CARAVAN park operator Verdant Leisure has bought a sixth site in Scotland and underlined its appetite for more deals.
The private equity-backed company has acquired the Queensberry Bay Holiday Park and Spa on the Dumfries and Galloway coastline from private owners in what is thought to have been a seven figure deal.
The acquisition will allow Verdant to expand a portfolio that includes sites in the Borders and Ayrshire into a new part of Scotland.
Verdant bought the Scoutscroft holiday park at Coldingham in the Borders in February.
Chief executive Graham Hodgson noted the company agreed the Queensberry Bay deal soon after the previous owners won planning permission for a big expansion, to take the site to around 350 pitches from around 150.
He said Verdant has four parks on its acquisition radar as the firms looks to maintain its rapid growth. The potential targets include one in Scotland.
The company is on course to enjoy a record year after feeling the benefit of the hot summer weather.
Holiday sales have increased 17 per cent year on year, with the fall in the pound since the Brexit vote also helping to increase the appeal of staycations.
Sales of caravans have picked up in the wake of the Beast from the East cold snap in March.
Verdant bought Queensberry Bay from John Watson and Joanne Doherty who added facilities such as glamping pods during their 17-year ownership of the site.
The park was founded in the 1970s by a local farmer Jimmy Graham.
Mr Hodgson sold South Lakeland Caravan Parks for £125m in 2007. He formed Verdant in 2010 in the belief it could grow quickly as a consolidator in a fragmented market.
Verdant has nine sites in Scotland and north east England. It has bought five since winning backing from Palatine Private Equity in April 2016.
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