Typical Center Parcs entrance

Center Parcs^[1] is a European network of holiday villages which includes a UK based company which runs holiday villages in Britain and a sister enterprise that operates in numerous locations in continental Europe. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 353 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Beschreibung: de:Center_Parcs, en:Center_Parcs, nl:Center_Parcs, in den Niederlanden: De Eemhof Fotograf: de:Trexer, User:Trexer Aufgenommen: 2006 mit Nikon Coolpix 2200... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 353 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Beschreibung: de:Center_Parcs, en:Center_Parcs, nl:Center_Parcs, in den Niederlanden: De Eemhof Fotograf: de:Trexer, User:Trexer Aufgenommen: 2006 mit Nikon Coolpix 2200... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... A holiday village is a park developed as a holiday resort in which the visitors stay in villas and there is a central area with shops, entertainment and other amenities. ...

Background

A Dutch entrepreneur of Jewish descent, Piet Derksen started a sporting goods store in 1953 at the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam. The name of the outfit was 'Sporthuis Centrum', litterally 'House of Sports - Centre'. The concept was successful, and Derksen expanded into 17 outfits all over the Netherlands. Derksen also decided to add camping articles to the existing range of sporting goods. Piet Derksen (1913 - 24 February 1996) was a Dutch businessman who founded Center Parcs. ... The Lijnbaan is the main shopping street of Rotterdam. ... Nickname: Motto: Sterker door strijd (Stronger through Struggle) Location of Rotterdam Coordinates: , Country Province Government  - Mayor Ivo Opstelten  - Aldermen Jeannette Baljeu Hamit Karakus Orhan Kaya Lucas Bolsius Jantine Kriens Dominic Schrijer Roelf de Boer Leonard Geluk Area [1]  - Total 319 km² (123. ... Car camping is camping in a tent, but nearby the car for easier access and for supply storage. ...

In 1968, Piet Derkensem purchased a plot of woodland near Reuver, to allow staff and customers to relax in small tenthouses. The park, named De Lommerbergen also was successful, to the point that the tents were quickly replaced by bungalows. Beesel is a municipality and a town in the southeastern Netherlands. ... A bungalow is any single story house. ...

Over the years, the concept expanded greatly, and now has 20 resorts in The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany and England. Motto: Je Maintiendrai (Dutch: Ik zal handhaven, English: I Shall Uphold) Anthem: Wilhelmus van Nassouwe Capital Amsterdam1 Largest city Amsterdam Official language(s) Dutch2 Government Parliamentary democracy Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Beatrix  - Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende Independence Eighty Years War   - Declared July 26, 1581   - Recognised January 30, 1648 (by Spain... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Accommodation in Center Parcs is provided in the form of villas or bungalows. These are compact buildings, clustered together in a park and being surrounded by trees and bushes. An exception to this is Park Zandvoort, being set amongst sand dunes. Certain resorts also provide hotel rooms. The Albertian Villa Medici in Fiesole: terraced grounds on a sloping site. ... A bungalow is any single story house. ... Old Executive Office Building, Washington D.C. Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, China In architecture, construction, engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following: Any man-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or continuous occupancy, or An...

The facilities available at Center Parcs vary depending on resort. All locations offer a Subtropical Swimming Pool. A range of sporting activities is available for guests, along with various restaurants. Other activities include spas, saunas, massages and other facilities. For other uses, see Restaurant (disambiguation). ... A day spa is a business establishment which people visit for personal care treatments such as massages and facials. ... For the music festival in Finland, see Sauna Open Air Metal Festival. ... Massage in Tarifa, Spain. ...

Facilities

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise in Elveden Forest, Suffolk, England.

Most Center Parcs are based around a large pool, usually known as the Subtropical Swimming Paradise - in some Parcs this features an outdoor pool, wild water rapids, a "slow river", slides and flumes, a children's pool area, as well as a poolside food venue. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Each centre has several eateries, restaurants and bars, as well as many other sports facilities often in the same building as the main pool. Boating and water sports are available on the lakes usually found alongside the centre and 'holiday village'. Water sport most commonly refers to a sport which is played in the water. ...

UK Ownership

In 2001 during a move to concentrate on their core brewing business, Scottish and Newcastle sold the UK side of Center Parcs to venture capitalists. It was announced on 4 December 2003 that the then owners, Mid Ocean, would sell the UK resorts to Arbor for £285 million. Arbor was a company set up specifically to purchase Center Parcs, and float it on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... A 16th century brewer A 21st century brewer This article concerns the production of alcoholic beverages. ... In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit. ... Scottish & Newcastle is one of the worlds leading brewers, and the largest British brewing company (unless London-based SABMiller, which does very little business in the UK, is counted as British). ... Venture capital is a general term to describe financing for startup and early stage businesses as well as businesses in turn around situations. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Source by Greyworld, in the new LSE building Paternoster Square. ... The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, allowing smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the Main Market. ...

