design on Tap www.designontap.co.uk Subscriptions: Register Free at www.holidayparksmanagement.com or e: info@holidayparksmanagement.com Holiday Parks Management magazine is free and is published four times a year. © Maggie Media Ltd 2016. No part of this publication may be reproduced nor stored in a retrieval system by any means without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Park News

Cornish park's visitors provid double charity boost e

Left to right: Serena Pettigrew-Jolly of Cornwall Wildlife Trust; Jacqui White of Wadebridge Foodbank; Patrick Langmaid, park director, and Simon Sexton, reception worker Two Cornish charities each received a fourfigure fillip to their fundraising efforts in February, thanks to an enterprising Padstow holiday park's visitor giving scheme.

The much-needed sums were raised by guests who donated £1.00 on top of their holiday costs when booking a stay at the multi-award winning park.

On top of another £800.00 donation made to each cause last March from the scheme, it means that the park has raised £5,000 for the two organisations over the past 12 months.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Wadebridge Foodbank have both been handed cheques for £1,700 from Mother Ivey's Bay Holiday Park at Trevose Head.

The total amount was then doubled by Mother Ivey's Bay owner Patrick Langmaid to create the £3,400 windfall which was shared by the charities.

Mother Ivey's Bay's commitment to corporate and social responsibility saw it featured in the Caring Company category of the 2015 Cornish Guardian Community awards last year.

MBE for holiday parks champion Jeanette Wilson Heartfelt congratulations from holiday parks across the UK were received this winter by Jeanette Wilson after she was made an MBE in the 2016 New Year Honours Lists. A well-known figure within the industry, Jeanette’s award celebrates her long and highly valued services to the holiday parks sector over a period of more than 20 years.

Edinburgh-based Jeanette is best known for her role as policy director for BH&HPA Scotland, and for the part she plays in helping promote the Best of British group of top-rated independent parks.

Jeanette joined BH&HPA in 1993, and has since provided the secretariat to the association in Scotland which comprises more than 200 park businesses. She also represents the parks industry to the Scottish government, Visit Scotland and many other tourism organisations as well as serving as an advisor and mentor to Scottish parks.

Chairman and director of BH&HPA Scotland, Colin Fraser, was amongst the many who paid tribute to Jeanette’s commitment and dedication to the parks industry. He remarked that Jeanette works with efficiency, charm and such kindness that she has become much loved by owners and managers of park businesses across Scotland.

Congratulations were also received from many owners of the 50-plus parks in membership of the Best of British group for which Jeanette works in a senior marketing consultancy position. Her involvement with the consortium spans 14 years, and its chair Claire Jeavons said that Jeanette has played a massive and important role in raising the profile of the organisation.

Jeanette confesses to have been “completely taken aback” by her MBE award, and says she feels very humbled by the honour and the many congratulations it triggered.

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Perthshire parks family wins award Enterprising family members behind a longestablished Perthshire holiday parks group have been celebrated in a major regional business competition.

The couple invested much time, effort and resources to create what is now one of Scotland’s most highly regarded and multiaward winning holiday parks.

The Wood family saw off many other successful enterprises from the area to be crowned Family Business of the Year at the annual Courier Business Awards.

Building on their success, Colin and Margaret then went on to develop four other parks using the same business formula of combining high quality surroundings with excellent customer service.

The competition highlights families whose dedication to business excellence has won them acclaim from customers, and helped bolster the regional economy.

The Wood family stepped up to receive their overall accolade at the November finals of the competition which were held in St Andrews.

The business, now known as Wood Leisure, started life 30 years ago when husband and wife Colin and Margaret Wood acquired Blairgowrie Holiday Park in Perthshire.

Barclays chooses world of rides Barclays Bank Plc. have chosen World of Rides, the long established North East based manufacturers and distributors of static and battery operated children’s rides, to spearhead their latest marketing campaign to encourage more businesses to use their International Banking facilities for currency trading and transactions.

As long-time importers and exporters, World of Rides have been trading through Barclays Bank for more than fifty years, and as a result they were a natural choice for the bank to use as being representative of a successful international business.

World of Rides UK General Manager David Robinson can currently be heard explaining why they have remained loyal to Barclays Bank Plc. on their radio adverts being broadcast on CLASSIC FM, LBC and GOLD, and Barclays Bank Plc. will also be adding a section about World of Rides to their website, as well as extending their broadcasting coverage of David’s interview to other local radio stations nationally.

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year into the regional economy through the spending of visitors.

Their other parks are Corriefodly Holiday Park in Perthshire, Deeside Holiday Park near Aberdeen, Lomond Woods Holiday Park in Ballock, and Balgair Castle Holiday Park near Stirling.

Wood Leisure is still run by Colin and Margaret with the help of their three daughters: Kirsty, Rachel and Sarah. They were congratulated at the Courier Business Awards by judges and by sponsors Thornton’s Solicitors and The Apprentice star Nick Hewer who compered the event.

Last year, the family welcomed Scottish tourism minister Fergus Ewing to two of their parks where he praised the “tremendous achievements” the family has made. The minister heard how the Wood’s five parks together help inject millions of pounds each

Sarah Wood MacGregor, marketing and sales manager of Wood Leisure, said: “We are all absolutely ecstatic to have won the Family Business of the Year Award. “We want to thank our wonderful staff team and, of course, our many loyal customers,” she added.

Cornish holiday park facility splashes out with a double gold!

Oasis Fun Pools at Hendra Holiday Park in Newquay, Cornwall, has achieved a Gold award at national level for Holiday Park Pool of the Year and also a Gold award in the Energy Efficiency category at the prestigious UK Pool & Spa Awards.

Hendra fought off stiff competition from other companies across the UK in both categories at the awards which took place at the new Resorts World in Birmingham.

Over sixty businesses were recognised for their superior products, knowledge and integrity across 25 awards categories earlier this week. Now in their seventh year, the UK Pool & Spa Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of the country’s leading companies and organisations that are involved in the multi-million provision of water leisure, both at home and across a variety of public sectors from hotels and health clubs to schools and public pools.

Jon Hyatt, Hendra Director said “We are of course delighted to have been awarded Gold in two categories; it’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of pool manager Petra Van Splunter and the team in the Oasis Fun Pools and our commitment to making sure that the facility is the very best it can be both commercially and environmentally. We were in competition with some amazing venues and the judges unanimously expressed their praise for the high standard of swimming pools in this category.”

The Oasis Fun Pools at Hendra Holiday Park provides one of the biggest facilities of its kind in the South West and is open to the public from Easter until the end of October.

The venue is also a training centre for lifeguards and, as part of one of Cornwalls premier holiday parks, has also won awards for environmental sustainability.

Park News continued Kubota’s B1620 compact tractor has been put to work at Waveney Sailability in Suffolk in order to speed up the time it takes to launch and recover the sailing and rescue craft at the activity centre.

The 16HP tractor was fitted with turf tyres to provide a stable grip on wet and muddy surfaces, whilst the inclusion of a front ball hitch and electric winch help the team maintain control when getting the rigid inflatable boat in and out of the water.

Malcolm Brown, Assistant Sailing Instructor at Waveney Sailability, commented: “Since the arrival of the B1620 tractor, the tasks that we have to carry out following a busy day of sailing with very few volunteers has been made significantly easier and safer.

Sailability as it helps to speed up the time it takes to bring the boats back to land when the team have been out sailing.”

Equipped with Kubota’s E-TCVS diesel engine for increased power, cleaner emissions and low noise levels, the B1620 offers an increased travel speed to allow the team at Waveney to travel between destinations quicker. The

inclusion of 4-wheel drive prevents the tyres slipping and the Rollover Protection System provides safety when using the tractor on an inclined surface.

Waveney Sailability, who specialise in providing sailing classes to individuals with disabilities, was presented with the compact tractor following a grant by Sports England.

For more information on Kubota and its extensive range of solutions for the groundcare and agriculture sectors visit www.kubota.co.uk or call 01844 268000.

Easy sailing for staff at Waveney Sailability following purchase of Kubota tractor

“We use the tractor to manoeuvre, launch and recover our sailing boats and rescue craft, which was previously very difficult due to the weight of the equipment. The tractor has been well received with the team at Waveney

of visitors said that there was an excellent mix of products on display.

ALED RESULTS OF SALTEX VISITOR SURVEY REVE The 70th SALTEX exhibition exceeded all expectations after an independent audit confirmed the exhibition as the largest turf management event in the UK with a total of 8,714 unique individuals attending. Now, the visitor surveys have been flooding in – revealing a fascinating and in-depth insight into the visitor profile of the show.

With visitors traveling from every corner of the UK as well as every continent around the world it was encouraging to see that over 70% of the visitors rated their overall SALTEX experience as being good, very good or excellent.

Over 65% of visitors said that they attended SALTEX to source new products, services or suppliers, while 20% wanted to make the most of the free educational LEARNING LIVE seminars and to receive one-to-one advice through the IOG’s Ask the Expert feature.

With so much on offer at SALTEX, there was something for everyone and over 80% said that they were successful or very successful in meeting their objectives.

With such a large number of visitors attending SALTEX to source new products and services; they certainly came to the right place. The exhibition is a great way to launch and showcase new products and over 70%

Exhibitors at SALTEX 2015 reported huge success at the show, suggesting that the visitors were a very powerful group of buyers. With deals being done there and then on the show floor, it’s no surprise to see that over 80% had purchasing responsibility.

As you can see from the table below, over 75% of all SALTEX visitors also had the ability to sign off purchases of up to £100,000.

Visitors also found the more central location of the NEC to be more accessible with 70% stating that the new location was either good or excellent. Within the halls of the NEC, visitors favoured the more compact setting with over 70% rating the layout of the event either good or excellent.

Overall the visitor survey has demonstrated just how good the quality of attendees was – further enhancing SALTEX as the must attend event of the year.SALTEX 2016 will be held at the NEC, Birmingham on 2 and 3 November 2016.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

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Park News continued

OF THE YEAR PATHFINDER HOMES ANNOUNCES CHARITY

Rowcroft Hospice, whose purpose is to support patients and families living with life-limiting illnesses in South Devon to make the most of every day they have together, has been named as Pathfinder Homes’ Charity of the Year. The UK’s leading Residential and Holiday Lodge Manufacturer will fundraise for the Charity with the aim of raising as much as possible for the charity and are off to a tremendous start.

