Center Parcs UK and Ireland

Beginnings In 1968, Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen purchased woodland near Reuver so that staff and customers of his 17 store sporting goods chain could relax in small tents. The park, De Lommerbergen was successful and tents were quickly replaced by bungalows or chalets. In July 1987, At that time, "Center Parcs" (under that name, with no regional qualifier) was a single global company owning both British and continental European resorts. In 1989 it opened its second village in the UK at Elveden Forest. Center Parcs (including the Sherwood Forest and Elveden Forest villagesScottish and Newcastle sold the UK side of Center Parcs to venture capitalists Deutsche Bank Capital Partners, and it became a separate company known then as Center Parcs UK.The remainder of Center Parcs continued to operate, becoming known as Center Parcs Europe. The two companies have since operated under very similar branding, but are now owned and operated by two distinct companies. (In 2003 S&N sold Center Parcs Europe to a joint venture of France-based Pierre & Vacances (P&V), who already owned the competing Gran Dorado Resorts, and German investment group DBCP, hence completing the divesting of Center Parcs from the restructured S&N.) In December 2003, Mid Ocean agreed to sell the UK resorts to Arbor Ltd for £285 million, a special vehicle set up to float Center Parcs UK on London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market, and in 2005 it moved to the main stock market listing. In May 2006 Center Parcs UK Group PLC was sold to The Blackstone Group for a reported £1.1 billion. In June 2015, it was announced that Blackstone had agreed to sell the company to Canadian-based Brookfield Properties for £2.4bn. At the time Center Parcs UK employed around 7,500 people and received around 2 million guests in 2015. ==Locations==

Center Parcs has short-break holiday villages in five locations in the UK, with a sixth in Ireland which opened in 2019. Each village covers around of woodland, with a standard set of facilities, Elveden Forest re-opened in July 2003 after a major re-design, less susceptible to the potential spread of fire. The most dramatic difference was to the village square which was rebuilt with an open-air Mediterranean theme. The sub-tropical swimming paradise re-opened having survived the blaze; the sauna complex was changed to a Balinese theme, and a new Sports Plaza was opened. Whilst it was closed, the rest of the village was also improved including the refurbishment of the country club and the addition of a spa and new three- and four-bedroom lodges. Elveden Forest has a total of 866 units of accommodation which range from 'Woodland' grade to exclusive villas and include rooms at the Lakeview Hotel. These villas and rooms can accommodate up to 4,216 guests. Villas are located in six different areas with each area mostly including every type of accommodation, but the Ash and Oak areas are predominantly made up of executive and exclusive villas. Ash was extended in 2007 to include new four-bedroom two-storey villas. Longleat Forest The third village opened in 1994. It makes up a large area of Longleat Forest in the county of Wiltshire, England, and is co-located on the site of Longleat Safari Park nearby, approximately east of Frome, Somerset, under 20 miles northwest of Shaftesbury, Dorset and a few miles west of Warminster, Wiltshire. This village has fewer lodges than Elveden Forest and Sherwood Forest due to the steep topography of the site. Whinfell Forest to the Oasis Lakeland Forest Village In 1997, The Rank Organisation started a new company under the name of Oasis Forest Holidays Villages and opened a 'Centre Parcs' style holiday village in Whinfell Forest near Penrith, Cumbria, under the name Oasis Lakeland Holiday Village, which featured commercial restaurants and businesses such as Burger King and a Hard Rock Cafe. Bought by Center Parcs UK in 2001, who removed the commercial ventures, the site was rebranded as Center Parcs Oasis Whinfell Forest, before 'Oasis' was dropped from the name in 2006. In July 2006, Bedfordshire District Council turned down Center Parcs' application for planning approval on the grounds that the project breached policy safeguarding Metropolitan Green Belt land, leading the company to lodge an appeal against the decision later that year. The inspector hearing the appeal recommended that the Council's decision be upheld. In September 2007 the council's decision was overturned by the government as Secretary of State Hazel Blears overruled the inspector's advice. She acknowledged that the scheme breached both local and national policies on safeguarding Green Belt, but argued that "in this particular case, the economic and employment benefits of the proposal, when taken together with the ecological and biodiversity benefits... constitute very special circumstances and are sufficient to clearly outweigh the harm to Green Belt", and granted outline planning permission. In November 2010 Center Parcs gained full approval for the plans of the village including designs of facilities, restaurants, shops and accommodation and in 2012 secured £250 million of investment to build the new resort, to be known as Woburn Forest. Before Center Parcs could start construction, there were a number of planning conditions that had to be satisfied, most notably the improvement of local road junctions to allow smooth access to the Village. They also had to submit a local employment strategy, local purchasing policy and a forest and ecology management plan. This represents final approval of the detailed designs of buildings and landscape as well as local sourcing, employment strategies and green travel plan. The next stage of the project was the construction of a new roundabout, as well as the diversion of the public rights of way that cross the site. It was built by Bowmer + Kirkland and was completed in spring 2014. Longford Forest In a 2008 interview, Martin Dalby, the chief executive of Center Parcs UK, stated that Woburn would be the last village the company constructed in the UK until Sussex and that if a sixth village was considered it would probably be located in Ireland. In September 2015, Center Parcs UK announced its intention to build a new site in County Longford, Ireland. Named Longford Forest, it opened in July 2019. The planning application was submitted to the Scottish Borders Council on 4 July 2025 and was approved in December 2025. The plans were welcomed by the leader of the Scottish Borders Council, the chair of South of Scotland Enterprise and representatives of the Borders' tourism industry, respectively. Cancelled resort locations Sussex Forest Resort In July 2021, the company announced its intention to construct a seventh resort located near Crawley and in the vicinity of Gatwick Airport near the M23 Motorway. These plans were scrapped in February 2023 following local environmental impact reviews but the company still intends to find a suitable alternate site to build their seventh village which would still be placed East from Longleat and South from Woburn. ==Facilities==

