Inaugural Holiday Park Awards: a new independent platform for the sector

The UK holiday park industry has a new awards programme of its own. The Holiday Park Awards, founded by Melanie Brook MCIM, opened for inaugural entries on 22 September 2026. The pitch is straightforward: celebrate parks, people, teams and suppliers on an independent platform, share good practice, and give smaller family parks as well as larger groups a place where excellence is judged in context.

For private static and lodge owners, awards night is not a pitch-fee letter. It is still worth a glance. Credible recognition can support owner confidence, raise the visibility of decent operators, and push standards (including the unglamorous work in operations, accessibility and team development) into the same conversation as new lodges and splash parks.

What has been announced

Caravan Industry and Park Operator coverage, including a piece by founder Melanie Brook, and the awards’ own site, set out the following:

• Entries opened on 22 September 2026 and close on 20 November 2026.
• Judging runs through December 2026 and January 2027, with final deliberations after that.
• Finalists are due to be announced in mid-February 2027.
• The ceremony is at Sandy Park in Exeter on 22 April 2027.
• The programme’s three stated aims are to celebrate, educate and collaborate.
• Recognition is meant to cover both visible excellence (guest experience and facilities) and behind-the-scenes work in leadership, marketing, operations, sustainability, accessibility and team development.
• Independence is emphasised: judges are described as separate from sponsors, with commercial involvement kept apart from judging decisions.
• Parks in Video is the headline sponsor. The August 2026 trade article lists other partners as Holidaymaker App, Pitched, Metpow, HPL Recruitment, Parklink Supply Parks, Holistic Thinking Holidays, Ruth Badger Consultancy, ParcVu Booking Experts and Walter Geering.
• The awards are designed to feel accessible to long-established family parks as well as growing groups and specialist suppliers.

Earlier launch coverage in June 2026 described 34 categories (including guest experience, leadership, innovation, sustainability, marketing, customer service and holiday home ownership, plus nine supplier categories) and said the programme was expected to attract more than 150 entries. Those figures come from that earlier reporting rather than from a full public category list in the August article. Anyone planning an entry should check the live categories on holidayparkawards.co.uk, because programmes of this kind often refine category names after the first announcement.

Brook’s August article also stresses that the most compelling entries are rarely those with the biggest budgets. They explain the challenge, the action taken, and the difference it made.

Why a dedicated awards programme is being launched now

Brook’s case, as published in the trade press, is that much of the sector’s best work happens quietly. Teams solve problems, improve stays, invest in parks and raise standards without recognition beyond their own business. Existing awards play a role, but operators (especially smaller and independent parks) have said they often feel they are competing against the largest groups for a very limited number of trophies, or that no suitable sector-specific recognition exists at all.

The new programme is being framed as industry-specific rather than borrowed from wider hospitality. That matters in a market where a family-run coastal site and a 50-park group can both be excellent, and still look nothing like each other on a spreadsheet. Judging “in context” is the phrase the organisers keep returning to.

Independence is the other theme. Brook argues that in a competitive market, and at a time when the reputation of the wider sector can be affected by the actions of a minority, credible recognition has real value. Sponsors help pay for the platform. They are not, according to the published design, meant to decide the winners.

June 2026 reporting identified Brook as a holiday park marketing consultant and owner of JEM Marketing, and as a former head of marketing at Beverley Holidays. The awards site lists the Holiday Park Awards as a trading style of JEM Marketing (Devon) Ltd. Those details help readers place the programme; they do not, by themselves, prove judging quality. That will be tested by who sits on the panel and how entries are scored.

Why owners should care (without overstating it)

A trophy does not rewrite a pitch licence. It can still be a useful signal.

Standards and confidence. Parks that invest in accessibility, operations, sustainability and staff development are doing the unglamorous work that guests and owners actually feel. An awards process that names those categories, rather than only the showpiece clubhouse, can nudge more operators in that direction.

Holiday-home ownership as a category. Early coverage highlighted ownership experience as an area often overlooked in industry awards despite its importance to operators and owners. If that category is judged seriously, it is one of the few public forums where owner-facing practice (sales process, communications, aftercare) is treated as excellence rather than an afterthought.

Family parks versus large groups. The organisers say the programme is meant to be accessible across sizes. If that holds, smaller parks that treat owners well have a route to third-party recognition they can share with teams, customers and local communities.

A counterweight to distress headlines. The same news cycle has carried administrations and difficult ownership changes. A growing bank of positive, evidenced stories does not cancel those problems. It does give buyers, sellers and holidaymakers a wider picture of the sector than insolvency notices alone.

Treat shortlisted parks as interesting, not automatically “safe”. Always read your own agreement.

Key dates if a park or supplier wants to enter

The inaugural timetable, as published, is:

• Entries: 22 September 2026 to 20 November 2026.
• Judging: December 2026 and January 2027.
• Finalists: mid-February 2027.
• Awards night: 22 April 2027, Sandy Park, Exeter.

Brook advised businesses to prepare early: identify the strongest story, gather evidence and results, and speak to the team members who delivered them. The official site also lists the awards as free to enter and open to holiday parks, groups, holiday home ownership operators, glamping and lodge operators, suppliers, and individuals and teams in the sector.

Sponsorship opportunities were still being advertised in the August trade piece. That is a commercial aside for suppliers, not a requirement for parks that simply want to submit an entry.

A secondary note for owners thinking about value

Awards coverage is not a reason to sell, and it is not a reason to stay. If your park is entering, or being held up as an example of better practice, that may support confidence. If your park is silent on standards, owner communications and reinvestment, an industry awards launch can still be a prompt to look again at your licence, fees and options.

If you own a static caravan or lodge and you want a free, no-obligation sense of value while you weigh those questions, Static Caravan Buyer is happy to talk it through. Call 0800 644 5000 or visit staticcaravanbuyer.com.

Key takeaways

• The inaugural Holiday Park Awards opened for entries on 22 September 2026 and close on 20 November 2026, with a ceremony at Sandy Park, Exeter, on 22 April 2027.
• Founder Melanie Brook MCIM has framed the programme around celebrate, educate and collaborate, with judging kept separate from sponsors.
• Headline sponsor is Parks in Video; the August 2026 trade article lists a wider partner group alongside.
• Categories are intended to cover parks, people, teams and suppliers, including behind-the-scenes work as well as guest-facing facilities.
• For private owners, independent recognition is a useful confidence and standards signal, not a substitute for reading your own pitch agreement.

Static Caravan Buyer Team