Exploring Britain's tourism and leisure sector

If you run a business within the tourism and leisure sector, we ask you to share your opportunities and challenges with us.

To coincide with the launch of our new brochure, which explores some of the major sector issues as our specialist legal advisers see them, we will be at the Lawns Caravan and Holiday Homes Expo 2019 to ask you for your views.

Held annually at The Lawns, in Cottingham, East Yorkshire, the five-day exhibition, which runs from Tuesday September 3 to Thursday September 5 and then on Saturday and Sunday, September 7 and 8, sees thousands of people from across the UK and Europe, both trade experts and the public, tour some of the latest holiday home models manufactured right on our doorstep, with associated trade stands and entertainment.

This is the first time that Wilkin Chapman solicitors will be exhibiting at the event and it is looking forward to meeting new and existing clients and encouraging visitors from across the sector to take part in its Future Leisure and Tourism poll. The poll will ask park owners and key contributors to the sector to vote on their top priorities for their business for the short term future, selecting from:

• Growth & Development – diversification, restructuring, planning, development and expansion;

• People – contracts, overseas’ workers, working time directives, employment status and HR issues;

• Compliance – health & safety, site licences, insurances, GDPR, pitch licence agreements;

• Future Planning – ownership & exit, retaining valuable employees, family businesses and technology.

With a changing European and domestic landscape governing the way in which employment, regulations and grant aid will be handled, we want to understand and have discussions around the complexities as the owners of the sector’s businesses see things.

The Poll coincides with the launch of our new tourism and leisure brochure, which outlines some of the issues and offers workable solutions on a wider level.

Our Beverley-based Corporate and Commercial solicitor Sarah Kemp has a historical knowledge of the sector and is a current Director of the British Holidays and Home Parks Association.

Sarah encourages people to visit Wilkin Chapman at the Lawns, on Stand 17, and have their say on the Poll, with all entries put into a prize draw to win a luxury food hamper: “There is little doubt that the sector is facing considerable change and there are diverse reasons for that from the number of visitors from overseas and those taking stay-cations, to further Brexit developments, which are likely over the coming weeks,” said Sarah.

“Opportunity exists within this change, as long as the right plans are put into place by the sector as a whole and we are keen to hear the views of people at the Lawns Show as to their past and present experiences. The sector is set to be worth more than £257 billion in the UK by the year 2025, and that is certainly significant to the wealth of the nation,” she added.