Having just donated £2,765 to fund a team of seven Pathfinder Homes’ employees to jump in the Santa Skydive, they have really

committed to taking fundraising to new heights! The team as individuals have already raised almost £600 in sponsorship for their adventure. Rhys Kniveton, one of Pathfinder Homes’ Carpenters stated “I’m taking part in the skydive for Rowcroft Hospice because I really believe in their cause, they make a real difference to the lives of the families they work with and feel privileged that Pathfinder have supported my jump; although going to 15,000ft and jumping from a plane seems insane, it’s definitely worth it.”

Money raised will go towards funding Rowcroft Hospices’ vital work to serve the people of South Devon by providing specialist care to patients with progressive, life limiting illnesses and their loved ones; helping to make every day the best day possible. Hayley Norrish, Community Fundraising Manager, said “We are delighted and proud to have been chosen as Pathfinder Homes’ Charity of the Year for 2016. We are really excited to work with the team and build our partnership.”

Record fundraising and first Diamond Partner announced at Party for Perennial Over £34,000 was raised at the Party for Perennial and the charity announced the Worshipful Company of Gardeners as the first Diamond Partner in its corporate membership scheme.

Almost 300 people gathered at the Skyloft in London on Friday 15 January for Perennial’s annual evening of networking and fundraising. The amount raised at the event, which includes income from the new Partners, tops the total from any previous events and reflects the growing industry support for the charity.

The new Diamond level in Perennial’s Partner scheme was launched at the party and allows supporters to sign up for an annual donation of £5,000. The first to sign up to the Diamond level, The Worshipful Company of Gardeners is an ancient livery company, which can trace its origins back to 1345.

Splash Hits for Four More Parks Four more farm parks have recently introduced wet play attractions from adventure attractions specialist Innovative Leisure to add an exciting cool down element this summer.

Spring Barn Farm in East Sussex and Finkley Down Farm in Hampshire bring the ever-growing number of farm venues operating Inflatable Water Wars systems up to fifteen. The balloon battle game is popular worldwide

and its inflatable incarnation has been particularly favoured within the farm sector owing to its affordability, earning potential and easy set up. Both sites have opted for double Water Wars units, comprising four battle stations armed with balloon catapults, ensuring maximum capacity.

Fishers Farm Park in West Sussex and Crealy Adventure Park in Cornwall have opted for the new Downpour Derby attraction which puts four participants into a race to fill water buckets above their opponent’s head by cranking a handle. The slowest to crank has their bucket tipped on them and is drenched.

The victor is unlikely to get away dry, however, as the defeated player continues to crank in revenge!

The attraction is a welcome addition to wet play areas at both parks with Fishers opening 'The Splash Shack' this year. Crealy

has operated an aluminium based Water Wars system for many years and has now added Downpour Derby to complement the crowd pleasing balloon battle attraction.

Commenting on the attraction at Cornwall’s Crealy Great Adventure Park, the park’s Simon Townsend said: “We’ve spent some time watching guests enjoy the new Downpour Derby and it’s clearly proving a great addition. It really complements our Water Wars game, which remains as popular as ever, and the two work very well together. In fact they’ve created a mini soak zone which we hope to expand on as guests are enjoying it so much.”

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Park News continued Wessex are launching an all-new, high-end luxury lodge, the Harbour, at the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show at the NEC. The Harbour Luxury Lodge (55’ x 22’) is a sophisticated and stylish lodge with individuality and character that takes luxury lodge living to a whole new level.

Clad in Canexel (clad in A Grade Cedar wood as standard), the striking monopitch roof with extended soffit and extensive feature glazing is the first thing you notice.

Two sets of folding doors to either side of the front of the lodge and a further to the lounge on the side elevation, expand the living space outside; further glazing frames the feature double front door and tall slender glazed panels finish off the look. This is a lodge perfectly designed for a view!

The spacious accommodation within comprises of an entrance hall, large living space with lounge, dining and kitchen areas, an opulent master bedroom with large walk-in dressing room and indulgent en-suite, two further bedrooms and a luxury shower room

Wessex to launch the Harbour Luxury Lodge

In the entrance hall is a super stylish Revival Holborn Bureau Chest providing plenty of practical storage, and an elegant Loughton Chair. Double doors in walnut with glass panels then open up into the living space.

Etesia launch three new battery powered pedestrian models Etesia has launched three new battery-powered pedestrian rotary mowers – the PACS push and PACTS single speed 46cm models and the NACS push 41cm model. All new models are now also available with the new rear roller kit for easy, effortless striping.

The three new models offer extreme versatility with the ability to cut, collect and mulch without the need for an accessory. Users will be capable of mowing with or without collection in all conditions as well as undertake high-quality mulching, and with the new rear roller kit now stripe for presentation.

dorset campsite is pitch perfect says AA Dorset’s South Lytchett Manor has been named by the AA as the best caravan and campsite in the UK, earning it the overall title of the AA’s Campsite of The Year.

The family-run business, near to Poole and Bournemouth, beat more than 900 other camping parks across Britain to take the prestigious pole place. The accolade is awarded every year following a rigorous assessment by AA inspectors of parks’ standards of customer care, quality, and cleanliness. Also under scrutiny are the range of amenities on offer, the size and layout of the pitches, and the quality of park grounds and their landscaping. The South Lytchett Manor AA inspection report earned an impressive five pennants – the maximum possible – and a 96% approval rating.

Highlighted were some of the site’s recent improvements including the introduction of additional fully-serviced pitches which now brings the total of these up to 85. In addition, the report headlined South Lytchette’s new cycle hire facility with new top quality bikes for all ages, and that fact that free Wi-Fi now extends across the entire grounds. There was mention too of the park’s attractive new website

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and video, and its stunning new hand-painted Romany caravan for hire, soon to be joined by others.

An AA spokesperson said: “South Lytchett continues to get better each year, and has now become one of that very select group of top parks in the country which has achieved our highest rating. “It is very much a family-run operation, and David, Joanne, and Matthew Bridgen and their dedicated team have developed the park to its current superb standard.“All facilities are well thought out, modern, and spotlessly clean, and pitches are spacious and varied with many being fully serviced.

HOLIDAYS IN STOCKINGS SET TO TREND, SAYS PARKS GROUP

Holiday vouchers tucked into Christmas stockings were the trending present last year among fun-loving families, says Park Holidays UK. The group says its vouchers are the ideal solution for anyone searching for a gift idea which really has the “wow!” factor The prospect of a stay at Park Holidays UK could never disappoint – and it’s a guaranteed one-sizefits-all present which adjusts perfectly to the lucky recipient.

That’s because the vouchers can be used at any time throughout 2016, on any of the company’s 25 holiday parks in Devon and Southern England, and for any type of holiday.

With values of £10, £20, £50 and £100 the giver can choose to give enough to fund an entire holiday, or provide the relative or friend with a juicy discount on a stay.

And with three or four day short breaks in 2016 starting at just £69.00 for a family of up to six people, there will be absolutely no belt-tightening to worry about.

The cost of the holiday will also include free use of all the holiday park’s facilities, such as swimming pools and children’s clubs, plus the acclaimed nightly entertainment.

“This is one gift that definitely won’t be forgotten minutes after it’s given,” said a spokesman for Park Holidays UK. “It’s the promise of great times and many happy memories to come.

“These vouchers will create a fantastic sense of anticipation, plus all the fun of deciding when and where to go – as well as the holiday itself!” she added.

API welcomes government’s physical activity strategy The Association of Play Industries (API) welcomes government recognition of the vital need to create positive early childhood experiences of physical activity that go beyond traditional and competitive sport.

The new Sporting Future strategy was published on 17th December and the API was pleased to see some encouraging new measures to get the nation moving. It particularly welcomes: ! Recognition of the need for a new, more joined-up strategy for delivery and funding of sport and physical activity, with formal progress reporting on that strategy; ! The creation of a Sport Cabinet and working group to share best practice for sport and physical activity across all UK nations; ! The broadening of Sport England’s remit beyond traditional sport to cover wider physical activity; ! Continued funding for the Sport Premium for schools and support for schools to open their physical activity facilities for local communities; ! Co-location of physical activity facilities with other public services such as libraries and GP surgeries.

API Chair Mark Hardy says: “Research proves that for some children, participation in sport can be a negative experience which can discourage them from taking part in physical activity altogether. Physically inactive children are more likely to become sedentary adults with all the associated health risks and costs that brings. Providing support for wide-ranging physical activities like dance, walking and cycling is a hugely positive step to encourage as many children as possible to be active.”

The association awaits publication of the government’s new national obesity framework – due in early 2016.

Mark Hardy adds: “We hope the national obesity framework will introduce bold measures that effect significant behavioural and attitudinal change amongst children and parents. Children need high quality spaces and facilities, time and parental/family encouragement to play actively outdoors and we urge the government to ensure play is well-represented in and supported by the strategy. The development, health and wellbeing benefits of play are far-reaching, not just for children but for the local communities they live in.”

For those who splashed out on a £100 voucher, Park Holiday UK also sent out a free cuddly version of the parks’ popular mascot Loopy - a great bonus for youngsters on the receiving end.

The association campaigns at the highest levels for policy recognition for play and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood, Children’s Play Policy Forum and Federation of Sports and Play Associations. Recent API research showed that over half (56%) of parents are unhappy at the lack of high quality play facilities in their local area, while nearly four in ten (38%) worried their local playground will close down.

But the vouchers aren’t just for giving. They can also be a thrifty way for families to save for a holiday by adding to their voucher collection throughout the year as their budget allows.

For further information about the Association of Play Industries, contact: Deborah Holt, API Association Manager, tel: 024 7641 4999 or email api@apiplay.org

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Park News continued

Thornley Park portfolio grows with North Yorkshire acquisition North Wales based holiday parks group Thornley Leisure has announced its acquisition of Gallaber Park in North Yorkshire, one of the county’s most highly regarded holiday retreats.

The deal was signed in November, and brings to eight the number of parks now in the group.

Based near Settle in the Ribble Valley, 65-acre Gallaber boasts a five-star tourist board rating, and the David Bellamy Conservation Award at its top gold level.

Sympathetically developed over the past 15 years by its previous owners, Gallaber Park provides privately owned caravan holiday homes and timber lodges, and touring pitches.

