Mark Seaton, Cove UK Managing Director
£350M of purchases sees COVE become UK’s fifth largest resort operator
Cove Communities has become the UK’s fifth largest caravan park operator after adding another residential site to their burgeoning portfolio.
The Elms in Lincoln has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by the international resort operator. In total, Cove has purchased more than £350 million of property in the UK over the past two years, including deals for Argyll Holidays in February 2022 and Medmerry Park last August.
Originally a holiday park, The Elms was transformed over five decades into an award-winning residential site for the over 50s by John Kinch and his son, Stuart. The highly desirable 339 home site is spread across 65 acres of beautiful Lincolnshire countryside.
Stuart Kinch, Owner of The Elms, said: “The Elms has been in the Kinch family for 50 years, so who we entrusted to sell the park to was very important. We had a lot of interest, but in the end we decided to sell to Cove Communities because of their outstanding reputation in the industry and the family friendly approach we received from their team.
“We are incredibly proud of our family’s achievements. We are sad to end our time with The Elms Retirement Village, which is a truly outstanding development; we are assured that Cove will continue on with our good work.”
Mark Seaton, Cove UK Managing Director, said: “The Elms is a fantastic site that has been lovingly developed by the owners and team members.
“At Cove, we have a desire to add stunning properties in beautiful locations and this residential site fits that profile. It is a natural fit for our portfolio and will be retained as a residential site.”
Cove UK pledges to source at least 20% of produce locally, build local partnerships, and actively engage in local community initiatives.
Cove UK’s Go Wild outdoor activities and environmental education programme is already flourishing at its other resorts including Seal Bay Resort (formerly Bunn Leisure), Gwel an Mor in Cornwall and the Argyll Holidays parks in Scotland.
Investment in homeowners, holidaymakers and team members is a key priority for Cove UK. Its dedicated training centre, ‘Cove Academy’ has a range of tailored training and development opportunities that enable Cove employees to build fulfilling careers in the leisure industry.
The Cove Academy works with local and regional skills providers and local partnerships to establish effective networks for team development and over 900 training courses were undertaken by Cove U.K. staff in 2021 alone.
Mr Seaton added: “Since entering the UK market we have grown to become the fifth largest resort operator, but we have ambition to grow even further in the coming months and years. We have a commitment to investing in our people and in their communities. Cove is constantly looking for new opportunities to acquire resorts but will only do so if it fits with the quality of our existing parks.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
