Center Parcs UK, the leisure group that offers family activity holidays in some of Britain's biggest forests, has pinpointed Ireland as its next location after it opens its new £200 million site in Bedfordshire in 2010.

The company, which is controlled by Blackstone Group, the giant American property investment and buyout firm, has been monitoring central Ireland for suitable locations, although it does not expect to make a move until it launches its fifth site on the Duke of Bedford's Woburn estate.

Martin Dalby, chief executive of Center Parcs, said that the opening of the fifth site would effectively complete the company's geographical spread in mainland Britain, making Ireland, either the North or the Republic, an obvious next step. “Five parks is what the UK can support,” he said.

Mr Dalby said that, although the group did not have villages in Scotland and Wales, neither had a big enough population to support a Center Parcs. He pointed out that 17 million people lived within a two-hour drive of Woburn.

“Ireland is interesting and could well be our next location, although, given the size of the population, it would probably be two thirds of the size of our current sites,” he said.

“We've had some discussions over the last three or four years and we've made some contacts, but that's all. We've not made any commitments. We need to get some traction on our fifth site first.”

The £200 million Woburn property was granted planning consent in September after initially being refused permission in the face of local opposition. Although it is being built in the green belt, its environmental approach attracted support from Friends of the Earth.

Mr Dalby said that the project would be beneficial both to the environment and the local economy, as the company planned to plant up to 500,000 trees in the first five years, mostly native varieties, and create 1,500 jobs.

He predicted that the fifth opening would add about £70 million to turnover and about £30 million of underlying earnings (ebitda). In its recently completed financial year, Center Parcs UK expects to report a rise in turnover of about 8 per cent to £265 million, with ebitda up by 12-15 per cent.

Mr Dalby said that he expected to achieve occupancy of about 92 per cent, with spend per head up by 5-6 per cent. “Summer is looking as good as last year, really strong. We've seen no sign of any slowdown in bookings or spend on site. If anything, the euro exchange rate is helping.”

He said that the company was starting to reap the benefit of a £100million investment programme in the past two years, including £60 million on higher-quality accommodation and £17million on restaurants and shops. Tragus, the Café Rouge and Strada operator, will run nine eateries on its sites, while SSP is testing out gastropubs at its villages in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, and Elveden Forest, Suffolk. Starbucks coffee shops and kiosks are also being introduced.

The company's success is a far cry from its short existence as a public company.

Its shares were hit by difficulties, including an outbreak of gastroenteritis at its Longleat Forest village - sparking the infamous headline “Center Pukes” - and soaring energy and rates bills, and less than three years later it was taken private by Blackstone. Its 80p-a-share offer was 20p below the 100p flotation price.

The main problem was that, shortly before its flotation, it had undergone a sale and leaseback of underlying property assets, making the operating business too susceptible to trading fluctuations and hindering its ability to invest. Blackstone's first move after taking it private was to buy back the assets and complete a £1 billion refinancing.

Explore Industry Sectors

• Banking & Finance

• Construction & Property

• Consumer Goods

• Engineering

• Health

• Industrials

• Leisure

• Media

• Natural Resources

• Retailing

• Support Services

• Technology

• Telecoms

• Transport

• Utilities

Times Recommends

• B&B shareholders forced into funding rescue
• John Lewis department store sales plunge 8.3%
• Families turn to credit to cover mortgage bills