What are our teams across the country getting up to?
We received some great feedback from our Mid-Year updates across the different business units, and because of that, we thought it would be great to share some more exciting news and general information across different sites as we move into the final quarter of 2022!
Residential Parks – Hazelgrove Residential Park
Welcome to Hazelgrove Residential Park!
Hazelgrove Park is nestled on the beautiful North-East Coast in the picturesque town of Saltburn-by-the-sea. Saltburn itself has successfully maintained its small Victorian town feel by avoiding larger retail outlets and has committed itself to small independent shops and businesses. Hazelgrove Park is a comfortable 5 minutes’ walk to the town centre, beach and train station which is appealing to both future and current residents alike.
From the first home arriving in the snow of 2010, Hazelgrove Park has grown & developed into its own small yet bustling community. Currently we have 161 occupied homes, with a new phase underway, which will push our occupancy to over 200 + homes. New maps & sparkly new signs are being placed on park to update the entrance & road leading to the park. Continuous conditioning of the park is paramount to maintain its flagship reputation.
Due to the popularity of the park and now moving onto the last phase, the demand has been overwhelming. With the current size of the park and its stunning location, word of mouth is one of our best marketing tools.
We have been fully reserved here at Hazelgrove for a while with only 9 reserved plots remaining unoccupied and we look forward to seeing the new homes sited soon. There is a growing waiting list for the eagerly awaited phase 8 which will be released soon. Initial groundwork has started and we look forward to welcoming our first new homes in the Spring/Summer of 2023.
The team have been busy this year! Hazelgrove Park is led by Darren Baxter (Park Manager) ably assisted by Vici Cameron & Louise McCormack.
We have a had very successful 12 months at Hazelgrove Park, meaning we have had 17 new sets of residents arrive so far this year - and with 3 months still remaining we hope to hit the 20 mark.
With our new phase starting this week it is exciting all round, it has created a buzz around the park and sets the stall out for another busy year in 2023! Exciting times ahead!
Marinas & Boat Sales - Hartford Marina
We are excited to announce the continued expansion of Hartford Marina.
Situated on the River Great Ouse in a quiet Cambridgeshire village, Wyton, the marina staff consists of Lucy Zeka (Marina Manager), Chris Bennet (Brokerage), Jacqui Taylor, Ray Morgan & Martin Igoe (Office and Boat sales) and Dainis Sams & Jeff Watson (Marina Estate Assistants).
Over the past five years, Hartford Marina has seen three of its four pontoons installed; Pontoon B, C and D are all now in place and once pontoon A is installed the marina will have around 220 new berths. There is a good mixture of moorings for wide beams, Dutch barges, narrowboats and cruisers. Our pontoons and fingers have been supplied by Walcon Marine and fitted by Irvins Ltd.
All the new berths come with Rolec shoreline hook up, water points and free WiFi via WiFi Sparks.
Within the development, we have also installed a new facility block on the Eastern bank which comprises 7 rooms and 6 wet rooms, which also holds a bath and one with disabled access. To the end of the building is a chemical toilet point. We have added an entrance road into the marina and within the next month we will also be adding a new parking area.
The Marina also has a chandlery and brokerage office on site, fuel stations, free pump out to all berth holders and an independent boat maintenance engineer. We also offer craning via our office for smaller boats which we have started in September 2022 and have installed new electric car points!
Onsite, there is a social club which is run by a committee of berth holders and Greene King bar and restaurant, The Hartford Mill. We play host to Go Paddle which is an independent kayak, SUP and canoe hire company who run weekly group paddles alongside their rentals and larger corporate team building days/evening events.
We hold our own open day and berth holders party each year along with attending boat shows like Crick Boat Show, Waterway Festival and Southampton Boat Show. We regularly advertise with GOBA, Towpath Talks and Fore & Aft to promote what us at Tingdene Marinas can offer over all locations within the group.
The location of Hartford Marina is just outside the busy Cambridgeshire town of Huntingdon, hosting an array of shops and with direct access to London in under an hour’s train ride and to the north via Peterborough. The Marina itself also has a guided bus link just outside that will take you into the city of Cambridge.
Via river you can choose to go down stream towards Bedford or upstream taking you towards the River Cam, River Nene and also out to the wash, with many places to stop for a picturesque pub lunch or picnic along the banks.
