It’s no secret that the past couple of years have been tough for the park and leisure home industry, and heading into the biggest event of the year in September, we were all keen to see if we could see signs of activity picking up in the marketplace.
The event is the biggest outdoor caravan, motorhome and holiday home show in the UK. In its second year at Harrogate, this is a showcase for NCC approved manufacturers to display their latest models. That means that all the newest and most innovative models built to the NCC’s benchmark standards were out on show, ready to head out to parks ready for the 2025 season. There are literally hundreds of them in addition to park and trade exhibitors. So this event is massive, and with a festival theme, entertainers out on the showground, and an engaging speaker schedule, the organisers indicated early on that both public and trade days were expected to be considerably busier than last year.
That was definitely the case. It was immediately apparent as we headed in on the first day that footfall had increased substantially. This show was always going to be a real litmus test to determine whether the market was showing signs of picking up, and the green shoots of new growth were there, with renewed interest in holiday home ownership and buyers able to act. Of course, a change in government may also have affected consumer behaviour, with many waiting prior to this to see what happened before making major decisions about expenditure. Food for thought, perhaps.
Whatever the reason, there was plenty of positivity all round during the event, and plenty of business being done. It seems that some of the parks which were holding as much stock as they could take were starting to find gaps to fill, and were looking for either the latest models or great deals on manufacturer stock to replenish their available show homes.
Incoming trends
So, what was there to see? We can only touch on some of the highlights here, but they were plentiful. The focus on price point continued, but it’s not only the entry-level holiday homes that were designed to grab attention. We noticed that manufacturers had paid just as keen attention to fine tuning a lodge offering to try and reach a sweet spot delivering luxury at a keen price. So, some manufacturers did particularly well in that category. There were more big-hitting lodges than usual too, with a pretty diverse offering in the super-lodge category – and many of them an outstanding showstopper in their own right.
Harrowgate review…
Breaking news at the show…
There were several exhibitors which stood out for a variety of reasons, such as the Flood Technology group with their elevating units designed to protect units on park prone to flooding, and the breakthrough news that Compass Insurance had pledged to offer full food insurance cover to customers fitting their ground-breaking Flood Adaptive Platforms to their caravan, lodge or holiday home. Prestige Park & Leisure Homes had also been announced as part of the Rix Group, who also own Victory Leisure Homes, pushing the boat out on their stand by bringing the Aura alongside the Tempest which put in a return appearance. Unusual thanks to its gullwing roof design, the Aura was based on Malibu beach design, and was a first for this show.
The Retreat lodge was another exemplary example of pushing boundaries in design and levels of luxury, now with the might of the ABI Group behind this cutting-edge manufacturer. Pathfinder Homes also had some exciting news pending, returning into several original team members’ hands at the end of September, with one of the original co-founders, Mike Wills as Chairman, with son Oscar and longstanding employee Steve Hoare as Managing Directors. There was also a celebration on the DF Capital stand to mark 30 years in the industry for Ian Martin, Managing Director of Leisure. They were near to the Parklife stand which was our biggest yet, busy with readers collecting their free copies. Other memorable stands visually came from AB Sundecks who had a large, raised deck on the stunning ABI Ingleton with a large, walk-in storage bay beneath the higher end, and from Compass Insurance who demonstrated their fire cover by having a replica of a holiday home on fire on their stand!
And more…
We were particularly impressed by the Atlas Debonair accessible holiday home, one of the nicest units we’ve seen in that genre, and their Sherwood was bang-ontrend, too. Europa Caravans’ Redwood sold well at the show and we were also intrigued by Love Holiday Homes’ unit sleeping 10. The Omar Group had a fantastic display with a revamp of the Wessex Classic in a stunning new colour scheme. Regal also launched new models in the form of the Clifton Lodge and Harlington, both with a sophisticated feel, and their flagship home, the Cranleigh Lodge has been overhauled significantly with maximum buyer appeal in mind. Willerby focused on storage in their Rio, giving it 50% more storage space than its predecessor, and their stand truly brought the festival theme to life with colourful visuals.
Pemberton thoroughly impressed us with so many new models and refreshes to look at, and we couldn’t help but think their Arrondale Lodge stood out for character and kerb appeal; an absolute must for buyers to look at! Carnaby also had plenty of new model refreshes to explore, and their brand-new Grantley Lodge incorporated a mini-bar – not the only model to do that as Retreat incorporated a bar into their lodge with hot drinks area adjacent, and we anticipate that more lodges and holiday homes may have these built-in in future. Another innovative model was the Swift Toronto Urban, which had a wonderful vibe and unusual layout in the second bedroom we particularly liked. Victory’s stand was as innovative as ever, and we were particularly impressed with the new Davenport, although the Highcroft Lodge was also one of their stars of the show. They also introduced their Liberte Lodge at a keen price point in BS 3632:2023, so that saw quite a bit of traffic from keen park buyers.
While on the subject of price point, the Pathfinder High View sat in the super lodge genre but at a surprisingly accessible price, and both that and their Keepers Lodge complete with highland cow mural were stunning. They also had a bespoke Stargazer lodge there which showed off their talent for making smaller footprints just as special. The Aspire Menai was another triumph in terms of fire power delivered at a sweet spot financially for park buyers, and unsurprisingly we hear that also sold particularly well. Their big-hitter this year was the Manhattan, with a ‘hanging’ fire as one of the key focal points, although we also loved the external detail.
Aspire were located right at one end of the showground, and just before I left for the last time I managed to capture a shot that may not mean much to those not in the know, but I thought was particularly poignant; two of the many cutting edge designers in the industry both working with manufacturers and part of the drive behind the scenes for excellence; Symeon Gittens from Aspire, and Andrew Chick at Prestige, catching up at the end of the show. It reminded me of the many folks working hard behind the scenes; the marketers, dressers, designers and hard-working team at the show all working hard to put on such a fantastic event. Next year’s dates were not released at the time of writing, but one thing we do know – the designers will already be putting their minds to next year’s offering, and while this year’s show was a huge success, it only gets better and better!
