Latest news with #luxurycabins
The Sun
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
UK holiday park reveals major £8.1million makeover plans with new holiday cabins and campsite
A HOLIDAY park has revealed major plans for an £8.1million makeover with new cabins in Wales. Forest Holidays is hoping to gain permission to replace 85 caravans and camping pitches at its site in Beddgelert, in Snowdonia National Park. 3 The site plans to add 22 year-round, luxury cabins to its existing 16 cabin development and 85 additional pitches for both touring caravans and camping. In addition, Forest Holidays wants to create a new reception and cafe building. Currently, the site has 25 touring caravan pitches and 85 camping pitches. The proposals are part of a wider plan in collaboration with the Roberts Group - the owners of Cae Du and Cae Canol campsite, also in Beddgelert. Under a separate application, there will be more touring and camping pitches at Cae Du and Cae Canol so the village doesn't lose capacity. Public toilets and better path access for guests are also part of the plans. Back in 2017, the site gained planning consent for 16 cabins and up to 85 touring caravan pitches and camping pitches. Forest Holidays has 13 sites across the UK in woodlands owned by Forestry England, Forestry and Land Scotland, and Natural Resources Wales. The Beddgelert site is the smallest of the Forest Holidays locations and is set in a riverside wooded area. Each cabin currently has a hot tub and guests can enjoy access to the new Elvis Owl Nature Trail - which is ideal for kids as it includes activities to immerse them in nature. This holiday park has Maldives-like overwater bungalows Families can also hire bikes from the site, to explore the local area on wheels. Alternatively, guests can get some R&R with a spa treatment. Prices to stay at the holiday park vary, but can be found from £895 for a week, for a family of four. Beddgelert itself is a picturesque stone-built village, which is the ideal base for exploring Snowdonia National Park. From the village, travellers can head onto the Lôn Gwyrfai path which can be used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The route stretches over four miles to the village of Rhyd Ddu - which is then a good starting point to hike to the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). According to Forest Holidays, since opening in 2018 demand for the 16 cabins at Beddgelert has been high throughout the year. The site also expects annual occupancy levels of the cabins to be 96 per cent, with guests expected to spend £650,000 per annum in the local area as well. A NEW £23million woodland holiday park with lodges, treehouses and play zones is set to open in the UK. Forest Holidays, which submitted the plans for the project, hopes to build 75 timber holiday cabins on 140 acres in a Derbyshire woodland at Farley Moor. If approved, the holiday park would feature a shop, cafe, outdoor play area and 249 parking spaces. The whopping £23million project will be able to host 185 people with cabin sizes varying from one to five beds along with treehouse rooms. Forest Holidays plans to suspend all cabins above the ground on steel pillars to protect the forest floor. The cabins would be a flat-pack design reducing the need for heavy construction equipment. Center Parcs' boss also recently revealed what to expect from its brand new holiday park in the UK. Plus, the lesser-known UK holiday park named the best in the country – with unique all-inclusive stays and free booze.
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Aussie exposes the crucial industry that is on its way out: 'Costs too much'
A carpenter has claimed the trade industry is 'dying out' as more businesses turn to subcontractors because they're less of a hassle and more cost-effective. Josh Alcorn, the owner of a luxury cabin-building business in Wollongong, shared a video last week explaining why 'apprentices are too expensive to hire'. 'People love to talk about the trade shortage, but no one's talking about why,' he said. 'From my experience, there's two big reasons: apprentices are too expensive to hire and young people have other ways of making money these days.' As the owner of a business, Mr Alcorn said there were several disadvantages to hiring apprentice tradies. 'I've crunched the numbers and when you factor in annual leave, TAFE days, sick leave, public holidays, RDOs, rain days - a first-year apprentice ends up costing you the same as what it would to have a subby (subcontractor) for $50 an hour,' he said. 'That doesn't include overheads, insurance, payroll, all that other s***. 'So as a boss, you've got two options. You can either take on an apprentice who doesn't know anything or a subby who's got a car, tools and can work unsupervised. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Josh Alcorn | The Builderpreneur (@its_josh_the_builder) 'From a pure financial perspective, what would you do?' With no financial incentive for business owners to hire apprentices, the size of the next generation of tradies could be drastically smaller. 'Obviously, I did my time as an apprentice and I believe in training the next generation, but I can see why people aren't hiring apprentices like they used to,' Mr Alcorn said. 'Some people will tell you it's because they don't make them like they used to. 'Maybe they're right, but I'm sure there's some young guns out there who won't get a shot because it just costs too much to hire them. 'Until that changes, we'll continue to hear them talk about how the trades are dying.' Data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research showed that while the number of apprentices in Australia was higher than pre-pandemic levels, the figure had steadily declined since the last boom in early 2022. The Apprentices and Trainees 2024: December quarter report stated: 'Trade numbers decreased by 2.9 per cent compared with December 2023, while non-trade numbers fell more significantly by 19.1 per cent.' During campaigning for the federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged an almost $627million boost for the construction industry. The funding was set to cover residential and clean energy sectors and cover about 62,690 apprentices. Albanese's proposed scheme promised to pay apprentices $10,000 in five instalments over the duration of their apprenticeship, in addition to their usual pay. He also promised to raise allowances for apprentices living away from home. 'Right now, a first-year carpentry apprentice earns about two-thirds of the minimum wage,' Albanese said in January. 'Many apprentices have said they could earn more stacking shelves at the supermarket.' However, the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia warned the promise was not enough as it still left other trade sectors in the dark. 'Supporting apprentices in the construction and energy sectors is important, but this measure fails to address the needs of the small businesses in other parts of the economy,' council chief executive Troy Williams said. 'It also lets down employers looking to take on an apprentice. 'Without meaningful support for employers, the pipeline of skilled workers will continue to remain under threat.' The move was part of Albanese's larger promise to build more homes to address critical housing shortages.
