CENTER Parcs has announced it is to start building a fifth holiday site – in Woburn – for £250million, creating 1,500 new jobs on top of another 1,200 in construction.
Prime Minister David Cameron and the national bosses organisation the CBI have welcomed the announcement made on March 1.
Mr Cameron said: “This expansion and the jobs that it brings will be a real boost to growth and a sign of the increasing investor confidence that there is, too.”
Center Parcs Woburn Forest is expected to open in Spring 2014. Construction will commence in the coming months and will be one of the largest projects of its type in Britain for many years.
The project will be paid for by £100million of investment funds managed by Blackstone, Center Parcs’ owner, and a £150million construction loan from bankers at RBS, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group.
Pre-construction works at the site have been completed and the tender process for the main construction work is well advanced, meaning that construction at Woburn is intended to commence shortly
Center Parcs Woburn Forest will comprise 625 forest lodges, a 75 bed hotel and spa with 12 associated spa suites and two main centres including indoor sports facilities, swimming pool, restaurants and retail outlets. It will also include outdoor sports and leisure facilities and a lake.
Center Parcs has other sites in Cumbria, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Wiltshire.
The move follows a £1billion company refinancing that was concluded on Tuesday, February 28.
John Cridland, the CBI director-general, said: “It is welcome that Center Parcs is building a new site in Bedfordshire. With services making up three-quarters of our economy, it’s vital that we continue to attract and encourage investment into sectors such as leisure, so this is a significant development.
“I have no doubt that this major investment will prove to be a substantial job creator for the area in the coming years.”