In May 2006 Center Parcs UK Group PLC was sold to The Blackstone Group, an American private investment company. Subsequently Center Parcs was delisted as a PLC and re-registered as a private company, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group. PLC may stand for: Palestinian Legislative Council, law-making body of the Palestinian Authority Parti Libéral du Canada, the term in French for the Liberal Party of Canada Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (or Constitutional Liberal Party), a major political party in Nicaragua Phospholipase C Platoon Leaders Class Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...

During the sale, future growth of Center Parcs was hinted at by the Chief Executive, Martin Dalby. He said that the company might add a fifth village at some time in the future, but was also looking towards organic growth through investment in new facilities at the existing villages. Late in 2004 it was announced that the fifth village would be built near Woburn in Bedfordshire. Planning permission was initially turned down, however Centre Parcs won permission at appeal. ^[2] Following the sale to The Blackstone Group, focus was shifted from growth, to investment in the existing villages. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... St. ... Bedfordshire (abbreviated Beds) is a county in England that forms part of the East of England region. ...

Corporate Ownership

CenterParcs Europe is owned by James Varlow. You will often find him around various Center Parcs storking his granny hands or scurrying around in bushes or shrubbery pretending to find footballs. Often, you will hear him shouting f*** me in the ass and pursue you until you do just that. [1]. Centerparcs Europe[2] and Centerparcs UK only share history, name and logo.

In 2003 Scottish & Newcastle sold the European branch of CenterParcs to a joint venture of Pierre et Vacances (P&V) and DBCP, a German investment group. This joint venture was given the name: CenterParcs Europe (CPE). P&V at that time already owned Europe's largest (in terms of bed-count) bungalow-vacation-supplier; Gran Dorado Resorts, a Dutch-based former joint venture of Vendex[3], Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds, GAK and Philips Rentefonds. P&V brought in Gran Dorado in the joint venture thus creating a company of monstrous proportions. The following problem arises: CPE is seated in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and the Dutch and European Commercial Competition Authority [4] do not approve of combining Gran Dorado and CenterParcs. This company would almost control the entire European market. To ensure that the merging could take place, the authority demanded a lower bed-count. This resulted in the sale of all but six Gran Dorado Resorts to Dutch Landal GreenParks[5]. The remaining six parcs are added to the CenterParcs portfolio. These parcs are: Loohorst (NL), Port Zelande (NL), Zandvoort (NL), Weerterbergen (NL), Hochsauerland (D) and Heilbachsee (D).

After the sale, the Gran Dorado flag still waved at all Gran Dorado Resorts. This remained so until January 1, 2003. By this date, all sold parks were rebranded "Landal" and five of the six remaining parks were rebranded "Sea Spirit from Center Parcs" or "Free Life from Center Parcs." All original Center Parcs resorts in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany were sub-branded "CP Original". The "Weerterbergen"-Resort was sold to "Roompot"[6] in 2002 somewhat at the last moment, because the costs of bringing up this Resort to the new Center Parcs standards would be higher than CPE was willing to invest. Per January 1 2003, Gran Dorado Resorts-Brand was no longer used. Surveys showed that the general public thought Center Parcs was a stronger brand than Gran Dorado. CPE wanted to use only one brand for all parks eventually. Seen in this light, choosing for the sub-brands "Original", "Free Life" and "Sea Spirit" was somewhat strange.

In 2003, Deutsche Bank Capital Partners (DBCP) was bought out of the joint venture by its partner, Pierre & Vacances. The French are now the sole owners of Center Parcs Europe.

The strange sub-branding ended again in 2006 with yet another rebranding. From the 2006 season on, all resorts are branded "Center Parcs". Differences between resorts are now shown in "birds" (similar to the bird in the logo). The more birds, the more facilities guests can expect. Three birds for small resorts, five for large and full-options resorts. At the start of the 2007 season, another amendment was made. The "Bird scale" now only consisted of 4 or 5 birds. Needless to say: this change in rating did not affect any resort facility. Three bird resorts were simply called 4 bird resorts from 2007 on. The strange urge to sub-brand shows its ugly head again: Resorts are now divided in four categories: Active, Premium, Family and EasyGo.

New UK Site

In December 2004, Center Parcs announced that it had identified a location for a fifth UK site, at Warren Wood near Woburn, Bedfordshire. It would be seeking planning permission and had already completed the signing of a lease on the land from its owner, the Duke of Bedford. The project was expected to cost approximately £160 million, including the construction of accommodation, indoor and outdoor facilities, sub-tropical swimming complex, restaurants and a spa. It is anticipated that, given planning permission, the project would take between three and four years to complete. Warren Kenneth Wood (born April 27, 1887, date of death unknown) was an American golfer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. ... Woburn is the name of some places: Woburn, England Woburn, Massachusetts, United States of America Woburn, Toronto, Canada This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Bedfordshire (abbreviated Beds) is a county in England that forms part of the East of England region. ... The titles of Earl or Duke of Bedford were created several times in the peerage of England. ...

