pafe domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/wwwphhpa/magazine.phhpa.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131simple-local-avatars domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/wwwphhpa/magazine.phhpa.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 61313d-flip-book domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/wwwphhpa/magazine.phhpa.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131rocket domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/wwwphhpa/magazine.phhpa.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131wordpress-seo domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/wwwphhpa/magazine.phhpa.org/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131The post The trials and tribulations of a start up Park Home Operator appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>The same goes for lodges but they are more expensive to purchase meaning this is still a more expensive option.
With the more expensive upfront costs though come various perks and a somewhat larger profit. It was eventually decided that the lodge homes would sit better in the plot and so this is they way they decided to go.
Having decided that they would like to create a lodge park they now had to obtain permissions. This is a long process involving a bunch of forms all including Lodge Park Planning Permission. They also had to consult a number of bodies to ensure that they would be operating inside the law.
They needed to plan well in order to use the land to best effect and still obey all of the rules regarding spacing to obey fire regulations etc., but they eventually had a plan and were all set to make the application.
Getting the permission is not guaranteed so Kevin and his family were left on tenterhooks waiting for it to be approved. Eventually, they received permission for 20 lodge parks.
Great. All they need to do now is put them up, right? Well not really. There is still an option to build in stages. They would need to keep the units close together as a phase one development.
Sadly for Kevin, he doesn’t yet have a certificate of lawful use. Perhaps you might have a piece of land which does though. A Certificate of Lawful Use is the holy grail of parks permissions. If you have a plot which has had a caravan where someone has lived in for at least ten years, it is likely that you would be granted a Certificate of Lawful use.
Back to Kevin’s land though, he needs to get services brought in. Again, what is the best option? Obviously, he must bring in water and electric, however, what about broadband? Should the site be futureproofed? Kevin believes they should but there is a large cost implication and other members of the family feel that it is not worthwhile. After all don’t people go on holiday for peace and quiet. Kevin believes that kids who are used to easy access to the internet are not likely to provide much peace if they cannot get on!
And what about gas. Many parks are on mains gas while others use bottled gas. How long is gas going to be used though? Kevin has heard that people are moving away from gas and that it might be turned off.
Another thing that they also consider is installing charging points for electric cars. There is talk of petrol being phased out and this being the case then charging points will become more and more important. There is also the question of whether to have a parking area for them or whether to place one by each home as it is sited.
Creating a site is a labour of love and requires a lot of personal sacrifice. Is it worth it? Well, it is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the UK at the moment so there is certainly a business opportunity. The question is whether you are willing to go through the process.
View More at Magazine by PHHPA.
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]]>The post Mindset of the Successful appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>The point is that Henry Ford, and other automobile innovators thought of something that could be better than horses as a general means of transport. Somebody had an idea and built a car. And since then, a succession of people’s ideas have improved cars.
This is a continual process. People are thinkers, some people are innovators. They take their ideas, their dreams and turn them into our reality.
”One day I learned that dreams exist to come true. And since that day I do not sleep for rest. I sleep just to dream.”
Walt Disney
“Money doesn’t excite me, my ideas excite me.”
Walt Disney
I am going to argue that all of this comes down to one major difference between the Super-successful and others. I would suggest that it is mindset. The have a mindset that will always strive to achieve, no matter how hard they have to work, no matter the set-backs and failures, no matter what, they do whatever it takes.
What are PHHPA Perfect Picks?
PHHPA Perfect Picks are leader boards that we created in order to showcase our favourite Park industry locations. In this feature of the magazine we decided to give you our top beach locations. Whilst we are aware that the holiday season is coming to a close, we wanted to share these locations so you can get excited for your next trip and avoid the holiday blues. Each magazine is going to have a different category and theme. Don’t miss out on our leader boards, your park could be listed next! The leader boards are to showcase beautiful locations/ parks but also to recommend great places to visit for holidaymakers. Who will be on top next?
