CL Sites

Getting back to the OP's question:

- Location, not just geographical, but a dining pub or 2 in walking distance is a big plus

- Toilet (her indoors insists!)

- No need for a shower (our onboard shower is fine) or kids facilities

- No need for hardstanding (we only caravan when the clock is +1 and over that period are happy to take our chances if it is muddy)

- EHU not essential but a +

- Most owners are friendly - the few that aren't we don't go back.

- Dog friendly - very important!

- Cost is secondary

Well Nellie, I don't know which specific CL you are talking about, but perhaps they have paid off the investment that they made many years ago on the infrastructure and are merely running the CL as a hobby. 

On the other hand, they may simply not be looking in any detail at the true costs in terms of running the CL or the time they invest in it.  Many small businesses (not just CL's) don't carry out a proper cost analysis.

There are clearly a number of CL's that simply run on a 'break-even' basis as a retirement hobby for the owner, but in my opinion, they will decline in number as time passes and in 10-20 years they may not exist.  

I, like many other CL's run Cholsey Grange (in an AONB) on a business-like basis for profit (minus what HMRC take as VAT)..

We have high occupancy, a high level of customer satisfaction and I'll continue to charge £16 which is £13.33 Net of VAT.

It might not suit some, but I think that as customer expectations continue to rise, CL's will have to 'move with the times' and deliver the requirements that the majority of Members expect. 

If you want to see what a small commercial site can charge for delivering a truly premium service take a look at http://www.conciergecamping.co.uk/   This site is now expanding due to customer demand.  This may be extreme, but it shows what some people are prepared to pay.

IMHO a "full fat" CL that charges more than £15-17 is unlikely to get a lot of trade, especially out of high season unless the location is one of those real honeypot destinations. CL's that 'gild the lily' will, I suspect, struggle to get a return on investment. Personally my target price for a CL with EHU would be in the £12-15 range and sub £10 if a basic one offering only a space in a field.

Stayed on a CL with views over the south downs, lovely full facility site, charge now gone from £25 to £27.50/night, and they don't have a problem attracting customers.   Just check their web site Bow Hill Farm, looked at availability and of course its full.  

I would not want to miss out on a CL by setting price limits on myself. I know some don't want to pay and that's their choice but there are CLs in some lovely locations which might cost a bit more but are worth trying.

Are there two points of view? The site owner - who wants to increase profitability, and the visitor - who has any number of idiosyncratic things on his wish list.  

The site owners I know who have gone down the profitability path have broken free from the five van CL / members only straitjacket,  have expanded their business and used their land to better effect. Some now haven a dozen pitches and some have twenty, and those with space and/or unused buildings are making good money from caravan storage as well.

ET

I am sure lots of campsites started out as CL's and a bit like Topsy grew into full sites. However if a site wants to change from being a CL with relatively few, if any, planning obstacles they have to become part of the planning process if they want to expand. For some that might just be a process too far?  From a personal point of view if any CL wants to follow that process good luck to them as it's good to have as much choice as possible. I know many disagree but I do wonder if the current restriction of 5 units is not helping the situation and I would have thought doubling it to ten might encourage more people to open a CL as it would give a greater opportunity for a better income stream?

David

Taking just one example, if you (like most) CL visitors expect the grass on a CL to be kept mown nicely, then the cost of running a decent ride-on mower (taking into account fuel, servicing and 10-year depreciation on a £5K investment) is around £800-£1000 per year. And that's not counting the time taken by the owner to actually mow the CL.

I only want my pitch cut and that could be done with a push mower, anything other boys toys is yours to finance Personally other than my pitch I love to see meadow.

Well Nellie, I don't know which specific CL you are talking about, but perhaps they have paid off the investment that they made many years ago on the infrastructure and are merely running the CL as a hobby.

The site I was talking about is a relatively new one in the list, and the owners are definitely not just running the site as a hobby, nor were they retirees. I would imagine that their idea is that if they keep their price lowish they will attract many more visitors than dearer sites in the area and that these will become regulars to the site. That certainly seemed the case when we were there at the end of September ....the site was full and 3 of those were returnees.

I agree with CY on the price range that we will consider for our stays, and we use CLs a lot, somewhere in the region of 200 nights a year.

Is Bow Hill Farm really full up until the middle of March or are the dates just blanked off? There are a couple of bookings for school holidays next summer, as might be expected but it doesn't look 'that' popular.