Center Parcs has announced it is to start construction on a fifth site at Woburn (Bedfordshire). Center Parcs Woburn Forest will comprise 625 forest lodges, a 75 bed hotel and spa with 12 associated spa suites and two main centres including indoor sports facilities, swimming pool, restaurants and retail outlets. It will also include outdoor sports and leisure facilities and a lake.
Investment funds managed by Blackstone, Center Parcs’ owner, will invest £100m of new cash equity into the business. Four leading UK banks have committed to a construction loan of £150m. The development will inject over £250m into the British economy, and will employ over 1200 contractors during the construction phase. Once opened, Center Parcs Woburn Forest will employ 1500 people on a permanent basis, the majority of whom will come from the local area.
Center Parcs Woburn Forest is expected to open in Spring 2014. Construction will start in the next few months and will be one of the largest projects of its type in Britain for many years. It will complement Center Parcs’ existing four sites at Whinfell Forest (Cumbria), Sherwood Forest (Nottinghamshire), Elveden Forest (Suffolk) and Longleat Forest (Wiltshire).