Mid-market private equity firm LDC has realised the investment from its 10-year partnership with Derbyshire-headquartered Forest Holidays through a merger with Sykes Holiday Cottages.
Forest Holidays is the owner and operator of environmentally sensitive cabins set across Britain’s forests. Since the mid-1970s, the company has sensitively created cabins under the guiding principles of sustainable woodland use and the preservation of the countryside and biodiversity.
To date, Forest Holidays has invested over £100 million into Britain’s forests, increasing recreational use, improving facilities, and creating and maintaining trails. Forest Holidays has 12 forest locations with many in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park in Scotland and opening later this year in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.
LDC first invested in Forest Holidays in 2012 and has supported the management team to deliver its plan, while continuing to support its sustainability strategy. During LDC’s partnership with the business, the management team has opened five new locations across the UK.
Sykes shares Forest Holidays’ approach to sustainable tourism which strives to have a positive impact on the planet and local communities whilst providing memorable shared experiences for its customers. The combined business will be united by a common purpose to bring further benefits to nature, people and local communities.
Bruce McKendrick, CEO of Forest Holidays, said: “Forest Holidays has always sought to balance social, environmental and economic benefit. The benefits we bring to physical and mental well-being are more important than ever and in Sykes we have found a partner who shares this ethos.
“They also recognise the importance of our long-term partnership with the Forestry Commission and our shared objective to offer holidays that are good for people, good for nature and good for the environment. I’m grateful for LDC’s long-term support and for backing our plans to continue to invest in our locations throughout the pandemic.”
David Bains, partner and head of East Midlands and East of England at LDC, added: “Forest Holidays is a real East Midlands success story. From their head offices in Derbyshire, Bruce and his team have sensitively developed the UK’s leading provider of cabin holiday experiences at some of the nation’s most astounding locations of natural beauty. We’re proud to have played a part supporting their expansion over the last 10 years.”
