Group behind Sykes Holiday Cottages widens loss to almost £75m
The group that includes Sykes Holiday Cottages saw its pre-tax loss widen to almost £75m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed.
Forge Holiday Group, which also includes Forest Holidays, UKCaravans4Hire and Bachcare, has posted a loss of £74.6m for the 12 months to September 30, 2023, compared to a loss of £42.6m in the prior year.
The main activity of Forge Holiday Group is to provide management services to its trading companies as well as arranging finances for acquisition targets.
However, according to newly-filed documents with Companies House, Chester-based Sykes Holiday Cottages saw its own pre-tax profit increase from £20.9m to £26.9m over the same period.
The results also show its revenue increased from £124.6m to £136.5m.
The group is backed by Vitruvian Partners which also counts Travel Counsellors and Trustpilot among its investments.
The private equity firm has previously backed the likes of Just Eat and Skyscanner.
During the year, the average number of people employed by Sykes Holiday Cottages increased from 877 to 981.
For the same financial year, Derbyshire-based Forest Holidays saw its revenue increase from £37.5m to £57.3m while it went from making a pre-tax profit of £4.5m to a loss of £3.4m.
The average number of people Forest Holidays employed also rose from 806 to 898.
Sykes Holiday Cottages formally launched its new parent company, Forge Holiday Group, at the start of May 2023 and is led by its CEO, Graham Donoghue.
In its latest accounts, Sykes Holiday Cottages said its directors are “satisfied with the trading performance and will continue to develop the existing activities of the company”.
In a statement, Forge Holiday Group said it plans to invest over £150m over the next three years developing its portfolio of UK locations and properties, technology platform, customer experiences and owner services.
CEO Graham Donoghue said: “Our long-term vision is to build the largest and most diverse technology-driven, impact-focused provider of UK short-stay holidays, offering an unrivalled experience for customers and value-adding services for property owners.
“Our model – as a centralised group of distinct and highly-differentiated offerings – meanwhile enables us to scale quickly and efficiently whilst serving multiple customer groups and supporting our community stakeholders.
“Despite continuing pressure on consumer spending from the impacts of inflation, the UK short-stay continues to show its resilience, thanks to macro trends in more environmentally conscious travel, more frequent and shorter breaks and the enduring appeal of the UK’s coast, countryside and woodlands.
“Looking ahead, there are some early signals that inflation is easing, which we expect will translate into stronger booking volumes across our divisions.”