North Yorkshire’s much loved, family run holiday lodges celebrate 10 years in business this month. We look back on a decade of entrepreneurial vision and some proper hard Yorkshire graft to see how Brompton Lakes became what it is today…
From humble beginnings with only one employee – Kate Richardson working from a Portakabin – with a vision of grandeur, Brompton Lakes has grown significantly over the past decade. Now employing over 30 people at 21 award-winning lodges, we have welcomed over fifty thousand guests over the years.
10 years ago today, Company Director Roy Stephenson, met a friend who was selling some fishing lakes near Brompton on Swale. “What greeted me was a rather sad, run down, overgrown ex quarry site with two fishing lakes. My initial answer was a very clear no, however days later I visited some holiday lodges nearby and this got me thinking…
To cut a long story short I bought the site and work commenced in 2008 and it was quickly evident that the potential was huge. I found a local team to design the lodges on site, from scratch, stating an emphasis on luxury living. Contemporary styling, spacious rooms, high ceilings, big windows and great views were central to this. I also wanted to embody certain eco credentials into the project such as heat pump technology and sedum roofs which we can still see in action today!
The original business plan had been to develop the site and sell the lodges. However the concept quickly changed into a holiday letting model, the only snag being I didn’t know the first thing about running a holiday company! The other thing I knew nothing about was that the world was just about to go into melt-down with the financial crash of 2008. Brilliant timing it wasn’t! However, I carried on and recruited an excellent team covering sales, marketing, housekeeping and maintenance convinced this would work.”
With a customer review rating of 96% and a strong customer base of regular returning guests Brompton Lakes must be doing something right!
10 years later and Brompton Lakes has joined the Holiday at Home Ltd luxury holiday home portfolio. This now includes over 40 unique holiday properties across North Yorkshire. Privately owned by Roy and his family, Charlotte and Will both now work in the business. They also manage properties for other property owners in the Yorkshire area.
When first looking at buying the fisheries all those years ago, it was only a pipe dream that Holiday at Home would exist as it does today. Now it gives us the opportunity to meet so many incredible guests and to work with our passionate owners and their properties. We would like to thank you all for your support over the past decade.
Be part of our story for the next 10 years…