PGL Travel Ltd is a company founded in 1957 and is a provider of school activity courses and
summer camp
A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...
s for children in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. Along with NST, European Study Tours and StudyLink it is a part of the HB Education group, owned by
Midlothian Capital Partners
Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...
.
History
PGL Travel Ltd. was established in 1957 as ‘PGL Voyages’ and is a provider of school activity courses and adventure holidays for children.
In the 1960s and early 1970s the ‘PGL Experience' was aimed at young adults and based on three main activities - canoeing, sailing and pony trekking, with accommodation in tents. PGL moved into the school and group travel market and during the 1980s expanded, purchasing more properties, ranging from a mansion house in Perthshire to a converted farm in Oxfordshire.
PGL opened a headquarters in the South of France and became one of the first UK organisers of canoeing holidays in the
Ardèche Gorge.
In the early 90s the acquisition by the company of the former Quest Outdoor Adventure programme as well as of a large number of centres operated by competitors, resulted in a considerable expansion in the schools’ adventure market in the UK and France. In 1993 the company also entered the school ski market with the acquisition of Ski Europe and Ski Wessex.
In 2000, PGL purchased Château de Grande Romaine, a 300-bed former hotel and grounds on the eastern outskirts of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
In 2005, PGL completed their biggest purchase ever, of 3D Education and Adventure, their biggest competitor, which gave the company three more centres on the South Coast of England, one on the Isle of Wight and a contract with Pontins to provide children's activities on their sites. Though with Pontins going into administration in 2010 and subsequently being purchased by the Britannia Hotels Group in 2011, the contract between Pontins and PGL ceased to be sometime in 2011.
The company was sold in 2007 to Holidaybreak Plc and formed the first part of the Holidaybreak 'Education Division'.
Significant property acquisitions in the UK in recent years have included
Caythorpe Court
Caythorpe Court is a Grade II* listed former hunting lodge situated about one mile to the east of Caythorpe, Lincolnshire, England. It was originally built in 1901 for Edgar Lubbock, a brewer and banker, to the designs of Sir Reginald Blomfield. ...
, near Grantham in 2004 and in 2009, Liddington in Wiltshire.
In July 2011, Holidaybreak was purchased by
Cox & Kings
Cox & Kings Ltd. is an Indian travel company. It was established in 1758 and is one of the longest established travel companies. Headquartered in Mumbai, the holiday and education travel group has subsidiaries in the United States, Canada, th ...
Limited, based in India and then in 2014 PGL opened an office in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia and acquired two centres in Victoria and one in Queensland, Campaspe Downs, Camp Rumbug and Kindilan.
In 2017, PGL sought to acquire two new centres - Newby Wiske Hall - formerly North Yorkshire Police Headquarters and
Bawdsey Manor
Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about northeast of London.
Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William Cu ...
on the Suffolk Heritage Coast The purchase of Newby Wiske Hall is still 'subject to contract' due to PGL's applications for planning consent for change of use and listed building consent for the site being referred for Judicial Review in January 2018.
PGL's largest area of business continues to be school trips and educational travel. These range from activity and adventure trips to subject focussed trips (Science, ICT, Maths, Field Studies and French Language courses). During the UK school terms PGL mainly offers school and youth group holidays, as well as birthday parties and day trips. Outside of the UK school terms, PGL also offers family and child-only adventure holidays (summer camps).
In 2020, the coronavirus crisis had an effect on its business with disputes with customers concerning refunds.
Holidays
During the UK school terms PGL mainly offers school and youth group holidays, as well as birthday parties and day trips. Outside of the UK school terms PGL also offers family and child-only summer camps.
The most popular holiday run is the "Multi-Activity" where guests get to sample a range of activities.
Abroad
PGL has centres in France for School and other youth groups. These offer both activity and educational holidays.
Northern France
* Le Pré Catelan,
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...
* Château du Tertre,
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
* Château de Grande Romaine,
ÃŽle-de-France
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References
Sources
The IndependentBBC news article*
ttp://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/37772/holidaybreak-accepts-312m-cox-kings-takeover-bid Article from Travel Weeklybr>
Article on expansion to the Australian marketBBC article on purchase of PGL LiddingtonArticle on purchase of Caythorpe Court
External links
*
{{Tourism in the United Kingdom
Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom