Blackstone ploughing £100bn into UK as buyout giant gambles on staycation boom

It’s a caravan, but not as you know it. The interior of a gold-range Haven mobile chalet resembles an upmarket hotel room and the temperature is cosy thanks to good insulation. This is where hundreds of people will spend Christmas this year, enjoying the holiday firm’s formula for a stress-free family gathering.

All the guests in the holiday park sit down together for Christmas lunch in the on-site restaurant, then enjoy a pantomime performed by the in-house troupe of entertainers, stroll along the beach or go for a nap.

Taking a gamble on the appeal of a Yuletide or summer break in a caravan park is the kind of high-conviction bet on a specialised market favoured by Haven’s owner, the US buy-out firm Blackstone.

The Wall Street giant manages $1.2 trillion (£900 billion) of assets worldwide and has a stock market value of $189billion.

Blackstone plans to invest £100 billion in UK property over the next decade and claims to already be Britain’s largest overseas investor, with a portfolio of data centres, logistics and even railway arches.

The 39 Haven holiday parks were bought in 2021 from the founding families of the business as part of a £3 billion deal that also includes the Warner Hotels business.

Simon Palethorpe was appointed Haven’s chief executive to make the most of what Blackstone has called ‘these exceptional assets’ – the freeholds of the sites were part of the package.

A former president of Carnival UK’s cruises unit, his task was to dispel the sad and tired image of the static caravan staycation. Such has been the reinvention of the brand that some arrive at the parks in a McLaren or similar sports car.

But the offer remains very affordable, Palethorpe insists, with a basic break starting at £49. Though if you want a New England clapboard ‘lodge’ style caravan with surrounding terrace, a four-night Christmas stay for four will set you back £800.

A breeze is blowing off the Thames Estuary as Palethorpe shows me round the various grades of caravan at the park near Rochester on the Kent coast.

The comfort and the cleanliness of the facilities are vital, but so too are the staff.

Blackstone is an investor not only in property but also in its British workforce of 50,000, more than 13,000 of whom are employed at Haven.

Familiar, friendly faces matter, whether you are an occasional visitor or spend most weekends in your own caravan.

Palethorpe said: ‘We take on people for seasonal and permanent roles and give them the opportunity to fulfil their potential and acquire a skill – which they may not have done in education. We train them in jobs like chef, entertainer, gas engineer, lifeguard and serving behind the bar, and allow them to move up.’

Palethorpe is enthusiastic about the life chances that the hospitality sector can provide, especially in the socially deprived coastal areas which are Haven’s base.

But Palethorpe may as well be addressing Rachel Reeves – who spent a week at the Kent park with her children this summer.

The Chancellor paid her own way, ran along the beach in the mornings and pulled a pint at the Wetherspoons pub on the site. By next summer there will be nine Wetherspoons outlets at Haven parks, after a deal struck last year.

Nevertheless, Reeves’ Budget measures on the minimum wage and employers’ National Insurance Contributions could cost the hospitality industry 100,000 jobs, according to the trade body UKHospitality. Sir Tim Martin, Wetherspoons’ outspoken boss, has decried Reeves’ tax grab.

Palethorpe is not openly critical and expansion continues. An £11 million water park will open on the Kent site in spring. Since Blackstone raised £2.9 billion in finance for Haven earlier this year, more projects are on the cards in Kent and at the other parks in Blackpool, Norfolk, the Lake District, Wales and Scotland.

Would Reeves really want to stand in the way of such spending and the regeneration it brings to some of these left-behind locations? Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman has her ear, so perhaps he will lobby the Chancellor on behalf of the hospitality business. Blackstone’s ambitious UK plans were unveiled amid great fanfare during President Trump’s state visit in September.

Schwarzman’s commitment to Britain is illustrated by his ownership of the 350-year-old Conholt Park estate in Wiltshire. His makeover project for his stately pile has riled some neighbours.

But maybe we should be raising a toast to someone happy to invest in our rural and seaside areas.