Holiday cottage rental agency Sykes Holiday Cottages is continuing to diversify its offerings by acquiring a controlling stake in U.K.-based Forest Holidays.
Around since the mid-1970s, Forest Holidays connects people with nature via its forest-located accommodations.
Sykes says it shares Forest Holidays’ sustainable tourism approach, which strives to have a positive impact on the planet and local communities while providing memorable experiences to customers. “The combined business will be united by a common purpose to bring further benefits to nature, people and local communities,” Sykes says in a statement.
Forest Holidays occupies 12 forest locations in Britain and has invested more than £100 million in them to increase recreational use, improve facilities and create and maintain trails.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
“As the U.K.’s leading provider of woodland accommodation, Forest Holidays is the perfect complement to our existing holiday cottage rental business, offering our respective customers an unrivalled choice and quality of accommodation across a variety of settings. We’ve been impressed by what [CEO] Bruce McKendrick and his team have achieved and are excited by our common purpose with a focus on environment, local and rural communities at the core of our businesses,” Sykes CEO Graham Donoghue says.
“It’s also a transformative acquisition for Sykes which creates a U.K.-focused multi-brand holiday group with market-leading technology, service and product. Looking ahead, we’re ideally placed to fly the flag for U.K. tourism and showcase the very best our islands have to offer from coast to country.”
The two businesses will be run independently by their existing leadership teams under a newly formed parent company. The combined group will employ more than 1,700 people and is estimated to take more than 2.65 million customers on holiday in 2022.
Previously, Sykes added to its portfolio through acquisitions of North Wales firm Abersoch Quality Homes in August 2021 and Alnmouth holiday cottage company Northumbria Coast & Country Cottages in November of last year. It also acquired Suffolk-based firm Best of Suffolk last summer.