At the end of 2021, Blackstone, the biggest private equity company in the world acquired Bourne Leisure the owner of the UK holiday park operator, Haven.  

As one of Britain’s leading family holiday companies Haven owns and operates 40 award-winning family holiday parks throughout England, Scotland and Wales. They offer a full programme of activities and entertainment alongside being located next to some of Britain’s most beautiful beaches meaning the brightest resorts are a great base for exploring the local area. 

Lucy Greene, Brand Opening & Development Manager, Haven confirms:  “Our goal is to make Haven ‘bigger and better’ for our guests and the recent acquisition by Blackstone will enable investment across many of our sites to achieve this. 

“As well as looking to acquire more parks, we are enhancing our existing resorts, expanding their capacity and adding further facilities for the benefit of our visitors. For example: Wild Duck near Great Yarmouth is unique as it’s our only woodland park.  We’ve recently extended the resort facilities adding more accommodation which can sleep between 4-8 people.  All accommodation includes ensuite, mini kitchen lounge, TV and heating for that special home-from-home staycation.  

“The facilities at Wild Duck are extensive too and include entertainment venue, bar, supermarket, amusement arcade, bike hire, archery, Segway, peddle cart hire, outdoor play and nature trails, all designed for families to make the most of their holiday.  However, with only our own brand fish & chip takeaway on site, our food offering at Wild Duck was limited.  

“We have a long-standing relationship with Papa John’s which has gone from strength to strength over the years, with stores now located on 28 of our popular seaside holiday parks around the UK.  We knew adding a Papa John’s would complement the choice for our guests as freshly cooked hot pizza to share with friends and family is perfect after a long day enjoying all the activities the resort has to offer.  

“In March 2022 we opened our new Papa John’s at Wild Duck.  We put the outlet in the same building as our fish & chip takeaway to provide guests and owners with both takeout options.  The family pizza meal deals now work really well for guests to share, and they can order instore, ‘click and collect’ or have their meal delivered right to their accommodation via e-bikes!   It’s real treat for all the family throughout the season.

“As you would expect from a world-leading brand, the Papa John’s build team have been amazing to work with and the store has only taken around eight weeks to construct from start to finish.  We collaborated with Papa John’s construction manager to realise our plan for both our fish & chip takeaway and the new fresh pizza offering to share the same delivery area.  This meant we didn’t need a new building and ensured completion of the unit was a swift, smooth process.

“The past year has been incredibly busy for Haven as the public have fallen back in love with the Great British seaside holiday.  We put activities, entertainment, and food all in one place to make the staycation experience special.  We now look forward to welcoming returning guests and new holidaymakers to our parks for 2022 across our resorts and with Papa John’s now at Wild Duck as well as many of our other parks, we can ensure their stay is even more special.”

Amit Pancholi, business development director, Papa John’s UK confirms: “We aim to open up in new locations across the UK, so our customers can enjoy Papa John’s where and when suits them.  Often our customers’ first taste of Papa John’s is while they are on holiday.  Therefore, we continue to expand and grow our presence on the high street but also in ‘non-traditional’ locations such as holiday parks, sports stadiums and other leisure venues.  It’s about being where our customers are for their maximum convenience and to add to the fun of any occasion.  

“Haven offers some stunning locations and quality staycation holidays for all the family.  We are currently working with Haven to open further stores at their leading holiday parks.  Papa John’s is proud to be able to add to that experience with fresh pizza for everyone to really make the most of their holiday.”

For further information please see: www.papajohns.co.uk/franchise 

For further information about Haven please see: https://www.haven.com/