Two holiday parks among England's 100 ROSE award winners for 2026

VisitEngland has named its 100 ROSE award winners for 2026, and two holiday parks are among the businesses celebrating. ROSE stands for Recognition of Service Excellence. The awards go to accommodation providers judged to deliver outstanding customer service, drawn from VisitEngland's quality assessment scheme and guest feedback. For private static and lodge owners, a service award is not a pitch fee letter. It is still a useful signal. Buyers often care as much about how a park is run as about the view from the decking.

This post focuses on two parks named in recent local coverage, Windy Harbour in Lancashire and Ord House Country Park near Berwick, and places them in the wider verified list of holiday park winners. It does not invent a league table, and it does not treat an award as proof that every contract term is owner-friendly.

What the ROSE awards recognise

VisitBritain's industry announcement (8 September 2026) explains that the ROSE awards recognise accommodation providers across England who give visitors the best customer experience. They celebrate owners, management and employees who deliver strong service and a warm welcome, across types and star ratings. Nominations are triggered after the annual VisitEngland quality assessment visit. Assessor comments and online reviews from UK and overseas guests are taken into account. The judging panel also looks for innovation in facilities or services that make a stay feel special.

Only 100 businesses receive a ROSE award each year. The 2026 ceremony, now in its tenth year, was held on Tuesday 8 September at The Post Barn on Old Oxford Road in Newbury, Berkshire. VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said the awards "honour the people behind the businesses who go out of their way to provide outstanding customer service, innovative options for all tastes and budgets and a great welcome for visitors."

The trophy is about people and process as much as bricks and mortar.

Windy Harbour, Lancashire

Greatest Hits Radio (Lancashire) and the Blackpool Gazette report that Windy Harbour Holiday Park, part of Partington's Holiday Parks, has received a 2026 ROSE award for service excellence. Coverage says the park was selected for service from arrival through to departure, and that VisitEngland evaluates businesses using quality assessments, customer feedback and online reviews.

Partington's Holiday Parks CEO Rob Kearsley praised Park Manager Shelley Jones and the team at Windy Harbour for creating memorable guest experiences. The park was officially presented with the accolade at the 8 September ceremony in Newbury.

For owners, the useful detail is the judging mix: assessor visits plus public guest reviews, closer to day-to-day park life than a marketing campaign.

Ord House Country Park, Northumberland

The Northumberland Gazette (5 October 2026) reports that Ord House Country Park in East Ord, near Berwick, is among the 2026 ROSE recipients. Ord House was one of 100 winners nationally and one of just eight winners in the North East. Visit Northumberland confirms that all eight North East winners this year were from Northumberland. Ord House was honoured in the Holiday Park category at The Post Barn in Newbury.

Ord House is the flagship park of Maguires Country Parks, a family-run business welcoming holiday home and residential park home owners, plus tourers, since 1981. The Gazette describes a 44 acre landscaped park open all year.

Phil and Karen Shadforth of Ord House received the award from Lady Victoria Borwick, chairman of VisitEngland. Gilbert Maguire, director of Maguires Country Parks, said: "What makes this one so special is that it's about people. It reflects the team who greet our guests by name, look after the grounds all year round and go out of their way to make every stay feel personal. Being named among the best in England for customer service, and judged partly on what our guests say about us, means a great deal to everyone at Ord House."

The same report notes separate AA and amenity awards. Those are not part of the ROSE criteria themselves.

Other holiday parks on the verified 2026 list

Local and regional reporting also names further Holiday Park category winners. From Visit Northumberland's published North East list: Kielder Campsite (Hexham) and South Meadows (Belford), alongside Ord House. From Yorkshire Post coverage of Yorkshire winners: Upwood Park (Keighley) and Willow Pastures Country Park (Skirlaugh). Windy Harbour (Partington's, Blackpool) appears on AA RatedTrips' published winners round-up.

Anyone wanting the full set of 100 should use VisitEngland's quality assessment listings. The owner takeaway is simpler: several parks were recognised in the holiday park category, not only the two with the loudest local headlines.

Why service awards matter (softly) when you own or sell

A friendly, well-run park is part of what buyers value. It shows up in reviews, in how quickly issues are fixed, and in whether the grounds still look cared for in February. Awards that lean on guest feedback are a public shorthand for that culture.

They still have limits:

• An award does not rewrite pitch fees, age limits or assignment rules.
• Guest excellence and owner terms can diverge. Read both.
• One strong park does not elevate every site in the same group automatically.
• Buyers will still weigh licence length, fees, condition and location first.

Treat ROSE recognition as a confidence signal, not a substitute for paperwork.

Soft options if you are weighing value on a well-run park

If your park is celebrating service recognition, that may support staying put. If your park struggles with basics while others collect awards, it may be a prompt to get a realistic figure. Neither reaction needs to be a rush.

Static Caravan Buyer offers a free, no-obligation valuation for UK static and lodge owners. We aim to make contact within 24 hours and, where we can proceed, to make an offer within 48 hours. Those are response aims, not guarantees. Payment is made on collection day before the caravan is loaded.

Call 0800 644 5000 or visit staticcaravanbuyer.com for a free, no-obligation valuation.

Key takeaways

• VisitEngland's ROSE awards recognise only 100 accommodation businesses a year for outstanding service, based on assessor feedback, guest reviews and innovation.
• The 2026 awards were presented on 8 September at The Post Barn in Newbury.
• Windy Harbour (Partington's, Lancashire) and Ord House Country Park (Maguires, near Berwick) are among the holiday park winners celebrated in recent coverage.
• Other verified holiday park winners named in regional lists include Kielder Campsite, South Meadows, Upwood Park and Willow Pastures Country Park.
• For owners, strong service culture is part of buyer appeal, but licence terms and fees still decide individual sale outcomes.

Static Caravan Buyer Team