Now it is set to benefit from even further investment in its facilities from Thornley Leisure which owns seven other holiday parks in North Wales and Cheshire.

The Thornley family’s business, established over 50 years ago, has itself achieved a raft of honours for the quality of its parks and the many initiatives taken to protect the natural environment.

For this reason, says managing director David Thornley, Gallaber Park represents a perfect fit for the company’s existing parks portfolio: “One of Gallaber’s greatest strengths is its appeal to people who want a holiday location where the main attractions are the tranquillity and the beautiful surroundings,” he said.

“The park has always been conscious of this, and has focussed on developing and safeguarding its many natural features including a wildlife lake, woodland trails and butterfly meadow.

“Just as importantly, Gallaber also enjoys a high level of loyalty from customers – and finds, as we do, that most guests are either repeat visitors or come as a result of a personal recommendation.

“We are now keen to continue moving the park forward, and to raise the quality bar even higher for the benefit of both touring holidaymakers and the owners of holiday homes,” said David.

Open for 10.5 months of the year, Gallaber Park is likely to see the siting of additional luxury holiday homes in 2016, and further upgrades to guest facilities.

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PAIGNTON PARKS MARK TRIPLE TRIUMPH AT DEVON AWARDS Beverley Holidays and sister site Whitehill Country Park in Paignton are cracking open the champagne following a hat trick of tourism honours at the Devon Tourism Awards 2015.

The family-run holiday parks overcame tough competition from a record 174 entries to win three prestigious awards at the glittering ceremony in Plymouth in November.

The celebrations started early on in the night when Beverley Holidays took the first muchcoveted gold of the evening in the Holiday Park & Holiday Village category.

Shortly after, Whitehill Country Park took to the stage to collect a silver award for Dog Friendly Accommodation, followed by a bronze in the Camping & Caravanning category.

Held in association with tourism body Visit Devon, the sixth annual Devon Tourism Awards were attended by many leading figures from the region’s top tourism businesses.

Marketing director of Beverley Holidays and Whitehill Park, Claire Jeavons, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with our award hat trick which is the result of a great deal of hard work and dedication from the Beverley and Whitehill teams.

“We are honoured to be recognised in such a prestigious competition, and our gold, silver and bronze accolades are proof that the investments we have made in our accommodation and facilities mean we are delivering the best holiday experience possible.”

Victoria Hatfield, chair of Visit Devon, said: “The quality of the visitor offering that Devon delivers increases year on year, and this is testament to the dedication, commitment and investment from the businesses nominated in the Devon Tourism Awards.”

minister says scottish parks play vital economic role Providers of “fresh air holidays” in Scotland met in Edinburgh in December to hear tourism minister Fergus Ewing praise their invaluable support of rural economies.

Mr Ewing was speaking at the annual conference of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (Scotland) attended by many senior members of BH&HPA Scotland’s 200-plus park businesses.

Held at Edinburgh’s Our Dynamic Earth, the event brought together the managers and owners of businesses credited with generating just over £700m of visitor spending annually.

Mr Ewing said that by consistently providing both value and quality, Scottish holiday parks were writing their own success story.

But the benefits, he pointed out, were felt right across the largely rural areas in which parks operate, thanks to the millions spent by visitors in other businesses in the regions: “The holiday park sector offers good quality accommodation for all types of visitors, and helps to sustain employment in some of Scotland’s most remote and rural areas,” said Mr Ewing.

“In this it is a great success story. With the

2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design just around the corner, there are even more reasons to organise a holiday or short break in Scotland, and I have no doubt that the sector will take full advantage of this excellent opportunity,” he added.

Fergus Ewing (second from right) at the conference

Mr Ewing also noted that parks had also helped contribute to increasing overseas visitor numbers which were up by 4% compared with last year, and their spending up by 10%.

Delegates to the conference were welcomed

by Colin Fraser, chairman of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association (Scotland).

Mr Fraser introduced a succession of specialist speakers on a range of subjects affecting parks across Scotland.

They included Gill Brittle of Respitality, an initiative of Shared Care Scotland which seeks to link local organisations which support unpaid carers, and local hospitality providers such as parks.

Solicitor Paul Kelly of park industry specialists Tozers outlined the powerful new rights introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which affects all businesses.

The conference also heard from Ruth Badger who became one of Sir Alan Sugar’s favourites when she took part in BBC television’s The Apprentice.

An entertaining and highly informative insight to the mindset of today’s media-savvy youth was provided by Dr Paul Redmond who is director of student life at the university of Manchester.

Other speakers included BH&HPA national chairman Henry Wild who provided an update on forthcoming changes to UK and EU laws and regulations which will affect park businesses.

It found not only that visitors to Scottish parks spent £700m each year in mainly smaller family-run businesses, but that the sector supported more than 5,600 full-time equivalent jobs.

Devon park’s wildlife pond makes splash in eco-awards World-famous botanist David Bellamy has congratulated the family owners of a North Devon holiday park after they scooped his most prestigious environmental accolade.

Noteworthy Caravan and Campsite in Holsworthy is among just 14 of Britain’s 3000-plus parks to achieve a special distinction on top of its David Bellamy Conservation Award.

Julieann and Mark Snook-Bevis, whose park is based on their Angora goat farm, gained the extra accolade for the creation this year of a thriving wildlife pond.

They were also presented with the highest possible award, a gold, in Professor Bellamy’s annual honours for parks making exceptional efforts to protect the natural environment.

The couple, who have three young children, also have nine pitches for luxury caravan holiday homes and five pitches for the owners of touring caravans, motorhomes and tents.

Julieann and Mark’s careful management of the park’s natural surroundings, said Professor Bellamy, showed perfectly how a business could exist in total harmony with its environment.

There was praise too for the park’s involvement with the local community, including visits by children from nearby schools to discover more about the natural world.

Earning the special distinction in the award scheme, however, was Julieann and Mark’s creation of a new wildlife pond of just under one acre in size.

The pond is already a magnet for dragonflies, kingfishers, newts and a raft of other aquatic species – and attracts many different types of resident and visiting birds.

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Redemption

and all it retails

Redemption may have an ‘end of the world’ sound to it but the reality from an amusement arcade perspective is that you provide a number of machines that dispense tickets during play which can then be swapped by the player for a selection of prizes.

For a holiday park, a redemption counter is the perfect way to encourage repeat play within the arcade, as children can save their tickets up over the duration of their stay in order to achieve a more significant prize.

There is also a feeling of achievement that comes from earning tickets through skillbased play, which in itself is more rewarding – particularly for smaller children – than other types of pay per play amusement.

“The beauty of redemption games is that they appeal to families and customers of all ages,” says John Jennings of JNC, a supplier of new and used machines. “The experience of having a bundle of tickets spilling out to the machines is a fantastic feeling and provides a real buzz in the amusement arcade. With the recent introduction of coin pushers that payout tickets as well as coins, this adds to the popularity of the ticket redemption concept.”

“Redemption is primarily aimed at families and holiday parks are family focused businesses, therefore it is natural that the two should dovetail perfectly,” says Justin Burke, General Manager of Sega Amusements International. ‘What’s more families now expect redemption within the amusement arcade environment,” he adds.

“Holiday Parks should think of redemption as a great player loyalty scheme. Players can save their tickets throughout the year or spend them on the same visit,” asserts John Crompton, Regional Sales Manager at BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Europe Ltd., which is involved in all levels of the business from the design and development of the games to the running and operation of locations.

With retail comes a certain amount of stock control as well. However, this is probably something that a Holiday Park is already accustomed to.

“Compared to prize payout machines, there is not a great deal of difference when it comes to loading a ticket payout machine,” says Kevin Weir, Business Development Manager of Electrocoin, another machine supplier. “The merchandising and ticket management are an additional task but the flexibility and range of prizes are so great that the benefits are truly rewarding to all concerned.”

Kevin suggests that operators might consider a good ticket management system in order to minimize the work involved. “The overheads generated have to be balanced against the income and revenue generated by the machines and the margins made on

Redemption was traditionally more successful in the US than in the UK but over the past decade, operators in this country have embraced the concept because the rewards can be high. The main barrier to acceptance used to be the perception that it created a lot more work for the site.

This is a misconception according to Ian Eason, Managing Director of Instance Automatics. “Setting up for redemption doesn't take much more work or expense at all. Showcases need to be fitted and a prize booth area created. However, most smaller operators only open the prize booth at certain times of the day keeping staffing costs low.”

Dean Harding, Managing Director of Crown Direct believes it also requires a different mindset. “The operator needs to in effect also become a retailer. The quality of the prizes on offer and the display of them are very much a retail offer,” he warns.

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Redemption and all it retails continued eaters. We also advise customers to invest in good quality tickets as this results in fewer jams, miscounts and fraud.”

the prizes. The Galileo point of sale system has been successful at helping our customers manage the prize shop and stock,” he says.

“I think it’s a must having at least one ticket eater machine - this will destroy the tickets as well as printing out a receipt for the customer - it speeds up the ticket to prize facility which is really important for keeping staffing efficient in the middle of a busy season,” advises Instance’s Ian Eason.

BANDAI NAMCO’s Steve Short agrees, “There are a lot of great labour-saving options on the market for those wanting to operate redemption such as the Embed stock management system and Deltronic ticket

As for the returns on your investment – they can be significant. “We would expect that a redemption machine would pay for itself within one season,” says Sega’s Justin Burke. “Considering that a redemption machine can stay on site for up to ten years, that’s not a bad return.”

“Although the return on investment varies from site to site, it is clear to see that the returns are far better on redemption machines than they are on other categories of machines such as video,” agrees John Jennings from JNC. “The redemption machines drive customer loyalty as well, which ultimately improves the revenue levels of the sites.”

As with any business you will have to update a certain amount of machines each year to keep the interest strong. It is useful if you have more than one site as you can swap the machines around from site to site, to avoid further expense in buying new pieces.

John Jennings agrees that variety is key. “For sites that are just starting out it is best to start off with a varied range of equipment that provides choice to customers. Used equipment would also be recommended as you will get better value for money than investing in new products. The prices of used machines start from as little as £795. Slam a Winner and Wheel Deal are two of many proven favourites that can achieve very good returns,” he says.

