Phoenix is pleased to announce the sale of Forest Holidays (“the Company”) to Sykes Holiday Cottages (“Sykes”), a company backed by Vitruvian Partners. The sale of Forest Holidays marks the fourth successful exit from Phoenix’s 2016 Fund.
Forest Holidays is the owner and operator of environmentally sensitive cabins set across Britain’s forests. The Company will soon operate around 700 cabins across 12 forest locations in Great Britain, developed under the guiding principles of sustainable woodland use and the preservation of the countryside and biodiversity. To date, Forest Holidays has invested over £100 million into Britain’s forests, increasing recreational use, improving facilities, and creating and maintaining trails.
Since its investment in 2017, Phoenix has worked closely with CEO Bruce McKendrick and his team to develop and implement their growth vision. Significant investment was made in the enhancement of existing locations and in three new locations, in Delamere Forest in Cheshire, Beddgelert and the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, supporting the Company’s goal of creating local employment opportunities in rural areas and promoting sustainable tourism. At the same time, Forest Holidays’ branding, digital marketing capability and technology were all significantly upgraded to support the scaling of the business. The Company grew significantly under Phoenix’s ownership, with EBITDA more than doubling.
Bruce McKendrick, CEO of Forest Holidays, said: “The last five years have been transformative for Forest Holidays, and we could not have found a better partner than Phoenix on this journey. The team truly understood our business and our market, and helped us build strong foundations to ensure long-term sustainable growth that aligns with our mission to offer holidays that are good for people, good for nature and good for the environment. We are thrilled to continue our journey with Sykes, who recognise the unique business we have built at Forest Holidays, and we are looking forward to bringing even more benefits to UK holidaymakers and to benefiting from Sykes’ expertise in technology and marketing.”
David Burns, Managing Partner at Phoenix, said: “Forest Holidays has always stood out as a unique business in the resilient domestic holidays market, and it has been a pleasure to partner with Bruce and his team. We are particularly proud of the team’s work during the pandemic, which enabled the Company to emerge bigger and stronger than ever. Forest Holidays is well-placed to continue growing in the coming years, and we wish the team all the best as they embark on the next part of their journey.”
Ben Johnson, Partner at Vitruvian Partners, added: “Sykes and Forest Holidays are two exceptional businesses that together will become a diversified UK staycation business, offering customers more choice and range of high quality environmentally-friendly places to stay. We look forward to working with the Forest Holidays team to further their growth in the UK, and in combination with Sykes to build an alternative accommodation platform creating exceptional holiday experiences for customers. Vitruvian’s investment style is to back exceptional management teams, and this transformational deal represents the coming together of two such teams.”