See More at PHHPA Magazine
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]]>The post Mindset of the Successful appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>Focus is essential when it comes to achieving success. If we try to do too many things and hedge our bets, we spread ourselves too thin. We will never achieve that expertise we need if we are trying to be jack of all trades. I am not suggesting that you can build a business without knowing how to do most of the jobs involved.
Most of us need to do our own marketing, our own book-keeping and our own admin to start with. But we need to become experts at our core offering. We need to live and breathe our product.
“Stick to what you know before you move on to something new – Become the master!”
Alfie Best
“We have created a niche, and we became professionals at what we do because we focused hard and fast on one industry.”
Alfie Best
Sometimes we all hold back, we all have that feeling of uncertainty, the wrench in our gut. Here is when we need to push ourselves, push on through … or have somebody to push for you. In Richard St John’s talk he says that is why we have mums!
It doesn’t have to be your mum but if you can find someone who can push you when you are struggling to push yourself then great. The truth is though that I suspect few innovators have somebody who will push them in this way. Most of us are likely to have many more people surrounding us who think that we should give up.
These are not horrible people. These are people who believe that what they are doing is in your best interest. They cannot see your vision … they just see you struggling to achieve something that they do not understand and possibly believe is not possible … like going to space despite not being an astronaut!
Steal magnate Andrew Carnegie says, “You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.”
“Whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately.”
Andrew Carnegie
“You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Zig Ziglar
St John identified serving people as one of the secrets of success. Certainly, if you find a way to help someone with a problem then you are headed on a good path. It is commonly held that your product or service must address an issue that people are having.
This is of course not the only way to create something that people will buy. If anyone out there is old enough to remember pet rocks (they were literally smooth stones from a Mexican beach with googly eyes and a painted mouth), then you would have to agree that they didn’t solve any problems. This did not stop them being the collectable of 1975.
What it did do was raise a smile. People need amusement in their lives so there is a huge industry in entertainment, from this point of view I guess even pet rocks served a need. A need to be amused. Most idea’s need to be more than vaguely amusing though.
Most ideas need to serve people, whether it is a faster solution or an eco-friendly option it needs to benefit some section of humanity. This only makes good sense, but most successful people would go beyond this. Most head up charities or trusts and are involved in altruistic projects.
“If you’re in the luckiest 1% of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99%.”
Warren Buffet
One thing that none of the super-rich are short of is ideas. Look at how many businesses Richard Branson has run. Look at how many technical innovations Lord Sugar has been behind. Not all of these ventures have been successful, but this does not stop these people, they just keep going. If nobody had ideas, then we would still be living in caves. If people had ideas but were too nervous to try them, again, welcome to my cave. It is the dream, the idea which starts in the mind that becomes the innovation. There is a quote, perhaps by Henry Ford which says:
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
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]]>The post Mindset of the Successful appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>Anyone who has ever built a business will know how much hard work is involved in just getting it off of the ground. It is like trying to get a rocket up. It takes an immense amount of fuel to get off of the ground and through the atmosphere.
Once it is up and running you can breathe a sign of relief and put your feet up … oh no wait!
Alfie Best self-made multi-millionaire and chairman of Europe’s largest park home operator Wyldecrest Parks says that the reason he is successful is not because he is more intelligent or more astute than other people but that while they are prepared to work one hour, he will work three.
And he is not alone.
“Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This] improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40 hour workweeks and you’re putting in 100 hour workweeks, then even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”
Elon Musk
Persistence is another trait which this people have in abundance. We are all able to be persistent to a degree. We can all pull an all-nighter occasionally if we need to complete a project. To work 100 hours week in and week out that takes the kind of persistence most of us mere mortals cannot summon.
Most businesspeople will be contented once they reach a level where they consider they have “made it” or at least that they have achieved their goals.
“I know I’m fortunate to live an extraordinary life — I’ve been knighted, met the most extraordinary people and attended the most amazing events — but there’s never been a point in my career in which I’ve felt I’ve ‘made it.’”
