# Owning a camp site - money for old rope? Another viewpoint!



## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

There seems to be a number of people on this forum who have absolutely no idea about the costs involved in running a camp site and lately we’ve had comments along the lines of “Rip off sites in abundance down in Cornwall” or “Considering the fact that you are a self contained unit with everything you require onboard, your tyres taking up no more than about two sq ft of land, how on earth they can justify charging anywhere between £20-50 per night, is quite beyond me especially when the facility is nothing more than a field in the middle of nowhere.”

Let’s ignore the silliness of claiming that a motorhome on a site is only taking up two feet of land or that people are daft enough to pay up to £50 just for a field in the middle of nowhere (unbelievable and untrue!) and try to impress on these people a little of what’s involved in running a camp site, or any business for that matter, as some members here are obviously on another planet from me!

So you want to have a camp site. Well first you need some land, not cheap in Britain. Then you need to develop your site and if you want it to be the kind of site that charges £35 a night it will need a swimming pool, probably a club house and bar as well as shower blocks, toilets, reception building etc. etc.

Then you’ll have to build roads, lay in drainage and electricity and plant out lots of trees, bushes etc. Your emplacements could be costly, especially if the land slopes.

Now you’ll need staff, cleaners, gardeners, office staff and so on but the main problem is that no one will know about you, so you’ll need to spend quite a lot of money on advertising, which will be a continuing expense. Your business rates will be scary as will your insurance costs and you’ll spend a fortune on security, fire safety, health and safety training and implementation.

Water rates, rubbish disposal costs, electricity maintenance and regular certification, sewerage and plumbing etc. etc. etc.

Fortunately, we also have a large number of members who do have some idea of what running a business involves but a few of us seem to have no idea whatsoever and think that all you have to do is open a field and sit back and become a millionaire!

I’m sorry to bang on about this but I just thought it time that a few members were taught just a little about what’s involved.


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## flyingpig (Jan 14, 2009)

Sorry Hobbyfan, you are banging on. Not another viewpoint, it's the same one (yours). Just another way of posting the same issue! 

Letting go now, you've worn me down! :roll:


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## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

Yes to do anything in the UK is very costley.... totaly agree with the above comments.... Clive


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

We would love to run a campsite...


I do realise though that dooing so wouldnt allow us to go away at weekends


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## squibnocket (Apr 4, 2009)

I have a friend who owns and runs his own caravan and camping site, which has 160 available pitches and the season runs for just 7 months, And his bill for toilet paper alone...Have a guess?? £3500.00 per season!!


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

flyingpig said:


> Sorry Hobbyfan, you are banging on. Not another viewpoint, it's the same one (yours). Just another way of posting the same issue!
> 
> Letting go now, you've worn me down! :roll:


Well, some good news tonight then! Pity that you seem incapable of rebutting any logical argument and simply resort to insults. :lol:


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
Stayed on a CL,at £15. per night,2 loos,one shower,but, a view you could not buy.The nearest big site was £37.per night,with no view and unsolicited comments from two strangers when asking "Where are you staying?",that the ablution blocks had seen better days.
The CL,when we left last week,were taking bookings for 2012,and 2011,is allready booked solid forMay/August next year,so if they wanted to "Get rich quick",there would be nothing to stop them,so there are "Good" CL owners out there,with a fair mind. We have stayed at another CL 7 miles away from it and paid £10. a very nice site to,so the price is right.
Jented


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

This was being debated in the thread about Free Overnighting in Cornwall and now appears to have taken on a life of its own. I find it slightly amusing that in that other thread this appears:


Hobbyfan said:


> I could write an article on how they can justify it but I won't bore you!


...it looks to me as if this new thread starts with just that article!


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## gnscloz (Oct 4, 2008)

*Re: Owning a camp site - money for old rope? Another viewpoi*



Hobbyfan said:


> There seems to be a number of people on this forum who have absolutely no idea about the costs involved in running a camp site and lately we've had comments along the lines of "Rip off sites in abundance down in Cornwall" or "Considering the fact that you are a self contained unit with everything you require onboard, your tyres taking up no more than about two sq ft of land, how on earth they can justify charging anywhere between £20-50 per night, is quite beyond me especially when the facility is nothing more than a field in the middle of nowhere."
> 
> Let's ignore the silliness of claiming that a motorhome on a site is only taking up two feet of land or that people are daft enough to pay up to £50 just for a field in the middle of nowhere (unbelievable and untrue!) and try to impress on these people a little of what's involved in running a camp site, or any business for that matter, as some members here are obviously on another planet from me!
> 
> ...


