UK holiday operator, Haven, has acquired its first holiday park in six years following the growth in staycations, and its first since its acquisition by Blackstone last year. Haven has acquired Richmond Holiday Centre in Skegness from its previous family owners, who have provided thousands of families with holidays and holiday home ownership in the area for over 50 years. With Haven’s heritage firmly embedded in family ownership, the business is in a strong position to continue to deliver the holiday experience that guests and owners have enjoyed for decades. This, together with the support of Blackstone, was a key consideration for the previous owners when considering the sale. Situated on the Lincolnshire Coast, Richmond Holiday Centre has over 700 pitches offering accommodation for holidaymakers and holiday homeowners alike. The park has an extensive range of central facilities from pools to restaurants and entertainment venues and is located a short walk from the bustling resort of Skegness. With further investment planned, Haven will look to build on the work of the previous owners together with the learnings taken from improvements made across the Haven portfolio. “We believe the acquisition of Richmond Holiday Centre provides us with a fantastic platform to move into one of the UK’s prime seaside locations for the first time and clearly demonstrates our commitment to the domestic tourism industry,” said Simon Palethorpe, Managing Director of Haven. “We have a proud and rich heritage of embracing and nurturing family businesses over many years and believe we are perfectly placed to take Richmond Holiday Centre forward. With the support of Blackstone, we continue to look for opportunities to expand the business further and are always open to welcoming similar businesses to the growing Haven family in the future.” Mark Williams, representing the family owners, added: “It is always a massive decision to part with a family business such as this as it means so much to so many people – not just us as a family but also our fantastic staff and loyal customers – whether they are holiday home owners or visitors to The Richmond who return year after year. “What has been at the forefront of our minds has been to find the right ‘fit’ in the new owner, one who understands not just the industry, but our Park in particular. We believe we have found that in Haven and that they are ideally placed to take the business forward to the benefit of all involved.” Whilst Richmond Holiday Centre becomes part of the wider Haven business with immediate effect, it will continue to trade under its existing name and website for the 2022 season. The acquisition of Richmond Holiday Centre will take Haven’s number of holiday parks to 41 but with plans to further expand as Bourne Leisure continues to explore other potential holiday locations.

  An ongoing pulse survey monitoring the experience of businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire during the Pandemic has found that respondents are increasingly confident about the future.

Almost 9 in 10 businesses said they were feeling positive when surveyed by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) in the latest wave of its Business Tracker.

The responses from the third survey in the series, which was completed before Christmas, have now been compiled. The LLEP is continuing to monitor the views of business on key issues within the local, national and international economy as Covid restrictions further ease this week.

The LLEP has been tracking the experience of local businesses since December 2020, with the aim of using frontline responses to inform local policy and target support where it is needed most.

Kevin Harris, Chair of the LLEP Board, said latest survey results showed cautious optimism among businesses in Leicester and Leicestershire, but added that external uncertainty meant that recovery remained delicate.

“The message we took from the survey is that business is increasingly confident about the longer-term but faces a disrupted shorter-term which, for some, may mean continuing adaptation,” he said.

“Big themes in the external environment, such as the Pandemic and the ongoing effect of transition from the EU, continue to combine with threats in our employers’ microenvironments, including disrupted supply chains, recruitment gaps and the balance around hybrid working.

“We also need to remember the factors of inflation and cost of living, which have developed since the third survey was completed. All of these are challenges which will have to be managed over the next 12 months.

“That said, it’s encouraging to see businesses continuing to move towards sustainability, digital technology and inclusive working. 

“It’s also encouraging to see how optimistic our employers are about the future, despite the challenges of the last couple of years.”

More than 100 local small and medium-sized businesses, from all sectors and from across city and county, took part in the third wave of surveys attached to the Covid-19 Business Tracker.

Responses are used to monitor local business confidence, identify support needs, examine how SMEs are adapting to enforced change, and provide evidence for future funding bids.

The survey also feeds into the LLEP’s Economic Growth Strategy 2021-30, which plans a decade of regional development based on the four pillars of innovation, inclusion, productivity and sustainability.

Despite the lockdowns experienced last year, courts across the Midlands experienced a surge in the number of fraud cases being heard in 2021. The volume of cases increased by 84 per cent, from 25 in 2020 to 46 in 2021, while the value decreased by just 1 per cent, from £59.8m in 2020 and £59m in 2021. In the East Midlands the number of cases has increased by 67 per cent, while the value of cases has decreased from £23.6m in 2020 to £16m in 2021. Commercial businesses were the most common victim type, accounting for eight of the 20 cases heard in the East Midlands. The majority of these cases were committed by employees or management. Julie Bruce, forensic director at KPMG in the Midlands, said: “As courts across the region continue making their way through a backlog of cases, we’re now starting to see a glimpse of the true picture of fraudulent activity. “The fact that the volume of fraud cases increased yet values dropped, albeit ever so slightly, could suggest that on the surface the trend of committing higher value crimes isn’t as prevalent as it has been in previous years. However, I believe it’s much more likely that this is down to the delay in cases reaching the courts, as challenging economic circumstances almost always serve as encouragement for fraudsters to take advantage. “With household purse strings tightening and concerns over rising energy bills and inflation, we expect to see a spike in fraud cases reaching courts in 2022, and if the pattern we’ve seen so far is anything to go by, we could see a record year for fraud values and volumes. With fraudsters looking for every and any opportunity to strike, businesses and consumers need to stay on high alert and ensure protective measures are in place to help them to do so.” Case studies to reach the region’s courts during this period include a Nottinghamshire-based surgery practice manager who pocketed £200k funds from his employer while claiming that the money was being spent on finding locum doctors.

The national story

The number of alleged fraud cases heard in UK courts in 2021 went up by 66 per cent compared to the same time in 2020. Despite another lengthy COVID-19 lockdown at the start of 2021, UK courts appear to have got back on their feet and made headway with the backlog of cases that built up because of initial COVID-19 measures.

Figures from KPMG UK’s Fraud Barometer released today, found 298 alleged fraud cases were heard during 2021 (up from 180 in 2020). Yet the opposite trend was seen in terms of fraud value: the Fraud Barometer figures, which records alleged fraud cases with a value of £100k and above, saw the total value of fraud reaching UK courts in 2021 fall significantly from £724m in 2020 to £444.7m in 2021.

Whilst cases in UK courts provide an indicator of fraud activity, these cases are small in the context of fraud crime reported to Action Fraud. Between 2020 and 2021 there were 875,622 reports made to Action Fraud with a reported loss value of £2.35bn, pointing out the stark reality that relatively few cases are brought to court.

When analysing the data in more detail, it appears that there weren’t any high value fraud cases over £50m last year, rather it was the lower value crimes that increased in both value and prevalence. Fraud cases worth between £100k and £5m rose from 164 in 2020 with a value of £100.3m, to a total of 285 in 2021 to the value of £178m.

Commenting on the findings, Roy Waligora, partner and head of UK investigations at KPMG, said: “With the introduction of the BEIS White Paper and heightened focus on fraud, I would hope that it has helped tackle the prevalence of high-value fraud. With increased controls, it is only logical that less of these crimes slip through the net.

“In 2020, there was a £200m film piracy case which accounted for 28 per cent of the fraud value reported, hence why there has been such a significant fall in fraud values. With new regulation and heightened awareness of fraud, I hope cases as catastrophic as that one will no longer be seen in the future.

“Another reason for the fall in value could be that more complex cases are still being delayed as a result of the pandemic or are still currently being heard in court, and we will closely monitor for this in next year’s data.”