Keep in mind that you will need to service the products and find parts from time to time. “Obviously many of the games are “physical games” and not video games it is really important to have a good supply of parts and service for the products. Brent Electronic one of the divisions of BNAE are able to offer cost effective solutions for this,” says Steve Short.

Electrocoin recommends, “Big Bass Wheel, Down the Clown and Monsterdrop as their top investments. “It's like any game, a good one will last years, a not so good game will need moving on sooner, but as they are normally mechanical and skill based, they last longer as the graphics do not date,” says Kevin Weir.

And once you are up and running the sky’s the limit. “Experienced operators enjoy success with loyalty schemes which add even more to the business rewards,” says Sega’s Justin Burke. “It all goes back to retail, getting the right prizes which in turn adds to the great experience offered by the locations.”

For those starting out with redemption games, our experts have a number of tips.

“You need a good mix and I would start with mechanical interactive games,” says Crown’s MD Dean Harding. “You should always have something new every season for holiday makers to play. Many come back to the Park every year, so you need to keep the offer fresh. New games for 2016 that would fit this style would be “Minion 3 In A Row” and “Quick Drop”.”

Ian Eason suggests, “You need a couple of good 'hook' machines, some smaller good earners and then a few fillers. I would suggest around half new and half good quality used machines, that way you can keep initial investment to a minimum. Our Pirate's Hook, Safari Ranger and Duo Drive have been terrific income wise through 2015 and so they would certainly have my recommendation.”

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Redemption and all it retails continued Eyes on the prize The unique aspect of redemption on holiday parks is the repeat custom, with many parks having owners or regular holidaymakers returning to the site who will purposefully collect their tickets over the season to redeem at the end of the year. This means they often look or even intend to save for something of higher value, whereas a daytripper to a coastal arcade might not.

“A prize counter in a holiday park with TVs or electronic items, large remote-control vehicles, cooking utensils or even white goods for example would not be out of place!

These items do very well as people can collect for, redeem, then conveniently use the items straight away on site,” says Maxine Davison, Sales Executive, Sega Prize Division.

A variety of prizes is always recommended, whether for a coastal arcade or holiday park – from low-ticket value items such as sweets all the way up to high value prizes such as electronics, or as mentioned, white goods and more. The range on offer also needs regular turnover, especially with returning owners or holiday makers – people need to see something different or new from time to time, to keep things fresh and to prove to them that playing for and saving their tickets is really worth doing.

“There is no best prize as all customers are different and you need to offer a variety to satisfy all genres and ages,” says Darrell Simmonds EMEA Sales Manager BANDAI NACMO Prize Division.

Where customers are generally on a park for a week or so they will save their tickets for bigger and better prizes, so a variety of wowfactor prizes are needed to entice them to keep playing machines to get closer to their chosen prize or prizes. For the younger ones, a good selection of lower ticket value always helps - as they usually want to redeem as soon as they get tickets and they don’t like to wait for their prize.”

Whether it is on-trend Tech, the latest filmrelated merchandise or simply something practical to use, choice is key. Also, something that can be perceived as an exclusive deal to the holiday park can also be a great way to encourage players - perhaps a special ticket discount offer or specially made prize-packs – again, something different that they simply can’t get anywhere else that creates a unique appeal.

What’s new in 2016: BANDAI NAMCO Prize Division BANDAI NAMCO has the licence for DC plush and with Batman Vs Superman and the Suicide Squad films coming out this year this is going to be big news for operators.

BANDAI NAMCO also has a good selection of Star Wars gifts, which are proving to be extremely popular. Other branded gifts include My Little Pony, Shaun the Sheep and the company’s own brand PAC-MAN. There is also a wide range of new and exciting must-have electronic products and a large selection of confectionary.

Darrell Simmonds

Instance Automatics Instance has a massive range of small value prizes, gobstoppers, Chupa Chups, Tattoos and some great licensed capsules and softballs. Their stock is always changing, keeping up with the latest film releases and trends. The latest licensed prizes always do well, at the moment these include Minions and Star Wars – which are great sellers.

The company invests in a lot of initial testing before actually deciding to sell a product.

The testing includes redemption prizes as well as the machines and Instance are specialists in Amusement, Redemption and Vending, all of which is key to maximizing income from coin-operated machines.

Sega Amusements International Prize Division The Tokio Technology range is successful in bridging the gap between the low and high value ticket items on redemption. The Tokio Tablet Plus is doing very well, so the upcoming, re-branded and brightly packaged products including the Tokio Phablet Smartphone and Tokio RC Range of micro radio-controlled toys, including a Mini Drone & Spy tank amongst others, would give operators an alternative option.

These could work well alongside other items currently available, such as the Hello Kitty Sequin Bags, which continue to shine and look great on display in Prize counters.

www. holidayparksmanagement.com www. holidayparksmanagement.com

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Email: sales@jnc-sales.co.uk

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BANDAI NAMCO:

the one stop shop for holiday parks History: BANDAI NAMCO is one of the biggest amusement machine companies in the world and the creator of the legendary PAC-MAN character.

In 1955 Masaya Nakamura was operating children’s rides on the roof of a department store in Yokohama. The Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company, as it was then called, formed the acronym "NAMCO”. It grew into a huge multinational game developer and was merged with toy and video game giant Bandai in 2005 to create BANDAI NAMCO. As well as PAC-MAN, which is believed to be the most popular and widely recognised video game of all time, NAMCO has created many legendary arcade titles over the years, such as Galaga, Tekken, Time Crisis and more Star Wars Battle Pod. We also distribute some of the strongest titles in the coinoperated games market at this time such as Jurassic Park from Raw Thrills.

Diversity:

photo machines and ticket redemption games.

Many of the titles on offer have strong character licenses that appeal to a wide demographic of players, including Crossy Road ticket redemption (based on the app game kids know and love), Star Wars, Jurassic Park and MotoGP, as well as our own PACMAN branded range of games.

In short there is something suitable for all locations to boost their revenue from coin operated products.

Support & Peripheral Products: We hold a full range of spare parts and offer comprehensive after sales support from our team in-house technical staff who have a wealth of knowledge.

Our range of redemption-related products include a stock management system and redemption ticket eaters, as well as a range of high quality tickets which can be branded to the individual location.

Prizes:

BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Europe Ltd is involved in all levels of the amusement arcade business from the design and development of the machines to the running and operation of locations, servicing and spare parts and even the supply of prizes for redemption and cranes.

Therefore, the company is able to tailor its offerings to suit all types of sites and operator requirements; from the outright purchasing of products to a turnkey solution where BANDAI NAMCO designs and lays out the locations and then manages them on an income-share basis.

Games: BANDAI NAMCO is a coin operated machines specialist with a massive range of its own titles and a selection of the very best third party machines sourced from all over the world. The range includes products of all shapes and sizes, from small kiddies rides to large scale video game attractions, sports games (air hockey / basketball games etc.)

Our in-house prize division stocks a wide range of products from branded confectionery to electronic products including tablet computers and everything in between.

Our latest range of retail quality licensed plush includes license products from the likes of Shaun the Sheep, DC Comics Heroes such as Superman / Batman, DreamWorks Home and PAC-MAN in various sizes and price points.

Services: BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Europe Services (BNAES) has grown from supplying Kiddie Rides, in Children’s Play Centres and Supermarkets, to perhaps the foremost supplier of amusement games in the whole of the UK.

They are contracted to supply companies embracing a wide spectrum of leisure environments, notably, The Original Bowling Company (incorporating both Hollywood Bowl and AMF Bowling), Tenpin Bowling, Bourne Leisure on Butlins and Haven Holiday Parks, among their prestigious clients together with many independent Family Entertainment Centres, seaside arcades, children’s play centres, Holiday Parks and local authority outlets.

BNAES offer a comprehensive service that can be tailored to your needs.

A nationwide team of dedicated and skilled engineers and collectors ensure that all of our customers’ locations are kept to the very peak in potential earnings.

Combining a progressive approach to machine maintenance, management and strong machine injection levels, BNAES rotate their equipment on a regular basis ensuring optimal levels of income on all types equipment across our locations.

To find out more about any aspect of BANDAI NAMCO’s business and how it can help your location, please contact Tel: 0208 324 6101 or visit http://www.bandainamcoam.co.uk

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EAG the business of entertainment EAG is the pre-eminent UK trade show for the amusement arcade trade. For the last couple of years it has been colocated with the Visitor Attraction Expo at the Excel in London’s Docklands. The show was held in the second week of January this year and visitor numbers appeared to be strong with many exhibitors claiming that there were frenzied periods of stand activity, although as to be expected, it was quieter first thing and on the final day.

Whether you buy your amusement and gaming machine directly from the supplier or use an operator to site them for you, it is useful to know what is on the market.

Here we round up the companies who were present at the EAG and highlight some of the new products available.

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AWP suppliers included: ! 7's Above ! ACE Gaming ! AMG Sales UK ! AMR Amusements ! Astra Games ! Aztec Coin Equipment ! Concept Games ! Crown Leisure / Deith Leisure ! Electrocoin ! ENTNET ! G Squared Games ! Martin Austin Gaming Ltd ! Project Design & Technology ! Reflex Gaming ! RLMS Sales ! Wessex Coin Tony Glanville MD of RLMS: one of the Fruit machines, or AWPs (short for Amusements leading suppliers of AWPs and other With Prizes) are still the mainstay of the UK pub types of equipment and adult gaming centre. The jackpot is £100 and the maximum stake £1. There are a number of UK machine operators who will be able to advise holiday parks on the best performing models of fruit machine, as there are constantly new machines on the market and it is important to find the best one for your business as it can make a considerable difference to the cashbox.

Otherwise, there are distribution companies who will be able to supply fruit machines along with other types of coin-operated equipment.

Jukebox/Music systems: ! Affordable Leisure UK ! NSM Music ! Sound Leisure ! Soundnet At this year’s EAG show, the leading music system suppliers Sound Leisure and NSM showed some interesting innovations. Sound Leisure returned to its roots with a couple of freestanding jukeboxes with beautiful retro styling – The New Yorker and the Rocket combine the classic good looks of Sound Leisure’s nostalgia jukeboxes with the latest digital technology expected by pub retail customers.