i agree totally i often think how does this site make any money?
reg go on lovevly site in leeds, 3 of us 2 dogs 2 nights and you can leave whatever time you like with ehu £30 
mind blowing really


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Fees*

Hi

There are many fees associated with a campsite and Hobbyfan has covered a great number of these. One problem is the amount of damage campers can cause, ranging from a rotten pitch after having a tent on it for two weeks (more grass seed to buy, needs time to stand) to specialist firms that collect waste such as sanitary products.

I am in agreement with you in all honesty.

Russell


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## godfather (May 1, 2005)

In the 6 years we have had our M.H most of our camping has been done in mainland Europe. The sites are cheaper and can be better equipped .
I have only ever paid up front once. In all other cases you just turn up, pitch up and pay when you leave .No one bothering you with "this is your pitch number and be careful of not marking the grass"
In my view the cost of camping pitches are too high in the U.K as they now are the same as some national hotel chains. So for your week end away why bother to camp. Its up to the site owners/ managers to get their business models correct. This may then help to encourage the likes of myself not to take my business elsewhere and so far away.


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
To be fair, the £37.a night sight,is good value,if there are 5/6 of you in the c/van.m/home or tent. It was full,and it is the school holidays,but then the same applies to the £10/£15. sites,even better value for money. Are well,i am now about to take my shoes and socks off,so i can work out how much a night each person costs.LOL.
Ted.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

So what business is cheap to set up and run.

Apart from insurance companies.

They ask you for a lot of money and only give you a piece of paper

Dave p


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> So what business is cheap to set up and run. Apart from insurance companies. They ask you for a lot of money and only give you a piece of paper
> 
> Dave p


Not always, after a very sophisticated break-in at my warehouse my insurance company gave me £125,000. I was damn glad I was insured! 

Insurance companies are a bit like spare wheels. They're an expensive pain in the bum until you really need them!


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## Alicat (May 31, 2010)

Surely normal market forces apply to campsites, or do they?

Well, if campsites were money for old rope then more campsites would appear, competition would increase, and sites would either have to reduce prices or provide more to compete for business. Therefore, logically, market forces should mean that the balance of supply and demand controls prices.

However, perhaps this is not the case. As firstly, you need to be able to identify a piece of land in the right location, and secondly, get planning permission to develop it. Therefore, there is clearly an influence over supply increasing to meet demand. So if demand goes up and you can fill your site you put the price up and money for old rope becomes the norm.

I have stayed on a number of sites over the years and I have to say some of the sites were poor, but there was no competition!

Having just had a squint at a set of accounts for a leisure company I see they make handsome profits year on year for very little investment. The sort of profit margin some industries can only dream of making.


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

What you describe *is* market forces. Supply is constrained, demand is increasing, so prices rise. The land which has planning permission to operate a campsite is more valuable than a greenfield, and this has to be factored into the pricing/business plan (because the owner always has the option of selling their highly prized asset rather than putting up with whingeing campers).

It's exactly the same as the housing market : if you could build anywhere, house prices would be nowhere near as high as they are. But because of the planning laws, there's constrained supply and for a given level of demand that will push prices up.


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Market forces,and an observation from an old gentleman of the Jewish faith."God stopped making land,but is still making people".Words i will never forget.
Ted.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Many .............. MANY years ago after watching Carry on Camping where Peter Butterworth just hung over a five barred gate demanding "A Pound Sir" to each and every addition. I thought I would love to own a campground.

But by the time I was able to put it into practice the economics just didn't add up.
So we now just have a large area of hardstanding for 'Guests' to park their self contained rigs and ask for a donation to cover utilities.

I definitely would not want to invest the large sums needed to create even a reasonable site. Fun but expensive hard work.

Ray.


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

In my view if you want a license to print money, static caravan sites are the way to go : £3000/pitch guaranteed income, units self-contained so no toilet block to be concerned about, stick in a few nice rules like caravans have to be replaced every 10 years and oh yes you can only buy from us (at approx 50% more than manufacturer direct pricing), and Bob's your uncle...

Can't understand why private sites bother with the hassle of tourers, to be honest.


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