Running a caravan site

[ADRIAN_374425509]

My wife and I are thinking of giving our jobs a buying a caravan /camping site and would like any feed back good and bad that any one has found if they have done the same.

thanks for your time

Adrian Heather

 

[jca]

Try looking at www.edwardsandpartners.co.uk to get an idea of some sites on the market and the prices,make sure you are sitting down when you look at those,

regards,John.

 

[Rioja]

There are quite a lot of small sites for sale but they are usually "hobbyist" owners and you need another job to maintain a decent level of income.

You are just as much on call for 5 vans as 50. When you start looking at the bottom line, the cost of emptying chemical disposal tanks, insurance, etc etc is astronomical.

Like the drinking mans dream to own a pub, the reality of owning a caravan site can be pretty awful I would think.

 

[LadyMo]

Why not put your names forward to the Caravan Club to train as wardens.......at least that would give you an insight to the job.

 

[Pamela_374424154]

We are on a seasonal pitch on a site which is on the market. It would be nice if someone like you (who is a caravanner) bought it as the current owners know nothing about vans and see it purely as a business.

 

[Gumbo]

hi

I am pretty sure it can't make economic sense to purchase a small caravan site. OK if you already own a bit of land, but not when having to purchase.

5 vans at say

 

[David.O]

Gumbo

Re your 5 vans @

 

[Gumbo]

Thanks David I have looked at it a couple of times and could never make it stack up,and that's without knowing the true costs involved.

It must be good meeting lots of people and providing a good site for caravanners to stay. We hope to come to Suffolk one day and would look forward to stopping by.

Adrian please don't get the impression I am a smart arse trying to rain on your parade I'm not, and I would be very interested to hear how you get on.

 

[Steve L]

As David has pointed out a small site is more of a hobby than a business and it is very hard work to keep a CL running with a steady flow of customers.

You realy have to already have a plot of ground in your hands to make it work.

I've looked at this project myself several times and have drawn up business plans for submission to various banks and they have all been turned down as too lower profit on the capital investment required and also the other stumbbling block was the need for a long term start up loan that to be repayable would of needed to run for more than ten years, which is the normal term of a business loan.

Perhaps when my rich uncle decides to dispose of the family farm and distribute the assets between the grand children, I might be able to obtain a field and try again.

Not all caravan sites are seeing the upturn of visitors that we hear of in the economic crisis. The one where we have our van on a seasonal pitch is having no increase in casual tourers and even the seasonals are not comming down as much. I expect that coastal sites are fairing better, but again they often have to make a years salary in six months.

I will try to do a site when I have a plot of land to start with and the relevant planning permissions approoved. Once these two monumental obsicales have been surmounted, I can then focus on building a park that will attract visitors and keep them coming back. All this will take a decade to achieve but it just might be worthwhile.

I know of one welsh farm site where the farmer diversified and developed a caravan park for about 100 pitches that has no major facilities other than a toilet block, and he has made a success of his project over many years of hard work. He diversified on the site by allowing a contingent of campers who enjoy hang gliding and micro flight activities to use the field next to the site as a landing strip. He is also very handy for the royal welsh show and during the show he shuts his site to all but campers for the show which again brings a welcome income to him. The farm is still running and again he allows the campers to roam his land and walk where they please.

So a small site can work, but you have to have the cards stacked in your favor and be prepared for a lot of hardwork. Being a very competent builder also helps.

Regards.

Steve L.

 

[David.O]

Thanks David I have looked at it a couple of times and could never make it stack up,and that's without knowing the true costs involved.

It must be good meeting lots of people and providing a good site for caravanners to stay. We hope to come to Suffolk one day and would look forward to stopping by.

Adrian please don't get the impression I am a smart arse trying to rain on your parade I'm not, and I would be very interested to hear how you get on.

Gumbo

Love to see you. We would be glad to chat over how we run our CL.

Its been a great learning curve on how people are so different, to simplify it we see two groups. First we have caravaner's who generally are understanding and cause few problems, then we have those who have a caravan. this group do not seem to give any consideration to anybody else seem to be mostly younger and are the majority of our no shows .

David

 

[RayS]

A really good CL has the potential for 365 x 5 van-nights = 1825. i know of one award-winning adults-only site that gets close to 1500 van-nights/year @

 

[Steve L]

You would need to build a 50 plus pitch site to start making the investment pay off. You would also need to already own the land and have the planning permission.

The planning permission application isn't a hard form to accomplish by a competent draftsman and a reasonably bright person. I've done the paperwork myself on a building plot I sold off with planning permission. But what you do get is "establishment resent" if you don't use the local council "approved" architect. I forgot that bit of boot polishing and lost my case on the first application. Used the architect on the next one for twice the size building and got it passed.

ATB Steve L.

 

[yvonne6]

OUr van is on a seasonal pitch this summer and we feel the owners who also sell new and used vans have become a bit fed up with the caravanning side. They spend more time moving trade in vans, those serviced and waiting for service than anything!From what i see when staying owning a site must be a skoosh! empty the bins have cleaners clean the loos. The owners cut the grass and it has taken until the end of july to cut the hedges dividing the pitches. I would love to own a site and do something that i love. They site was nearly sold off at the beginning of the year but fell through, perhaps thats the problem. Perhaps a new thread should be started - how would you run and organise a site? i'll bet there would be some fantastic ideas.

 

[Steve L]

I am also resident on a seasonal pitch on a mixed site. 80 statics and 40 tourers. The managers(2) and a maintainence man plus a mower driver tend about 30 acres in all.

I often see not a lot going on except on a thursday/friday when a frantic day of mowing ensues, which then leaves all the loose grass cuttings ready for the tourists to trapes into the awning and caravan carpet which no doubt cheese's them off no end. Why they don't mow tuesday and wednesday is beyond me. Well not realy, because those days are the management's days off.

The maintainence chappy doesn't want to be seen or heard from Monday to Wednesday. You might see him on the tractor the rest of the week.

The biggest problem with taking on an existing site is you get this mindset of approach to work already ingrained and it is hard to rock the boat I guess.

I would start a site from scratch for a couple of reasons. The first being that you can set out your game board and rule book from the start and you don't have to try to change twenty years of bad habits or "custom and practice". Secondly buying an already established site is just so expensive. For a decent size site that will just give you and your family a living is going to need half a mill on a business mortgage and that will send you stir crazy trying to get the pitches filled to cover the costs.

I looked at a delapidated site at Newcastle Emlyn a few years ago. It had 12 static vans that were about to become folding campers all on their own. All the out buildings were beyond redemption and would of needed demolishing. The road to the site was only usable in a 4x4 and would of needed 150 yards of proper two lane road putting in. Electric had been disconnected and condemed. So now after paying the

 

[Gumbo]

What would I look for when starting up a site.

1) Area of interest for tourists, and Not remote

2) Views, no good being in the middle of a Council Estate.

3) Private area for me the operator, don't want people knocking the door day & night.

4) Personal Accomodation house/bungalow

5) Low maintenace/ new toilet/shower/electric points etc. Ride on mower that picks up the grass cuttings.

6)Would I be able to cover the Investment, difficult one that. 7)Would I be making an Investment or am I purchasing Job/Lifestyle ???

I think No6 is the the one that really needs careful attention,unless you have a couple of million