It is with great excitement that we share with you the first glimpse of our new parent brand, Pritchard Leisure.
In 1989 Mr. John Pritchard and his daughter Caroline entered the holiday park industry, proudly purchasing Sarnfaen Holiday Park in Tal-y-Bont just outside Barmouth. Caroline became the first Park Manager for the new family-run enterprise, together with her husband Robert Gallimore. Soon to join this young and dynamic team was Ms. Debbie Ball, who since her first role as Office Manager for Sarnfaen, has dedicated her career to the development of the company, now leading us forward in this new era as the first General Manager of Pritchard Leisure, with directive support from Caroline our Chief Executive Officer.
Throughout the 90’s Caroline and the team drove the flagship holiday park towards growing success throughout, whilst John applied his sharp wit and entrepreneurial flare to exploration of new opportunities for this prospering family-venture in North Wales, adding four additional holiday parks to the portfolio.
Together with heavy investments and the help of dedicated employees, three of the parks were nurtured into successful operations before being sold on, among them was Ogwen Bank Caravan and Lodge Park in Bethesda, Pant Mawr in Harlech and Parc Caerelwan, one of Sarnfaen’s neighbouring parks in Tal-y-bont. The fourth park John chanced upon was Madryn Castle, part of an esteemed Tudor family’s estate on the Llŷn Peninsula, which had fallen into disrepair before being converted to a Holiday Park in the early 1960’s.
John, originally born to a family of farmers in Lancashire, had a particular soft spot for this hidden gem. In the earlier days, he lived onsite whilst managing the park and could often be found in muddy overalls with a shovel in hand, as he and his team lovingly cultivated parts of the original estate back to its former glory.
The restoration of the original gatehouse in 2011 marked a significant moment for John, and a new era for this unique heritage site. The iconic grade II listed gatehouse, revived with original stone used to build the former estate, still welcomes all visitors and guests of Madryn Castle, just as it did when it was first purposed in the 19th century.
In 2020, three decades after John and his daughter Caroline began their journey into the holiday park industry, Caroline’s own daughter Samantha became the third generation of Pritchard to join our family enterprise. Sam, together with her partner Charlie, have brought modern thinking, a conscience deeply rooted in sustainability, and a new wave of energy to the business. Within a year, they set about assisting senior management with the formalisation and restructuring of Pritchard Leisure. Meanwhile, through her hard work and successful career progression, Mrs. Llinos Williams has stepped up as the new Park Manager for Sarnfaen Holiday Park.
So what does this new branding mean for our customers?
Pritchard Leisure is the roof standing upon the pillars of our founding principles, it immortalises the Pritchard family’s vision and hard work, and exemplifies their keen belief in encouraging family values and cherishing the moments that matter most.
Today Pritchard Leisure comprises two exemplary five-star holiday parks in North Wales, Sarnfaen and Madryn Castle. It stands up to the growing number of large park-consortiums that attempt to dominate the industry, and serves all our customers the assurance that our moral values are here to stay, representing the highest quality products at affordable prices, and personalised customer service that is always delivered with a smile. Our commitment to you is what makes our family-run holiday parks stand out from the competition.
Above all else, this marks the start of a new era – and whilst our customers’ holiday and leisure experiences will continue to the same high standards as always, this new change will serve as a platform upon which we will continue to grow and improve the products and services we offer. So, watch this space and join us on our journey.