“Orders were taken from a good cross-section of the industry from independent operators through to multi-nationals,” says Sound Leisure Managing Director, Chris Black. “Customers understand that freestanding jukeboxes take more money due to their increased presence on site. In addition, contrary to popular belief, they don’t actually take up more space than wall mounted jukebox. In today’s modern venues where screens are in abundance, free-standers are a sure fire way to ensure the jukebox stands out from the crowd – especially when they look this good!”

A deal is done on the Sound Leisure/Soundnet stand

NSM showed its range of wall-mounted digital jukeboxes and also exhibited a new product for the first time called NSM Fog. This is an anti theft device which has nothing to do with music but for a relatively low-cost, it is a system that can pump out a safe, opaque mist within seconds to disorientate a thief, limiting damage and increasing the chance of the thief being caught.

Vending and prizes ! All Nice Things Vending ! Bandai Namco Prize Division ! Interibi ! International Games Trade / Cool Things ! Laiv S.L ! Luca Srl ! Noveltoy ! PMS International ! Sega Prize International ! Syndicate UK ! Vending Sabadell ! Whitehouse Leisure

Vending machines can be a valuable extra source of income for holiday parks and there were a number of companies showing capsule vendors at EAG. Many companies such as Laiv, Luca Srl and Interibi are specialists from the Continent and will be able to supply both the machine and the capsules. There were a number of other companies who specialize in plush (cuddly toys) and other types of prizes which are ideal for cranes or redemption counters. Sega and BANDAI NAMCO will be able to supply both the redemption machines and the prizes and will be able to advise on other aspects of arcade operation. From Minions to DC Comic superheroes – every type of character and licence is covered in this sector.

Cash Handling/Components/ Servicing/Systems ! AstroSystems ! Cummins Allison ! E-Service ! EMBED UK ! GeWeTe ! Hazel Electronics ! Innovative Technology ! JCM Global ! PCS Technology ! Sacoa Playcard System ! Sega Total Solutions ! Semnox Solutions Private ! Suzo Happ Group ! VMA Systems While many of these companies supply coin mechanisms and note acceptors, these are likely to be items that you only get involved with if there is a coin jam! However, some holiday parks are starting to consider machine management systems so that they don’t have to think about dealing with cash in their arcades. Hazel Electronics, Sacoa, EMBED, as well as Sega and BANDAI NAMCO will be able to give you advice about the systems on the market, which often include online reporting and audits from the machines, as well as loyalty systems.

Kiddie rides and outdoor rides ! Jolly Roger (Amusement Rides) ! Kiddy Rides Kupper Automaty ! Berg Toys ! Formula K ! Leisure Engineering ! Recreativo Leon & Expendedora Kalash ! SB Machines ! World of Rides Kiddie Rides are a must for holiday parks. Whether you choose static rides or create an outdoor area for battery operated moving rides, you will create a valuable additional revenue stream as well as keeping children and their parents happy. For something different, try SB Machines for top quality Italian rides. Jolly Roger has a number of rides with interesting educational elements and Kiddy Rides (also known as Northern Leisure) have some excellent licensed rides including Spongebob and Peppa Pig. For moving rides, World of Rides has a great range for different age groups which are perfect for farm attractions and holiday parks (pictured). Formula K have Go Kart style rides and Berg had a number of interesting rides at the show including Go Karts, Wagons and other outdoor play items.

Video and amusements at the show: ! BANDAI NAMCO Europe ! Harry Levy/Crown Leisure cranes, video) ! Elaut Sales ! Electrocoin ! Heighway Pinball ! Instance Automatics ! Jakar ! JNC Sales ! Kalkomat BIS Bac ! Magic Play ! Pheonix Darts ! Pro-Games Company ! Quibica AMF ! SAM Leisure ! Sega Amusements International ! Sipuls ! The United Distributing Company ! VdW International ! Wik ! Zone Leisure Technology Whether you are looking for new or used amusement machines, pool tables, boxer machines, the latest video games or even the latest pinball machine, the copmanies above will have something for every location and budget. Companies such as SAM Leisure specialize in cue sports, JNC Sales have a great range of used machines and leading

suppliers such as Sega and BANDAI NAMCO have most product types under one roof, as well as being the leading video game specialists.

Harry Levy Amusements is the leading supplier of pushers in the UK, while Elaut is also a specialist, based in Belgium.

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Spring offensive

against weeds!

Weeds not only look unsightly and compete with desirable plant species but can break up paving and asphalt, harbour pests, encourage corrosion of metal and rotting of wooden surfaces and, in dry weather become a fire hazard. Some invasive weeds such as Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed can be an environmental hazard and, in the case of Hogweed, cause very unpleasant injuries.

In the leisure industry projecting the right image is essential as, when done well, it allows a company to showcase its facility to the best advantage. This would not be case if weeds flourish unchecked and detract from the surroundings. Controlling weed growth around tree bases, along fence lines, around buildings, mobile home and caravan pitches, play areas, pathways and car parks.

The best time to control weeds is either to kill them as they emerge at the start of the year, or if established when they are actively growing.

Chikara is a pre-emergence herbicide with a high level of residual activity against both annual and perennial broad-leaved weeds.

Applications can be made to natural surfaces and permeable surfaces overlying soil such as grave paths and parking areas. Chikara can also be used in established shrub beds.

When applied before or during early weed emergence, Chikara is absorbed by shoots

Weeds are often defined by landscapers as plants growing where they are not wanted. However, in the never-ending battle against weeds, groundsmen and landscapers have never had such an effective armoury of chemical weed control options as they have today.

and roots and the weeds will be killed with residual activity against further weed emergence lasting up to five months, with anecdotal evidence suggesting even longer.

Where weeds are already established, a glyphosate herbicide such as Trustee Amenity is an ideal choice as with its systemic activity it will enter the aerial parts of the weed and translocate down to the roots to ensure a complete kill of the plant. Glyphosate will kill annual and perennial grasses and most broad-leaved weeds and can be used in a wide range of situations, including tree stump application.

However to kill off established weeds and achieve long term residual benefits against new emerging weeds throughout the year, the combination of Chikara and Trustee Amenity can be tank mixed together and applied as a single spray.

Both Chikara and Trustee Amenity can be used safely in and around public spaces.

For localized weed control, knapsack application is ideal as spray applications can be accurately targeted to specific areas. A wide range of sprayers are available but a recent entry into the market is Evolution, a knapsack that comes with special nozzles that maximize accurate spray application and therefore effective weed control.

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CALL US on 01924 281389 For all your Static Caravan & Lodge Services

oipstaticcaravanservices.co.uk

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Are you Allergen Aware?

Hayley Thompson, Director, North2South Training Consultants

If your holiday park has a shop, restaurant, bar or reception that serves or sells food that has been bought but not already sealed, or is made by yourselves you will need to be aware of the Food Information Regulations 2014.

These regulations apply to all catering and retail businesses that serve or sell loose foods. In order to comply with the new regulations it is essential that everyone who prepares or handles food in any context: ! Is fully aware of the foods that may trigger an allergic reaction and ! Knows what precautions need to be taken to ensure that customers do not buy a food that they are trying to avoid.

The 14 major allergens that you need to be aware of can be found in many different forms in many different foods. They are: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans such as prawns, eggs, fish, molluscs e.g. mussels, lupin, milk, mustard, nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphur dioxide and sulphites are all now classed as food hazards.

Allergens can be spread through crosscontamination and also through the air and all these factors must be considered when preparing food on your park. You will also need to know the difference between a food allergy and food intolerance and celiac disease.

North2South Training Consultants have looked after over one thousand holiday parks across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the last 10 years delivering their training. Hayley Thompson, Director, has run her own family holiday park in the Yorkshire Dales for 18 years and understands the needs and issues that affect holiday parks and their staff, hence why North2South Training was set up to help parks across the country to train staff with the latest legislation.

The CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) Level 2 course was introduced in December 2014 in line with the new regulations. It is a half-day course that covers 3 sections.

Section 1 - Food Allergy and Intolerance In this section we look at the protection of consumer health and wellbeing by safeguarding food from anything that can cause harm. This includes all the practical measures involved in keeping food safe from production to sale or consumption.

We discuss how ‘safe’ food can be contaminated with one of the 14 allergens and cross-contamination, the hazards and risks that can occur and break it down into what is a Food Allergy, symptoms and diagnosis and if it happens – how to deal with an Anaphylaxis shock. Because our trainers also deliver First Aid we can show you how an epipen works and what you and the customer need to do if they have a reaction to one of the allergens.

Food Intolerance is becoming increasingly common and I myself have them, so this is a subject that I know a lot about. We also touch on Lactose intolerance, Coeliac disease and how to communicate to our customers through food labeling and signs and how to do this correctly since the new regulations were brought in.

Section 2 - Practical Allergen Information This section looks at Risk Assessments and what paperwork we now need to complete to make sure all staff and customers are aware of the food we produce and sell and what allergens are in them. It looks at what our staff need to do and know, whether in the kitchen or serving customers. How goods are supplied and delivered and storage, equipment and utensils, cleaning, preparation, airborne particles, service and display and risk reviews.

Section 3 – Communication This to us is the most important factor, as there is no point doing all the things we need to do when preparing, making and putting food on display, if the communication from the kitchen to the staff to the customer is not all in place and correct. We need to know how to communicate allergen information to customers and how to make sure our staff know what is in every item we sell.

We can give you all of the relevant paperwork you need to keep you in line with the regulations and help you provide a better service that runs smoothly from the kitchen to the customer.

For more information please contact hayley@north2southtraining.co.uk Or on 07780703890

We are also involved in catering ourselves, so we are up to speed with all of the food safety and food allergen regulations.

www. holidayparksmanagement.com www. holidayparksmanagement.com

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Holiday Park Wi-Fi Systems Every cloud has a Silver Lining!

Silver Lining Networks specialise in providing Wi-Fi solutions for holiday parks and campsites.

We have a number of Wi-Fi network options available: " Site wide public systems " Social hotspots " Free Equipment*

Simple solutions for technical needs

0333 335 3344 sales@silverliningnetworks.co.uk

www.silverliningnetworks.co.uk * Please contact us for more info on our free equipment and installation

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l mping G BUSINESS

Issue 2 February 2016

Flooding and Insurance How to protect your business Show your best site web design secrets

Spatex makes a splash!

Inspiration and Information for Glamping Operators

DO YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR GLAMPING? PUT THESE DATES IN YOUR DIARY NOW!