To conclude, it has been a very successful development year for Hartford Marina and we are excited to see what 2023 will hold for us!
Holiday Parks - Mablethorpe Chalet Park
Tingdene Mablethorpe Chalet and Caravan Park is located in the seaside town of Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire.
The Park currently consists of 93 caravan bases and 344 cedarwood chalets. It has Cedar Bar & Restaurant, a launderette and two small play areas for children.
The Park is also the home of the Tingdene Holiday Parks Limited – North Area Office for THPL Operations.
The team behind the success of Mablethorpe Chalet Park are as follows:
Jozef Horvath – General Manager
Lynn Benn – Park Services Manager
Amber Whitwham – Administration Supervisor
(After 6 years of service, Amber was promoted to Administration Supervisor in April 2022)Richard Hempshall – Sales/Administration Assistant
Sharon Turner – Receptionist
Michael Jones – Maintenance Supervisor
Jakob Horvath – Maintenance Operative
Susan Davey – Part-Time Maintenance Operative
The Park was built in the 1960’s and was owned by a number of independent operators until Tingdene Parks Ltd purchased the Park and took over ownership on 1st May 2013.
The Park was then run by Tingdene Holiday Parks Ltd from 2014. During Tingdene’s ownership of the Park, there have been a large number of improvements and developments.
The Old Café/Fish and Chip Shop and Toilet Block were demolished, which created an additional 4 x new caravan bases. The old arcade and launderette buildings were both demolished, which created an additional 10 x new caravan bases.
A new launderette was then installed to the Park and the old Tavern Building was re-developed and turned into an amenity complex. The Bar was then re-named the Cedar Bar & Restaurant, which now comprises of a Lounge Bar, Venue Bar and small arcade area. We previously had a small arcade and shop within the same building, however, these amenities are no longer in operation at the Park. Due to an unfortunate incident in 2016, the original Park Reception at the front of the Park was demolished and the old shop building was re-designed to a new modern office.
In 2014, we also introduced a new colour scheme to the chalets on the Park – these were previously canary yellow and Autumn Red Cuprinol. The Company introduced new modern colours and permitted Golden Oak UPVC to be installed to the chalets, giving the Park a much better appearance across the board and a modern feel. Leasehold owners were also permitted wooden deckings, which again, has improved the appearance across the park.
In September 2014, the Park launched Leasehold Agreements for the 344 Chalets on the Park, whereby the chalet owners (who were all on Licence Agreements and could use their chalets 1st March – 31st October each year) had the option to upgrade to a Lease Agreement, which meant the property could then be used 12 months of the year, either as full residential or holiday use. As of today’s date, 239 of the 344 chalets have currently upgraded to a Lease Agreement, meaning 69.5% of all chalets have already upgraded to either a 15, 25 or 50 year lease with the company!
In 2018, due to the growth of the North Parks and following the acquisition of Humberston Fitties, the Mablethorpe Office became an Area Office, and an extension was built to the Reception Building, to facilitate the Humberston Fitties Team.
In terms of future achievements, we are looking to have 100% of all chalet owners upgrade to a Lease Agreement.
Alongside this, we are also looking to promote Lease Extensions to existing Leasehold Owners, who initially took out a shorter lease.
As we have 93 caravan bases on the Park and operate a 20 year life-span for caravans on site, we also promote caravan upgrades and move-ons to available pitches. The Park currently have 9 available caravan bases – the goal is to have full pitch occupancy at all times.
The Park also have planning to start a development to the current Cedar Bar & Restaurant Building, which, in turn, would develop the Shop & Arcade parts of the building (currently unused) and the Venue Bar (currently under-used) and create 7 x new apartments, which can be used for rentals. The Plans would also see the existing bar area and toilet area re-developed to again enhance the building and give a more modern feel.
To date, the Park has currently sold 10 of its 11 stock properties, generating a total sales income value of £226,281.52.
The Park also started 2022 with 17 available caravan plots, of which, 4 have been filled and a further 4 are reserved.
It is safe to say that all of our Tingdene teams have been extremely busy this year, and we can’t wait to see you and celebrate our achievements at the 2022 Tingdene Group Christmas Party!
Thank you to everyone involved for all your hard work!