Planning permission has now been granted by the British government for this new village to be built.

All resorts

Center Parcs consists of the following 21 resorts.

• In case of the former Gran Dorado Resorts, the 2002 "Added to portfolio"-date stands for the year these resorts were brought into the joint venture. These resorts were not branded Center Parcs until 2003.

Capital Maastricht Queens Commissioner L.J.P.M. (Leon) Frissen Religion (1999) Roman Catholic 80% Protestant 3% Area  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water   2,153 km² (9th) 56 km² Population (2006)  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Density 1,131,938 (6th) 526/km² (4th) Inclusion 1839 Anthem In t Bronsgroen Eikenhout ISO NL-LI Official website... Dalen is a town and a former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands, in the province of Drenthe. ... For the Dutch footballer, see Royston Drenthe. ... Zeewolde ( (help· info)) is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. ... Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. ... De Kempervennen is a Center Parcs holiday village situated in Westerhoven, North Brabant, The Netherlands. ... Westerhoven is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. ... North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant) is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River (Maas) in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west. ... Capital Maastricht Queens Commissioner L.J.P.M. (Leon) Frissen Religion (1999) Roman Catholic 80% Protestant 3% Area  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water   2,153 km² (9th) 56 km² Population (2006)  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Density 1,131,938 (6th) 526/km² (4th) Inclusion 1839 Anthem In t Bronsgroen Eikenhout ISO NL-LI Official website... Capital Maastricht Queens Commissioner L.J.P.M. (Leon) Frissen Religion (1999) Roman Catholic 80% Protestant 3% Area  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water   2,153 km² (9th) 56 km² Population (2006)  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Density 1,131,938 (6th) 526/km² (4th) Inclusion 1839 Anthem In t Bronsgroen Eikenhout ISO NL-LI Official website... South Holland (Dutch Zuid-Holland) is a province of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country on the North Sea coast. ... Zandvoort is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. ... Capital Haarlem Queens Commissioner Mr. ... Peer is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. ... Limburg is the easternmost province of Flanders (which is one of the three regions of Belgium), and is located west of the Meuse river. ... For other uses, see Lommel (disambiguation). ... Limburg is the easternmost province of Flanders (which is one of the three regions of Belgium), and is located west of the Meuse river. ... Gunderath is a municipality in the district of Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... Medebach is a town and a municipality in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... Bispingen is a village in the district of Soltau-Fallingbostel, in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... With an area of 47,618 km and nearly eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the countrys sixteen Bundesl nder (federal states). ... Verneuil-sur-Avre is a town in the département of Eure in southern Normandy. ... Capital Rouen Land area¹ 12,318 km² Regional President Alain Le Vern (PS) (since 1998) Population  - Jan. ... (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Orléans Regional President Michel Sapin (PS) (1998 to 2000, and since 2004) Departments Cher Eure-et-Loir Indre Indre-et-Loire Loir-et-Cher Loiret Arrondissements 20 Cantons 198 Communes 1,842 Statistics Land area1 39,151 km² Population (Ranked 9th)  - January... Coat of arms of Picardy Picardy (French: Picardie) is an historical province of France, in the north of France. ... visitor centre Birch trees in the Sherwood Forest The legendary Major Oak Major Oak in December 2006 View of the Forest looking Northeast Sherwood Forest is a 4. ... Rufford is a village in Lancashire. ... Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ... Elveden Forest makes up a small area of the Thetford Forest Park. ... Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. ... Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... A View of Longleat, Jan Siberechts, 1675 Longleat is a country estate, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire, England and Frome, Somerset, England. ... This article is about the English town. ... Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ... The Whinfell forest is small area of woodland that lies south east of Penrith in Cumbria and just off the A66 Roman road leading to Appleby in Westmorland. ... Statistics Population: 14,756 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: NY515305 Administration District: Eden Shire county: Cumbria Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Cumbria Historic county: Cumberland Services Police force: Cumbria Constabulary Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: North West Post office and telephone... Cumbria (IPA: ), is a shire county in the extreme North West of England. ...

Notes

1. ^ The spelling Center Parcs, the official name, is incorrect in every language. In British English, spelling rules prescribe Centre Parks, in American English Center Parks (see spelling differences), and in French Centre Parcs.
2. ^ BBC article from September 2007 detailing the granting of planning permission

British English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere in the Anglophone world. ... For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... Spelling differences redirects here. ...

External links

• Center Parcs official website
• Aqua Sana, the self-contained spa at Center Parcs