THE GLAMPING SHOW 2016 22ND – 24TH SEPTEMBER 2016 NAEC, STONELEIGH PARK, WARWICKSHIRE.

SEE OUTSTANDING PRODUCTS …. LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS….SHARE YOUR DREAMS!

THEGLAMPINGSHOW.COM

WHO SHOULD EXHIBIT?

WHO IS GOING TO ATTEND?

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

" Bell Tents

" Adventure Parks

" Camping Vans

" Architects

" Camping Wagons

" Camping and Caravan Club

Experts will be hosting a full seminar programme on all Glamping related issues. Assisting to increase revenues, service, profit and guests!

" Consultants and Planners

" Camping Sites

" Eco Toilets

" Caravan Club

" Gypsy Caravans

" Caravan Parks

" Landscaping

" Country Houses

" Lighting

" English Heritage

" Log Cabins

" Farmers

" Magazines and Websites

" Festival Operators

" Medieval Tents

" Fisheries

" Outdoor Garden Offices

" Glamping Sites

" Portable Toilets/Washrooms

" Holiday Park Groups

" Safari Tents

" Holiday Parks Independent

" Shepherd Huts

" Hotel Operators

" Solar Energy

" National Parks

" Storage Containers

" National Trusts

" Tipis

" Pre Pitched Tent Operators

" Tree Houses

" Pubs

" Utilities and Accessories

" Theme Parks

" Wigwams

" Visitor Attractions

" Wooden Tent Structures

" Woodland Managers

" Yurts

" Zoos

Contact: Dan Wiseman, Show Manager E: dan.w@theglampingshow.com

Contact Dan for details of how to exhibit: dan.w@theglampingshow.com Follow us on Twitter for more news: @TheGlampingShow

Supported by

Holiday Parks Management

“The Glamping Show is a fantastic idea and the timing is exactly right. HPM is fully behind this fascinating and exciting sector.”

Nina Blanchard, Managing Director

T: 07958 030 785 W: www.theglampingshow.com

Glamping News

Welcome to

l mping G BUSINESS

These are exciting times for the team behind Holiday Parks Management as we prepare to pitch our own independent camp with the next issue of Glamping Business which will be launched as a separate publication in April. There is no doubt that the market is ready for a business title which is dedicated to Glamping in all of its wonderful forms. I have never known an industry as diverse as Glamping. It covers everything from farming, handicrafts, issues, of tourism Who can forgetenvironmental the images thethrough to high end luxury and architecture with thousands of other related accessories and nuances thrown in. Many have tried to define it but to me it is about floods thePeople beginning of different this year? chasing aat dream. dream of many things - for some the ultimate luxury is peace and quiet and the simple life.

For others, from it involves novelty, quirkiness and all of the mod cons. We aim to reflect the wide Villages stranded the rest of the dreamscape of glamping from a business perspective. We will show you what people in the industry are doing, country, being moved how they arelivestock doing it and why it works.

It doesn’tto matter what your dream of glamping involves, if is done well, using quality materials, offering the best possible service it counts.

Steph Glamping Business Editor

Contents 03 09 11 12

Industry news

Minimise the effects of flooding

Website Building and how to get it right

Glamping Pinboard Products and services for the discerning operator

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Photo courtesy of The English Shepherd Huts Co.

Spatex show report

Next issue We bring you the definitive round-up of glamping structures for all kinds of locations and all budgets.

Whether you are looking for all-out luxury, a simple aesthetic or a quirky makeover, there will be something for everyone.

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Glamping News

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First Dedicated Glamping Construction Firm set up in Wales A North Wales businessman has set up a company dedicated to exploiting the boom in glamping in the region.

Gareth Jones, head of the Carbon Zero Group, which specializes in solar panels, believes glamping is ready to take off in North Wales and he has set up a new division of his company to build bell tents and eco domes. He will be offering customers complete packages, including planning, design, construction and even the furnishing.

Gareth, the North Wales President of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “We’re expanding our existing offices in St Asaph and opening a new office in Mochdre to allow us to grow and create new employment opportunities, so it’s an exciting year and we’re looking forward to 2016 and beyond. We still see solar as a big part of our business, with other technologies such as battery storage coming online in the coming months, thanks to the likes of Tesla and its Powerwall.”

“But the biggest part of the growth of the group is the leisure business, and it’s got potential for significant growth. We are the UK’s first dedicated glamping construction company as we will be concentrating solely on building glamping sites. We’re working with existing camping and caravan sites to utilise areas of land that may not be suitable for existing business but would be perfect for glamping pods, and domes, which offer a fantastic return as an investment.”

Chessington add more Safari Tents to their park Chessington World of Adventures Resort has ordered 35 tents from Glamping specialist Boldscan for their brand new “Explorer Glamping” site which opens next May. Situated next to the exciting Wild Asia section, home to the colourful lorikeets, the camp will consist of 31 bespoke kaki Bell tents and 4 safari style Amboseli tents, which blend seamlessly into the landscape. Subtle Asian themed interiors will complete the feeling of being explorers in an unknown land.

Greg Martin, Project Manager, said, “I chose Boldscan for the quality of the product, the ease of dealing with a UK based company and the speed of production.”

Merlin Entertainments, who run Chessington, set up Glamping at another of their sites, Warwick Castle, last season and found it to be very popular. A prototype of one of the tents

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is already in situ at Chessington for guests to view.

Bookings have just opened with prices for a family of four staying 1 night starting at £275. For details visit http://www.chessington.com/glamping/ Boldscan’s products range from traditional Safari style tents to ultramodern Geodesic Domes, plus a Clubhouse to use as shop, bar, tearoom etc, all hand made at the Somerset factory using British canvas. In addition to advising on planning permission, green finance, supplying and fitting out the tents with kitchens, wood burning stoves and even en-suite bathrooms, the company offers an after sales maintenance programme.

Boldscan, has just launched a new range – the innovative and stylish “Etosha” with big picture windows and two deep wooden verandas covered by a canopy, one of which can feature a hot tub.

There are two design options: the Safari

and the Contemporary. The Safari is a subtle sand canvas with green roofs which blends seamlessly into the countryside. In contrast The Continental evokes a cool villa on the Med with elegant white walls, slate blue roofs and can have transparent blue walls surrounding the verandas. The low, one level design has been developed with disabled guests in mind. The T shaped floorplan can be configured to sleep up to eight including a master bedroom, guest bedroom plus cabin beds, with heating provided by a wood burning stove. There is an option to add a wooden pod with a bespoke en-suite bathroom with a roll top bath, deluxe shower and separate proper loo.

Glamping News

Throw our tourism trade a lifeline, minister urged Britain's Secretary of State for tourism has been told that Northern England's visitor industry could suffer "death by drowning" if more attention isn't paid to maintaining the region's waterways.

Henry Wild

The warning was delivered in January

by Lancashire and Cumbria parks operator Henry Wild at a major London tourism conference at which cabinet minister John Whittingdale was among MPs present.

Both Mr Whittingdale and Mr Wild addressed delegates at the annual conference of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association of which Mr Wild is the UK national chairman.

Yorkshire Yurts Open Day Yorkshire Yurts is holding an Open Day at Wharfedale Grange, ideally situated between Leeds and Harrogate.

The event takes place on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th April from 12pm – 4pm. It is free to attend and there is no need to book.

Yorkshire Yurts will be showing its 42ft yurt, 25ft yurt and the 9x15m petal pole marquee they also have a variety of fantastic wedding industry suppliers showcasing their work.

For more details email rosie@yorkshireyurts.co.uk

Held at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, the event drew representatives from many of Britain's 3000-plus park businesses, plus cross-party politicians and UK tourism chiefs.

Mr Wild, whose family business owns Skelwith Fold Caravan Park in Ambleside and Moss Wood Caravan Park near Lancaster, said that the government needed urgently to address the problem of ill-maintained inland waterways.

He said there needed to be a body appointed with clearly defined responsibilities for ensuring that waterways were capable of removing surface water from the land.

The Environment Agency, suggested Mr Wild, was clearly not up to the job and needed to be given new powers and funding to act on behalf of communities and businesses at risk.

Mr Whittingdale, whose portfolio as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport includes responsibilities for tourism, undertook to represent the concerns he had heard to government heads.

He also announced at the conference that prime minister David Cameron was that day in Cumbria to unveil a £3 million fund to speed up flood repairs and promote the county to visitors.

Mr Wild said that recent events in Cumbria and Lancashire had shown the potentially devastating impact that flooding could have on the tourism industry.

In the immediate aftermath of December's deluges, he commented, many of Cumbria's 100-plus caravan and camping parks had reported a fall-off in bookings for 2016.

However, he added, the threat to Cumbria's £2.4 billion tourism industry – which included his own park's 450 caravan and holiday home pitches - now seemed to be receding: "It appears that many holidaymakers have been heeding the message that the county is determined to be back on its feet by spring with repairs made to much of our damaged infrastructure," he said.

The English Shepherds Hut Company has launched its own pop-up glamping venture called “The Englampment”.

Pop-up glamping venture launched

This consists of is high-end bell tent accommodation with kingsized beds, crisp white linens and decorations delivered and set up at venues, weddings and events. "Of course, bell tent hire is already a tried and tested business across the country, but our unique selling point is that we also provide luxuriously high-end flush toilets and hot showers, built into our towable Shepherds Hut bathroom,” says Craig Nield, Founder.

"Also to add a 5-star feel to the experience, we supply fluffy towels, bathrobes, flip flops and even provide a “chill tent” for kids and a brew-tent for refreshments.

It’s a totally bespoke package and so far our soft-launch in Norfolk has received a huge number of enquiries.” www.englampment.co.uk

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Glamping News

£525m Loudoun Leisure and Glamping Application now with Sco!ish Goverment retail units, plus a distillery and 300 residential dwellings. They will now be submitted to the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) in Falkirk for a reporter to examine all of the evidence.

The future of the 600-acre Loudoun Castle estate now lies in the hands of the Scottish Government. A long-running application for 450 holiday lodges and glamping pitches, as well as other leisure facilities has been taken out of the hands of the local authority after they failed to make a decision.