Richard Branson
I wonder if most of us can even conceive of the goals that the super-successful set. Richard Branson and Elon Musk have both just been to space!!! Can you even imagine putting that on your goals list? To achieve this these entrepreneurs have had to persist against the people who said it couldn’t be done, against the fact that the technology was not there to achieve it when they set their goal and even against COVID-19.
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]]>The post Mindset of the Successful appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>It is said that if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life. I am not sure that many businesspeople would agree with that, especially in the light of the comments that they make about work. I do believe, however that they believe it is essential for success.
The truth is I suppose that if you love what you do, if you are passionate about it then you don’t mind putting in the hard hours, taking the risks, continuing in the face of adversity and ignoring the naysayers.
“Love what you do and do what you love, otherwise you will become unhappy and self- defeating.”
Lord Sugar
“Zig Ziglar says, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
Being passionate will make you motivated. This is the kind of motivation that comes from within. Occasionally we all need a bit of a pep talk, a bit of an uplift and that is why motivational speakers do so well.
This kind of motivation though does not hold though.
Being passionate will help you stay motivated during the tough times.
Building a business is hard, hard work and there will be times when you want to give up, where you think you cannot move another step, where you feel that you have given everything you have to give. The COVID 19 pandemic will have taken many businesses to the very limits. Passion will be what helped people survive.
It also feels fantastic to be doing what we love. There will be moments when we are struggling but when we look overall at what we are doing it will give a sense of satisfaction.
“People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.”
Elon Musk
Practice, practice, practice!
According to Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills. That being the case, if you practiced for three hours a day intensively then it would take you a little over 9 years to gain expertise in that skill.
Daniel Coyle, in his book The Talent Code explores why practice is so important. Whenever we do a new activity or learn something new, we create neural pathways. As we practice, we create myelin these neural pathways develop myelin sheaths. These sheaths strengthen the pathways which help the impulses to travel more quickly. The more we practice the thicker the myelin thickens and the thicker it becomes the more established the pathway becomes. He writes:
“To sum up: it’s time to rewrite the maxim that practice makes perfect. The truth is, practice makes myelin, and myelin makes perfect.”
Daniel Coyle
Practice requires patience and dedication. The super-successful have this in spades. They will toil night and day to become the expert they need to be to make their ideas come to fruition.
“Patience is a key element of success.”
Bill Gates
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]]>The post Alfie Best featured on ITV’s Undercover Big Boss… appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>In August many fans and followers of Alfie Best had an opportunity to watch him go undercover and truly see his business in all its glory. During the episode, William Finney (Alfie Best) visited a number of different parks and met the staff that are part of the Wyldecrest Family.
But whilst the star of the show continued to learn more about the ins and outs of his business, PHHPA too was able to join the gypsy multi-millionaire.
Our director general Bradley Chapman and director Kim Wright went undercover as a super in love married couple on a hunt for their next park home. Following the sales representative, Bradley and Kim asked him questions to test his abilities and mystery shop along the way.
Our directors really enjoyed going on this journey and having an opportunity to join Alfie Best during his experience. We love visiting parks and getting to know the people in the business.
Mystery shopping is a powerful tool for businesses to truly learn about their company. It will directly provide feedback
that can improve your business and drive overall growth.
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]]>The post Alfie Best featured on ITV’s Undercover Big Boss… appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>Anybody watching ITV’s new show, which launched on Thursday 5th August 2021, Undercover Big Boss will have seen that the first episode featured one of PHHPA’s founding members Alfie Best.
Alfie, chairman of Europe’s number one park home operator Wyldecrest Parks, donned a disguise and went undercover in his own business. He went from multi- millionaire entrepreneur to William Finney a drainage engineer looking for a change in career.
Despite being famously well known on his parks the disguise was convincing enough to hide his identity from the staff he was working with. He certainly looked like a different person!
Alfie, AKA William first went to visit a residential park in Preston. There he met Julio who had been working at the park for the past two owners and had been with Wyldecrest for the past two years since they took over the park.
