MP’s vote of confidence in Padstow holiday park

MP Dan Rogerson swapped Parliament for an award-winning holiday park in Padstow this week (29 March) in support of a nationwide tourism initiative.  The North Cornwall MP was at the award-winning Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park, just west of the town, at the start of English Tourism Week.

The event, which runs until 06 April, is designed to put the spotlight on England’s tourism industry, and the huge contribution it makes to sustaining local businesses and employment.

Dan Rogerson toured the beachside park with its second generation owners Patrick and Margaret Langmaid whose family, on Patrick’s side, has owned Mother Ivey’s for over 25 years. It provides 230 luxury caravan holiday homes, both privately owned and available to hire, plus 120 pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes, and a field which opens in summer for campers. Dan Rogerson heard that over 80 percent of the visitors to Mother Ivey’s are regular repeat customers, and another 10 percent are recommended by previous guests. Mother Ivey’s has been praised by botanist David Bellamy for its environmental achievements, and been presented with his prestigious Conservation Award at its top gold level every year since 1999. Dan Rogerson was told that according to recent tourism research, visitors to the park make an annual contribution of over £2.5 million to the regional tourism economy. Almost all of that money, said Patrick Langmaid, is spent locally in enterprises such as shops, cafes, surf schools and visitor attractions, supporting the businesses and the jobs they provide.

The park itself has recently created three apprenticeship posts, and during his visit Mr Rogerson met with Clare Harris from the Cornwall Apprenticeship Agency who is advising on recruitment. He also congratulated Angelika Brezezinska from Wadebridge, who recently accepted an apprenticeship offer from the park, and who will shortly join the housekeeping team. Mr Langmaid said that he was now taking applications for trainees to join the reception and ground maintenance teams on full time apprenticeships. The apprenticeships demonstrated, said Mr Langmaid, that tourism offered jobs with long-term career prospects, and the chance to gain transferable skills and recognised qualifications.

He said that Mother Ivey’s also paid staff the voluntary and independently-set living wage in order to attract the best quality recruits to work at the business.
Mr Langmaid told the MP that last year’s blazing summer had helped put the heat on demand for this year, and that Mother Ivey’s hopes to welcome a record number of holidaymakers in 2014. However, he added, it could have been a very different story if the government’s threat of a 20% VAT “caravan tax” of two years ago had gone ahead, forcing holiday prices upward.

Dan Rogerson, said Mr Langmaid, had played an important part in the vigorous lobbying campaign against the proposal, and which successfully reduced the VAT figure to just five percent.

Mr Langmaid said that the popularity of Cornwall as a holiday destination, and the “stay-cation” trend of recent years, has encouraged him to continue investing in his business. He said he was currently moving ahead on a £2.5 million scheme to develop a small and very high quality “capsule” holiday park in nearby Constantine Bay which would be open year-round. Like Mother Ivey’s, he said, the park would have a special appeal for those wanting to enjoy a traditional, relaxed Cornish holiday in peaceful, natural surroundings. Mr Langmaid said that he was delighted that Dan Rogerson was able to take time out to visit his family’s park, and to learn more about its positive impact on the region.

• Posted: March 29, 2014
• By: Tim Bowerbank
• Categories: Latest News