The plans would also include the restoration of the old castle to a hotel, a lake, indoor water park and spa and

Ministers stepped in to take the application out of the hands of the local authority in Kilmarnock “in view of the potential economic benefit of the proposal and the heritage issues related to the A-listed Loudoun Castle and its designed landscape”.

Nick Laister, of the RPS Group, on behalf of Loudoun Woods Homes Ltd, submitted the application, which has been altered and updated several times over the last few years.

At one stage Loudoun was visited by former British Open champion and four-times US Masters runner-up Tom

Weiskopf, when a golf course appeared to be the way forward.

That idea has been dropped, but just eight weeks ago entrepreneur and regeneration specialist Paul Dixon was put in charge of the ambitious project, which now has an estimated £525million price tag.

The scheme, if given the green light, will transform the old theme park, which closed in 2010, into a holiday and leisure destination along the lines of a Center Parcs attraction – with the imposing castle, known as The Windsor of the North in its heyday, as the centrepiece.

It’s anticipated that the project will create 1000 jobs during the construction process, for at least five years, and an additional 2500 long-term jobs.

Multi-Million Pound Treehouse Development Proposed at Robin Hill Country Park Blue Forest is pleased to announce a commisssion to produce the designs for an exciting and imaginative multi-million pound treehouse development.

Aptly called ‘Nesting’, the scheme which comprises of 13 natural treehouses, 11 timber lodges and 40 glamping tents (for seasonal use) is being created at the award-winning attraction, Robin Hill Country Park on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom, which is home to the world-renowned Bestival music festival.

A planning application has recently been submitted by Vectis Ventures Ltd for the scheme.

The iconic design for the treehouses was inspired by nature and is based on the curvy and organic form of a Weaver bird’s nest.

Consideration has been given as to how ‘Nesting’ can fit within the sensitive countryside environment.

Mr Andy Payne , Founder – Blue Forest, said, “Each treehouse will be positioned slightly differently within the woodland, perhaps rotated, sunken down within the valley or lifted up in the surrounding tree canopy. Like a cluster of fruit, the treehouses appear similar but not identical. They have been created to complement each other and will really come into their own when viewed collectively, sitting harmoniously within the landscape”.

To ensure a sensitive design approach, Blue Forest is delighted to have engaged the services of architect’s practice, Tate Harmer, who specialise in sustainable designs that work with nature. By a

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careful selection of natural materials, the lodges and treehouses will blend into their natural surroundings, complemented by a sensitive landscaping scheme.

The proposed treehouses will be clad almost entirely in sustainably sourced, premium grade Cedar shingles, giving an elegant yet natural finish. The combination of these neutral colours and textures has been identified as being particularly effective for helping the structures blend in with their surroundings. The cedar shingles used for part of the wall cladding will weather in a relatively short period of time to a natural silver grey colour.

The development is to be sited in areas of Robin Hill, which are currently unused or in need of regeneration. The proposed accommodation will nestle into the natural landscape of the park, maximising on the most stunning views across the valley and providing unique visitor accommodation. Phase One of ‘Nesting’ is proposed for opening Spring 2018.

Local Planning Authority to ensure that it is a sympathetic development in keeping with the natural environment in which Robin Hill sits.”

Glamping News

The secret bus project launches Holidaymakers looking for a five star, luxurious, unusual and very discreet getaway are in for a treat in 2016 with the launch of The Secret Bus project in Devon.

A double decker bus, transformed to the very highest specifications, will be located in an as yet undisclosed location somewhere deep in the South Hams countryside near the coast.

Warwick Castle creates Knights’ Village with Woodland Lodges

Sleeping seven people, with two double beds, one twin and one single, the bus will have a luxurious full size bathroom and shower, its own kitchen and dining room, lounge, sun terrace and log burner.

Guests will be able to go back in time thanks to a new themed village, created by Warwick Castle, which is creating 28 timber lodges in its 64 acre wooded estate.

The bus will be static in a fixed location for each week, rotating field locations during the Spring, Summer and Autumn. Each site will have a stunning view and be within walking or cycling distance of a beach or estuary.

The attractive lodges will feature Mediaeval-themed light fittings, door handles and crockery, lofty ceilings, wooden beams, stonework and green oak wood-styled exteriors and will open in July 2016.

The Secret Bus will also have an outside shower, a barbecue and pull-out kitchen, electric bikes and a selection of outdoor games such as giant Jenga, badminton, swing ball and croquet.

However, behind the façade, guests will be able to find all mod cons including wet rooms, TV, fridge, coffee maker and central heating!

Prices will start at £203 per two-bedroom woodland lodge per night, including breakfast in the banqueting hall and two days castle entry.

Geoff Spooner, general manager at Warwick Castle, says: “This is a new chapter for Warwick Castle as from July 1, we’ll offer guests year-round lodge-style accommodation to complement the Castle’s two sumptuous Tower Suites, set within the fourteenth century Caesar’s Tower, and our superb seasonal Mediaeval Glamping Village."

He adds: “With the 400th anniversary of the death of Warwickshire’s very own William Shakespeare being marked globally in 2016, Warwick Castle – just twenty minutes from Stratford upon Avon – is the ideal place to stay to discover over 1,100 years of English history.

“We’re also very proud of our links to Capability Brown, who designed parts of the our grounds in the eighteenth century and whose genius will be celebrated nationwide throughout 2016.”

Shepherd Huts wi" su#ain Samlesbury Ha" A 14th Century mansion in Preston, Lancashire has been given the go-ahead to build a new hut hamlet development.

The scheme will see 28 shepherd huts, a tree house and extended play area built on land at the 700-year-old Grade I listed building Samlesbury Hall Trustees of the Hall believe the development is key to raising funds in order to sustain the Hall. “We’re absolutely delighted,” said Sharon Jones, hall director. “We’re hoping to do 10 huts this year and the rest next year, then the tree house the year after.”

She added, “Our main income is weddings and that helps keep the hall maintained but it doesn’t provide enough income for things such as a new roof which we’ll need over the next 15 years.”

The huts and tree house are being made by Kirkham-based Pete Fryer and have been inspired by visits to look at other schemes in the country including glamping at Warwick Castle and a tree house at Alnwick Castle.

The huts will be built on existing golf club course grounds which have become unsustainable. Each solar-powered unit sleeps three people and will include washing facilities. Catering facilities would be provided in the treehouse and in the Hall.

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Flooding and insurance

How can you minimise the effects of flooding on your business?

Flooding is the UK’s most common and widespread natural disaster. Although a fire may seem immediately more fearsome, studies have shown that on average small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are more likely to have their businesses destroyed by a flood than a fire.

It is sensible to support your flood plan with a site plan detailing important aspects of your business premises specifically.

Within this, it is important to consider the following: " isolation points for services, such as gas and electricity, so that you can turn them off " evacuation route(s) avoiding areas that could flood; but make sure the route is accessible for those with disabilities " traffic management plans " assembly points, including a ‘crisis centre’ which may be at an off-site location " location of life-rings

Floods can arise from a number of circumstances and sources. Businesses should consider their susceptibility to inundation from rivers, seas, lakes and reservoirs to name but a few. What steps can be taken to ensure your business has protection measures in place?

Impact a flood can have on a business Businesses rely on consistent income to enable them to function effectively. A large flood may have the capacity to damage a business by rendering any income potential non-existent and damage it’s functionality beyond repair.

Over a third of SMEs do not have a business continuity plan in place in the event of a flood. This could be essential given that 69% of SME revenues have been affected by poor weather in the last 12 months, an increase of 46% on the previous year (based on research carried out by Towergate Insurance on 1,000 SMEs).

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How to protect the property Proper planning is the most essential part of ensuring that the best possible precautions have been considered to protect your business. This can range from simple ideas such as storing valuable items in high up locations to the more complex implementation of flood defences. Whilst the latter could be financially costly in the short term, it could prove vital to an enterprise as upwards of 1.3 million properties since 2013 have reaped the benefit.

The UK government have released a flood plan template for camping and caravan sites. It is important to consider the specifics of your business when using this template as a guideline. For example, keep emergency contacts readily available i.e. plumbers, managing agents and local authorities. In addition, liaising with local emergency services (police and fire service) can give an indication of what their emergency management plans are.

A flood plan template and additional guidance on how to safely recover your business after a flood can be found on the HSE website. This is for not only minimising future risks, but also assessing electrical safety, drying the premises, cleaning up and the hazards associated with such a task. Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk for more details

How to protect individual structures As well as implementing procedures to protect the property as a whole, business owners should also consider precautions to protect individual structures.

Although it may seem a simple notion to situate caravans and glamping structures on higher ground, it could prove invaluable for protecting your business’ assets from a flood. If this is not a possibility, there are other options to consider. Axle stands could raise structures above ground level by approximately 0.5 metres. This would allow for that extra bit of leeway if

Flooding and insurance

inundation from nearby water sources were to impact your site. Floatation devices and anchors could also serve to reduce damage to the structures themselves in such an event.

Insurance considerations A study carried out by Towergate showed that 3 in 5 SMEs are not insured against the elements. It is vital for any business to have a continuity plan in place. Insurance can play an essential part in that plan so make sure you have the correct cover in force. As an addition to indemnifying yourself against material damage to your assets caused by major perils, business owners should give close consideration to implementing Business Interruption (BI) cover. BI cover could serve to ensure that your business continues to function whilst the relevant repair and recovery is being carried out. This is achieved by covering the revenue that would be lost as a direct consequence of an insured peril such as a flood.

When arranging insurance, business owners should consider all eventualities and systematically weigh up what covers would be necessary for their business to carry on functioning should the worst occur. Commercial insurance is designed by insurers as a support for enterprises throughout the highs and lows of trading so make sure you discuss your thoughts and concerns with your broker/underwriter.

Launched in 1997, Towergate is the UK’s largest independently owned insurance intermediary, generating more than £3 billion of pro forma gross written premiums across its companies and employing c. 4,400 people across 100 UK offices.

Towergate is an important distribution channel for a significant range of insurance products and a key strategic partner for the UK’s largest insurers.

Towergate’s scales, customer insight and distribution relationships make it a unique business and a leader in the markets in which it operates. The combination of distribution and underwriting gives it unparalleled consumer data and market insight.

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Website building

Website Building for a Glamping Business You could have the best Glamping site in the world, and yet without the right marketing, it could remain relatively unknown. William Rusbridge explores the ways in which you can make the most of your online presence.