Julio was the long suffering maintenance man and all- round good guy who worked with “William”. He worked tirelessly and Alfie said it was hard to keep up! Alfie did not back away from cleaning the drains and even pulled out the wet wipes and fat which were creating the blockage. He later said that he quite enjoyed doing the drains despite
them being a bit smelly.
Next Alfie Best visited Port Haverigg Marina, a gorgeous holiday park in the Lake District. Here he met Richard their onsite sales executive.
But wait … who is that couple? Disguised behind a cap and glasses was none other than PHHPA Director General Bradley Chapmen with Director Kim Wright also undercover. Our task was to mystery shop as difficult customers.
Pretending to be a married couple, Kim and Stephen Jones, we asked if they could move the mobile home back two feet. We knew that this would only be possible by moving the entire home, moving the utilities and relaying the base!
Secondly, we said we wanted a view of the sea. He took us to a plot which will have a beautiful new home sited on it in a prime location fronting the marina. Here I complained that it would be too noisy. Sorry Richard!
Finally, Alfie visited Bockenfield Park in where he met with independent bar owner and single mother Donna. She looked somewhat taken aback by his lack of ability to pour a pint, but he was soon producing beers with a regular amount of head and even called the bingo.
The people he had met and worked with were then invited to Alfie’s Surrey mansion where he surprised them by revealing who he was. He then announced what he was going to do to improve things.
From what he had learned working with Julio, plans were put in place to improve the complaints process. This would mean fewer problems would fall to Julio directly. Alfie also gave Julio a well-earned pay rise and a bonus of £5000. I am sure this was greatly appreciated.
Richard from Port Haverigg was asked if he wanted to progress from being a salesman to being a director eventually. Alfie said that he needed to be able to make decisions about the business in order to progress. Alfie also offered him and his family an all-expenses paid two week holiday in Barbados.
Finally, Alfie met Donna. She had been considering giving up at the end of the season if things did not pick up. Part of the problem was that her current premises was too small. The club, however, is the heart of the site. Recognising this, Alfie decided to invest a quarter of a million pounds into expanding the club and adding a swimming pool.
I found the whole show very touching, especially Alfie’s relationship with his family. If you haven’t watched it then I can highly recommend it.
Oh, and if you need your park or supply business mystery shopped then you know where to come!
See more at PHHPA Magazine.
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]]>The post A day in a life of PHHPA appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>As you are probably aware the Park Home and Holiday Park Association is new. We are a start-up. If you have a business or some other enterprise that you have started, then you may relate to our story.
The PHHPA Ltd was founded on the 24th of May 2021. At this point all we had was a mission to support the park home and holiday park industry, its operators, and suppliers.
We needed a website, a directory, a magazine, training programmes, staff, social media outreach, an awards programme… you name it!
Three months on and we have a website, we have run our first training webinar and you are reading our first magazine. We have achieved this with the help of some wonderful, hardworking, and often hard-pressed staff.
We have made our fair share of mistakes, such as creating a .com before realising that we needed a .org and calling Bradley Chapman our Managing Director before realising that associations have Director General. But we learn from our mistakes. Every mistake is a lesson. It is how we grow and make better decisions for the future.
Our website has had glitches and our magazine has had numerous design changes. We have also created other websites: the Bliss Group which are basically added bonuses for our members. These were created by our web developer John, learning new tools, and working to exacting standards.
So fast forward and you will dash past the building of our social media by Deimante. The creation of our YouTube
videos, many of them by creative Charmine. And our magazine which has mostly been the work of myself and our creative team including Demi who has also been planning our events.
Stop here and you will find us in the midst of promotion. We have been seen on ITV’s Undercover Big Boss and we are promoting our first webinar Why is the UK Park Industry Booming?. Our PA is off sick as is our member services manager.
I am also off with something that makes me feel drunk, dizzy, and sick, but without any of the joy of getting drunk and Deimante gets pinged!
She has been in direct contact with a friend who has had a positive test. She has to leave taking her computer to work from home. She takes a PCR test but is unable to come in again until she has had a negative test.
