Family-owned Merseyside holiday park operator Harrison Leisure Group reports pre-tax loss, against a near £4m profit in the previous year, as the economic climate hits trade. Tony McDonough reports
Southport holiday park operator Harrison Leisure Group has reported a pre-tax loss of £153,401 in its latest annual accounts, down from profits of almost £4m the year before, amid a “challenging” economic climate.
Harrison is a family owned business which operates 10 leisure parks, including Riverside and Brooklyn Holiday Parks in Southport and Abbey Farm in Ormskirk. It has other parks as far afield as Suffolk and Ayrshire and employs almost 200 people.
In its annual accounts for the 12 months to December 31, 2024, just filed on Companies House, the company has reported a fall in revenues from £35m in 2023 to £30.8m.
In the report, director William Harrison said: “2024 has been a challenging year for industry showing an economic downtown.
“The directors and leadership team have had to be agile, adaptable and responsive to the industry, turning to innovative systems and processes to further the organisation’s future-proofing and efficiencies.”
Harrison Holidays, the main part of the group, was established in the 1970s by George Harrison, who started the business with just one caravan. George’s sons George, William and Robert have followed in his footsteps.
Its parks are located in both coastal and rural locations, offering swimming pools, golf courses and adventure playgrounds. Accommodation includes caravans, lodges, cottages, glamping pods – with hot tubs also available.
During 2024 the UK saw a 10% decrease in domestic tourism and a shift towards more overseas travel. This was mainly down to a cost of living crisis with coastal regions, in particular, seeing spending fall by 21% between 2022 and 2024.
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William added: “We operate in a sector which is affected by the economic climate. Therefore, we operate a variety of different income streams in order to minimise the risk of a downturn affecting the whole company.
“After the last recession, we started operating a higher fleet which is held to improve monthly cash flows to help offset the risk of caravan sales declining.
“We also continue to develop new bases at our parks to help increase safety fee income to offset the risk of more owners leaving the site that anticipated.”