Creating a website for your Glamping site is a great way to get the information out to a larger group of people. And of course, the better your website, the more likely a reader is to become a customer.

Jonathan Knight, owner of Cool Camping, suggests that the more online presence you have, the better, “Like any business, you need a website! Customers make most of their travel purchase decisions by looking online...” By the end of this article, you should have a clearer understanding of the information that needs to be included on your website and how to lay it out attractively. A website can be confusing, if not infuriating, to create but at its heart it is in fact a very simple tool that allows you to pitch your site to potential customers.

Website Content The information on your website needs to be clear and easy to read. Researching other Glamping websites is a good way to find out what works and what doesn’t. If you are not confident in your writing style then a copywriter can be used, Knight suggests, “Possibly, but what’s important here is to really sell all the reasons to come to your particular slice of glamping paradise – but not to exaggerate or over-sell. You need to be honest and clear about what you’re offering, especially the level of luxury customers can expect.”

When thinking about what information to include on your website, it is important to remember that there are certain things that have to be mentioned

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so that the reader has all the information they need to decide whether to make a booking.

Pitches The reader wants to know what kind of accommodation is available, and how many pitches your site offers. A great way of getting around having large sections of descriptive text is to include pictures as well. A picture, or ideally two or three, will give the reader an instant understanding of what you are offering.

It is also worth noting the position of your pitches within the site, as larger groups may want to stay close together.

Who’s welcome This decision is up to you and depends on the type of customer you are looking for. A good example would be to say that you welcome families, couples children and small groups but to maintain a peaceful environment at the site, you do not accept large groups. It is also worth noting whether you accept pets on site, but do not hold back from asking that the pets are well behaved and kept on leads in public areas.

On-site facilities This would include shower blocks, toilets, washing up and laundering facilities and any cooking facilities that are available. There is no need to go into too much detail here, a short list that informs the reader is more than acceptable. It is in this section that the reader will get a better understanding of your site as a whole so if you have large open areas set aside for sports or a children’s playground area make sure to mention it.

Food and drink If your site offers any food or perhaps has a small shop it is important to let the customers know, especially if your site is off the beaten track with no local shops or restaurants. A short description of the services you offer will go a long way, and it is always worth noting the prices. A list of restaurants or local shops is also worth having, especially if you do not offer any

on site. A short list with a small description of each place is ideal here and it is always worth including a phone number or a link to a website so that the customer can get in touch and find out more.

Opening times While your site may not be open all year round, your website will be. It is definitely worth noting the months that you operate so that you don’t get calls from customers trying to book a stay on a date that you are not open.

Prices Making sure that the prices for stays at your site are visible and easily understandable is very important. Listing the different types of accommodation that are available and giving prices per night is a good way to ensure that the reader will have a clear understanding of how much they are going to be paying. It is also worth noting any optional extras that you offer such as fire wood for a campfire or guided hikes.

Things to do Have a number of activities at your site?

That’s great, mention them here. But always be sure to mention a few things to do in the surrounding area. These could be anything from country walks to nearby shopping towns. While the reader may choose to ignore these and explore the surrounding are by themselves, they are easy to include, and may help the reader plan their trip.

Directions While an address may be enough, it is always good to include a set of directions both by road and by public transport.

The directions do not have to be indepth and can be from any local town and for public transport a list of local train or bus stations is always welcome.

Layout The layout of your website is also a very important. A good website should be nice to look and provide all the information needed so that it is easy to locate and

Website building Show checklist

Thanks to www.coolcamping.co.uk for additional information

An example of too much writing.

understand. It is important to avoid large blocks of uninterrupted text as this will often put the reader off. It is far better to have a group of smaller sections of text with appropriate headings. Knight mentions, “The main overview should convey all the main points in a concise way. If that’s enough to get people interested, they will then want to read on in more detail, so have different sections for information about the accommodation, the location, and things to do in the area.”

Pictures are also a great way to not only catch the reader’s eye, but also to easily convey information. While a professional photographer is not required for these pictures, avoiding blurry pictures by using a camera that can take high quality pictures is. When asked about the need for a professional photographer, Cool Camping’s Jonathan Knight says, “It might not be necessary to use a professional photographer as it’s fairly straightforward these days to take decent pictures on most cameras or even some phones. But if you are in any doubt as to your ability as a photographer, then it’s probably wise to get a professional in! Customers will not be tempted to spend hundreds of pounds on a holiday if they can’t see exactly what they are getting first.” It is always good to include a few photos of the site and its surrounding landscape as well as pictures of the accommodation that you offer. This includes pictures of both the outside and the inside of your accommodation.

Remember, a sun-soaked clearing filled with colourful tents is a lot more appealing than a dreary field, blanketed in clouds, so make sure you make the most out of your pictures by taking them on a day with good weather and using the light to your advantage.

A good example a well organised text.

An example of exterior accommodation images

The Next Step The next step is to get your website onto the internet and the best way to do this is to work with a website designer. When asked about web designers, Knight said, “It helps to have an initial meeting early on, as then the writing and pictures can be crafted to the format of the website. It’s also important to have access to the website, to be able to add and amend your own content – so make sure that’s part of your discussion with any web designer. You could also think about doing it yourself, using a website template like squarespace to create your own slick-looking website.”

An example of interior accommodation pictures

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Glamping Pinboard

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We round up some of the interesting and unusual glamping accessories that have come to our attention

Sunshine in a box Perfect for blackouts and emergencies. Ideal for glamping, camping, fishing, and a few hours down the shed. big The Little Red Box is charged via the solar panel, which is er should a in carry to h enoug small but enough to do the job, bag. It has a 10m lead.

The Little Red Box itself, has sockets in it. Some for lights, can (3 included) and some for USB devices (2 of these) so you s phone pads, pods, ng chargi as well as run any USB appliance and tabs etc......

All light cables are 5M in length which means several rooms -cuts, could be lit up at once! Brilliant in black-outs and power The grid. the from away when fishing Ideal for camping or pefect 'must have' for Glampers who want to stay connected and have decent quality lighting at night.

The Little Red Box is the 'Must have' for 2016..... It's a modern day box of candles whilst being very very useful in between emergencies How long does the box last? 1 light = 20 hrs, 3 lights = 7 hrs.

Charge time 4 hrs in bright sun, longer in cloud. info@thesolarshed.co.uk

Beautiful and Functional Fire Sculpture Sculptural Artist Andy Gage at The Firepit Company creates beautiful, sculptured Fireballs, which are spherical firepits. They work very well as Patio Heaters for warming up those chilly evenings or as fantastic garden or glamping sculptures, especially when illuminated with electric lights. Our Fireballs really enhance your outside space in a unique, beautiful and practical way, other uses include unique driveway markers or when incorporating a corporate logo they become great talking points around business premises. Please take a moment to view our

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d r a o b n i P

Modulog

The moduLog is a unique glamping pod or garden office. Each moduLog is made in modular form which allows you to design your own moduLog by adding as many or as few modules as you wish.

ModuLog is very green in its approach as we use home grown timber and locally sourced materials in its construction.

If you want a unique, luxury, ecofriendly, handmade, bespoke pod for glamping, summer house or garden office then the moduLog is it. www.modulog.co.uk

Private Cinema Experience The Sol Cinema is a unique mobile cinema in a caravan powered entirely by the sun. An audience of 8 adults are treated to red carpet, usherette service and popcorn for a unique cinematic experience.

The Sol Cinema has been lavished with pride and style. We # short movies in plush use an LED video projector showing your videos. surroundings. We can also produce wable energy from the We use a solar generator to store rene harness the sunlight, even sun. Our 120W photovoltaic panel don't run out of power. as the movies are being shown, so we www.thesolcinema.org

pictures and see some commissions we have already completed. We can design and make a Fireball to your specification or if you would rather hire one for your event, then please get in touch. andy@thefirepitcompany.co.uk

is hailed a water leisure industry triumph With a staggering 28 per cent year on year increase in visitor numbers (many from the commercial sector) and well over 120 high quality companies exhibiting, the recently held 20th anniversary SPATEX 2016 Exhibition delivered on all fronts and has been lauded an Industry success story.

Widely acknowledged as the best edition to date, for three days the Jaguar Exhibition Hall at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena was a vibrant networking extravaganza, bursting with high tech stands displaying all the latest wet leisure innovations and products. Every sector of the wet leisure Industry was represented in all its glory, from saunas, steam rooms, swimming pools to spas and hot tubs and everything in between. A comprehensive double seminar programme was extremely well attended. Led by a stellar team of Industry experts, the seminars offered visitors a chance to update their professional skill for free and gain valuable CPD points. In fact, the event was nothing short of what you would

expect from the UK’s number one wet leisure Exhibition with an impressive international standing.

Particularly rewarding was the significant increase in commercial visitors, many of these drawn from the hospitality and holiday sector.

“SPATEX 2016 surpassed all our expectations with a constant flow of high quality visitors throughout the duration of the Show,” says exhibitor Cath Saunders from Certikin International, whose comments are typical of those that have flooded into the SPATEX office since the Show closed. “We were particularly pleased to see a large commercial representation, particularly from the holiday park sector. SPATEX is easily the best way of accessing all that the UK wet leisure Industry has to offer.”

Delighted SPATEX Organiser, Michele Bridle says: “We pulled out all the stops to celebrate our 20th anniversary and the Industry handsomely rewarded us with exhibitor space sold out some two months early, but

the visitor numbers exceeded even our expectations. Visitors flocked from both home and abroad, representing a huge cross section of disciplines and facilities - leisure centres, hotels, councils, schools, holiday parks, spas, animal hydrotherapy pools, to name but a few.”

Michele adds: “Far from resting on our laurels, it’s onwards and upwards for SPATEX! This year has proved to be a fantastic platform upon which to build SPATEX 2017, which we are planning to make even bigger and better. Watch this space for news of our landmark 21st.”

Diary Date - Don’t miss SPATEX 2017 Tuesday January 31st to Thursday February 2nd - The Jaguar Exhibition Hall, Ricoh Arena, Coventry CV6 6GE.

DIARY DATE - Don’t miss

SPATEX 2017 - Tuesday January 31st to Thursday February 2nd - The Jaguar Exhibition Hall, Ricoh Arena, Coventry CV6 6GE.

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mping

BUSINESS

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