Accommodation Each village has a number of different lodge types that range from one- to four-bedroom accommodation for up to 8 people, with Sherwood Forest recently opening 6-bedroom lodges for 12 people. Some larger lodges include their own games room and hot tub. Lodges are usually in small clusters and give a good degree of privacy, whilst allowing for self-catering and communal BBQs. Elveden Forest has no one-bed lodges, but instead includes the Lakeside View Hotel. Amenities Guests are able to book and participate in a wide range of activities at the various villages. • Arrivals lodge – Guests are directed here for check-in from 10 am on their arrival day. • Security lodge – Each village has a security lodge staffed 24 hours a day. Security staff help with directing traffic to the arrivals lodge, identifying all visitors to the village, staffing barriers, and assisting arrivals lodge staff on changeover days. They also staff the emergency phone number given to guests to call in the event of an emergency. • Subtropical Swimming Paradise – The village swimming complex is known as the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and contains a wave pool, slides and chutes, an outdoor slide referred to as the Wild Water Rapids, outdoor pools, a 'lazy river', flumes, a children's pool and food outlets. Rides vary between villages. Since 2012, all locations have expanded their Subtropical Swimming Paradise complexes, involving a funnel slide called Tropical Cyclone, and two children’s splash parks called Venture Harbour and Venture Bay, with Venture Harbour aimed at older children, and Venture Bay directed to younger ones. Longleat, Longford and Woburn also have a slide called Typhoon, however Woburn's is different, as Longleat and Longford's Typhoon is a funnel slide, each containing two small funnels. • The first two expansions had slides manufactured by Proslide, with the remaining four have Van Egdom build the slides. Elveden and Woburn's Tropical Cyclones were Tornado 45s, and Woburn's Typhoon being a Pipeline. Sherwood, Elveden, Longleat and Longford's Tropical Cyclones were Cyclone 50s, and Longleat & Longford’s Typhoons were Crazy Cones. • Village Square/Plaza – The main hub of restaurants and shops as well as other facilities such as Guest Services and the medical centre. • Sports Plaza/Jardin Des Sports – Contains most of the indoor sports facilities such as squash courts, badminton courts, pool and snooker tables, gymnasium, table tennis tables, golf simulators, indoor wall-climbing and an aerobics studio. There is also a themed restaurant, a sportswear shop and a newsagent. • Boathouse – For all water-based activities on the lake including canoeing, fishing, pedalos, windsurfing, mini captains and raft building. • Aqua Sana – The village spa includes various themed rooms as well as a central pool with hot tubs. • Activity Den – The village crèche. • Leisure Bowl and House of Games – A ten-pin bowling alley and coin-operated arcade games. • Country Club – Contains additional restaurant and leisure facilities at some villages. • Shops/Retail – Includes supermarket "ParcMarket", toy shop "JustKids", gift shop "The Store Room", sweet shop "Treats", swimwear equipment shop "Aquatique", the "Aqua Sana Spa Boutique", and clothing retailer Joules. Some shops are owned by Center Parcs, whilst the rest are operated by the Nuance Group. JustKids and The Store Room replaced "Funtastic" and "Natural Elements" respectively in 2012. Starbucks cafés were introduced to all UK villages in 2008. Center Parcs Longford Forest doesn’t have a Starbucks Café respectively. Longford Forest has its own café named the Coffee House. Food and drink More than twenty food and drink options are provided by external chains operated under concession and by internal brands. Transport Nearly all walk or cycle from place to place, with bikes available for hire at all parks. Longleat has a land train as well as everything else. ==Controversies==

In September 2022, Center Parcs made the decision to close all of its UK locations for the funeral of Elizabeth II. This included moving all check-ins scheduled for Monday 19 September to the following day, and asking that all guests already present vacate the site by 10 am and not return until 10 am on Tuesday. The company later partially reversed this decision after widespread ridicule and derision by the UK media and customer complaints. It later clarified that guests may remain on site, but that they would be prevented from leaving their accommodation on the day of the funeral. This statement was later amended, with guests told they'd be able to walk around the sites on that date if they wished. However, guests due to arrive on the Monday were still to be denied access to the site, causing disruption to travel plans for many. ==References==