type private limited company industry leisure holiday predecessor cinque ports leisure ltd to january 2007 founded 1984 original co. founder peter bull & jim watson headquarters bexhill on sea east sussex number of locations 26 caravan holiday parks in southern england key people jeffrey sills services operation of holiday home parks revenue 106.6 m 2014 operating income 22.6 m 2014 profit 16.2 m 2014 number of employees 579 average 2012 website www.parkholidays.com park holidays uk operate 26 holiday parks in the south of england and are the largest holiday park operator along the south coast . 1 the company also carries out conservation work in the areas around their parks and have been awarded the david bellamy conservation award for their efforts . 2 park holidays uk are also members of the british holiday and home parks association bh & hpa and the national caravan council in which all of their holiday parks were awarded the approved holiday park by the ncc . 3 contents 1 history 2 holiday parks 2.1 devon 2.2 dorset 2.3 essex 2.4 hampshire 2.5 kent 2.6 suffolk 2.7 sussex 3 characters 4 references 5 external links history edit the company was originally called cinque ports leisure founded by peter bull and jim watson in the mid 1980s . frenchmans beach at rye harbour was the first park to be owned and as the company expanded to include other kent and east sussex parks the name cinque ports leisure was introduced to emphasize the regional base cinque ports being a collection of five kent and east sussex ports . the company significantly expanded in 2001 with the purchase of ten parks from haven holidays which extended the company s presence west into dorset and hampshire and north into essex and suffolk . 4 in total park holidays uk now operates five parks in devon riviera bay landscove waterside dawlish sands golden sands one in dorset sandhills one in hampshire solent breezes five in sussex beauport coghurst hall chichester lakeside winchelsea sands rye harbour holiday park six in kent marlie new beach alberta seaview harts birchington vale four in essex steeple bay oaklands seawick st osyth beach and three in suffolk felixstowe beach suffolk sands broadland sands . in 2006 the business was sold to graphite capital 5 with peter bull continuing his involvement and in 2007 he was awarded the ernst & young london overall & master entrepreneur of the year award . 6 the company changed name to park holidays uk in 2007 reflecting its more national coverage having plans to expand into south devon the following year . 7 in 2008 the company acquired two new holiday parks in dawlish warren devon golden sands holiday park and peppermint holiday park . 8 in 2009 the company was nominated for best uk domestic holiday operator in the british travel awards . 9 in november 2013 park holidays uk was sold by graphite capital to caledonia investments for 172m . 10 the company completed a buy in management buy out which facilitated continued investment and further acquisitions . 11 the purchase of broadland sands holiday park in suffolk was completed in december 2014 . 12 in 2015 park holidays uk purchased two chimneys holiday park a popular 5 star holiday park situated in kent and one of the largest of its kind . upon re opening the park was renamed birchington vale to reflect its location in 100 acres of tranquil north kent countryside . 13 in december 2015 park holidays uk relocated its head office from coghurst hall hastings to glovers house bexhill on sea the first development to be completed in the newly built bexhill enterprise park . 14 holiday parks edit park holidays uk operate 26 parks across seven counties . devon edit golden sands dawlish dawlish sands dawlish warren landscove brixham riviera bay brixham waterside paignton tarka barnstaple dorset edit sandhills christchurch essex edit oaklands nr clacton on sea st osyth beach nr clacton on sea steeple bay nr maldon seawick nr clacton on sea hampshire edit solent breezes nr fareham kent edit alberta nr whitstable harts isle of sheppey marlie new romney new beach dymchurch seaview whitstable birchington vale birchington suffolk edit felixstowe bay felixstowe suffolk sands felixstowe broadland sands lowestoft sussex edit coghurst hall hastings chichester lakeside chichester beauport hastings rye harbour rye winchelsea sands winchelsea characters edit park holidays uk has 3 kids club characters which are loopy rabbit who is the main character cyril the squirrel and penny prickles . these characters can usually be seen around the parks on most days and also make regular appearances at kids club events and entertainment . references edit about park holidays uk . retrieved 14 december 2013 . david bellamy conservation awards national caravan council park holidays uk 2001 haven acquisition reference graphite capital buys in to park holidays uk ersnt & young entrepreneur 2007 award recipients london stock exchange park holidays 2007 re branding reference graphite capital backs further acquisitions by park holidays uk golden sands and peppermint holiday parks british travel awards past winners graphite capital press release akhtar tanzeel 11 november 2013 . interactive investor . interactive investor . shadbolt kara 20 january 2015 . shoosmiths advises park holidays on acquisition broadland sands holiday park . shoosmiths . shoosmiths . popular five star kent caravan park acquired by park holidays park holidays uk has relocated its head office offsite from coghurst hall in hastings to glovers house in the bexhill enterprise park . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title park holidays uk & oldid 743827804 categories leisure companies of the united kingdomtourism in the united kingdom navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent 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