UK holiday park entrepreneur John Morphet has bought the exclusive Royal Westmoreland Resort in Barbados in a deal worth $100m (£55.6m).
The 500-acre site includes an 18-hole championship golf course and boasts 122 luxury homes in a gated community with facilities such as private pools, tennis courts, a gym and a spa.
Properties within the complex range in price from $1-10m (£550,000-£5.5m) and celebrity owners include Ian Woosnam and Virginia Wade.
Morphet – who built his business up from one holiday park in 1988 to 14 pine lodge and caravan parks in the Lake District, Morecombe Bay, North Wales and Spain today – plans to develop more than 100 new luxury homes at the Westmoreland site.
“This is a very exciting development for our business,” he said. “When we came across the Royal Westmoreland we recognised that it had tremendous potential at the prestigious end of the leisure market. We will undoubtedly be looking out for similar quality acquisitions in the future.”
Morphet has bought the estate from Yorkshireman Bill Rooney who developed it in 1994.
Morphet’s core business, South Lakeland Caravans, has seen its profits double in recent years, rising from £4m in 2003 to £8m at the year end in January 2004.