This is just at a point where we are ankle deep in both social media and magazine work. Needless to say, that there was quite a bit of firefighting as working remotely means that it is much harder to bounce ideas off of each other.
Thankfully, I was able to return the next day, but our social media manager would not be back for another two days.
Having finally received a negative test she headed in on the train. I cannot tell you how joyful I was to be driving to the station to pick her up. It wasn’t exactly the pingdemic that many companies have experienced but it certainly impacted us.
The truth is that for any new enterprise, in our case an association, but for you it might be a new park or setting up a new business, the first few months take a tremendous amount of effort. If you look on it like a plane taking off, then it is like taxiing up to the runway.
Each setback is like the air traffic controllers keep holding you. Finally, they say you can leave, and you push the control leaving forward as far as it will go. The plane makes an immense amount of noise, and you can feel it juddering until finally it begins to edge forward.
We were gradually speeding up as we stove forward, there were some big judders and we finally felt ourselves lift. Now we just need to get to cruising altitude! But with our mission in mind, we can only grow and get better.
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]]>The post Presenting: Professor Mark Watson-Gandy appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>The PHHPA are proud to introduce Professor Mark Watson-Gandy who has agreed to be our legal advisor. He will be one of the team of highly experienced and knowledgeable professionals supporting our association and no doubt a great asset when we need advice for ourselves or our members.
He specialises in commercial disputes involving banking, company and insolvency law and has won many high profile cases so we know that we are in safe hands.
This long list of achievements includes being a practicing barrister at Three Stones Chamber and a visiting professor at both the University of Westminster and the University of Lorraine in France. He is also a Knight of the Order of St Gregory.
He is a columnist for Business Money, the commercial finance magazine and regularly speaks in the media on both legal matters and business education.
Professor Watson-Gandy is a prolific author and following a long list of heavy law based books published “KidsMBA How to build a Successful Business: Essential Skills and Know-How for Future Billionaires” in 2018. He wrote this because he realised that many companies were going under, not because they were bad ideas but because of fundamental mistakes.
He felt that by giving young people a good grounding in business basics then this high attrition rate (a massive 50% of start-ups fail within the first five years in the UK) might be avoided. As well as writing his book Professor Mark Watson Gandy founded KidsMBA and, along with a team of experts, developed an intensive 2-day programme providing an introduction to skills and knowledge needed when starting out in a business. The course is aimed at 12-15 year olds and is now delivered under licence in over 40 countries worldwide both live and remotely.
He most recently wrote “Simple Contract Law, A Brief Introduction to English Contract Law”, which is available on Amazon.
This book is a breath of fresh air. It is written in plain English, to the point and filled with amusing Illustrations by Gordon Collett. This is probably not what you expect to hear about a book on law!
The PHHPA would like to extend the warmest of welcomes to Professor Mark and look forward to a long
and happy relationship.
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]]>The post Rise of the Footsoldier Origins Premiere appeared first on PHHPA Magazine.
]]>It was set in the late 80’s and through the nineties which is a time period I remember well and while Bradley spotted an anachronistic iPhone it really felt of the era.
I interviewed Rachel Warren (touted as the British Margot Robbie) who plays Lucy, Tony Tucker’s girlfriend and discussed how they had managed to film during lockdown. She put it down to shear determination and hard work.
It was written during the first lockdown, filmed in a four week period during the second lockdown and edited during the third lockdown. I think this added to the fast paced feel of this film. I believe it is was a fantastic accomplishment given the restrictions of the pandemic.
After the film we went on to the Maddox Club in Mayfair. The Maddox is divided into various rooms and we were privileged to be in with the VIP’s. Throughout there were ice buckets filled with drinks including champagne which were constantly topped up.
People were dancing to nineties anthems and the atmosphere was friendly and fun. Bradley and I left at about 1am as we knew we had a journey ahead of us and would need to be up bright and early the next day but honestly it looked like things were just getting started and would undoubtedly move to an after after party and who knows after that!
See more at PHHPA Magazine.
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