BGF invests £11m in Coppergreen

Coppergreen Developments, the owner and operator of Woodland Lakes Lodges, a 54 lodge holiday park in Carlton Miniott near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, has secured a £25m funding package from BGF and HSBC. The investment has been used to support the acquisition of Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort, located near to Dundee, Scotland, as well as 350 acres of adjoining land, Blacklaw Estate. The business plans to develop and expand both holiday sites over the next 12 months and beyond.

BGF is providing £11m of growth capital while HSBC, which has banked the business for around 10 years, has provided an additional £14m debt facility.

This investment takes the total amount provided by BGF to growing small and mid-sized businesses in Britain to more than £1bn. Set up in 2011 to fill a gap in the funding market for SMEs, BGF made its first investment in October 2011 in Southampton-based Benefex. Since then, 155 companies have secured BGF funding.

Sheffield-headquartered Coppergreen focuses on providing high-quality accommodation for long stay or short-break holidays in beautiful surroundings. With access to 13 fishing lakes, Woodland Lakes Lodges offers contemporary waterside lodges with an emphasis on luxury. The business plans to add further lodges to the site by the end of 2018 subject to planning permission.

The funding will also support the addition of 28 lodges at Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort while the Blacklaw Estate land will be developed for outdoor pursuits including mountain bike trails and quad biking. Piperdam boasts self-catered family accommodation, an onsite restaurant, leisure spa facilities and two golf courses and was awarded last week the Hoseasons National Relax and Explore 2016 Diamond Award for Best Lodge Park.

Coppergreen was founded by husband and wife David Copley, CEO and Donna Copley, FD, and Richard Sidi, who will retain a non-executive role going forward. Sam Wall, who has previously worked with the Coppergreen team managing a portfolio of nine parks, will join as Commercial Director. As part of the investment, Non-Executive Chairman Steve Brown, a founding director of Center Parcs UK and a former non-executive director at Forest Holidays will join the board alongside Barry Jackson who led the deal for BGF, supported by Mike Clarke.