29 RoyaleLife holiday parks, developments and property companies have collapsed into administration at the peak of the summer holiday season, TheBusinessDesk.com can exclusively reveal.<\/p>\n
The court action comes weeks after their parent company, Royale Parks, and a small number of resorts, including Billing Aquadrome and Cogenhoe Mill in Northamptonshire, also appointed administrators.<\/p>\n
15 of the affected sites are in the South West, and there are also developments in the North West, East Midlands, South East and East Anglia that are no longer in the company’s control.<\/p>\n
The RoyaleLife group is owned by billionaire Robert Bull, who was ranked 88th in the Sunday Times Rich List this May with a net worth of nearly \u00a32bn.<\/p>\n
Last month he claimed winding up orders were “based on false claims and unfounded information” and said they were the subject of legal action – a claim restated today by a company spokesperson.<\/p>\n
However in a High Court judgement by Judge Barber handed down on July 28, she refused to strike out a winding-up petition filed against a property company Bull wholly owned, Time GB Group.<\/p>\n
Barber also issued strong criticism of Bull, former Time GB Group director James Williams, and Pinder Reaux solicitor Olivia Taylor-James for their evidence.<\/p>\n
She said: “Whilst strictly unnecessary for the purpose of this application, I would add that on the evidence before me, the Applicant [Time GB Group] appears to be hopelessly insolvent. The assertions as to solvency made in the witness statements of each of Mr Bull, Ms Taylor-James and Mr Williams are regrettable.”<\/p>\n
There is also a separate breach of contract action by Bull, Time GB Group and related companies against Sines Parks Holdings, which applied to put some of Bull’s companies into administration.<\/p>\n
The actions by Sines Parks appears to have influenced lenders and started a domino effect culminating in today’s administration appointments.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for RoyaleGroup said: \u201cAll sites are continuing to trade as normal as we work towards a deal with our administrators, Grant Thornton and JCK Ltd. At this current time, no staff or job cuts
\nare expected.”<\/p>\n
They reiterated a previous statement acknowledging the group “had a challenging time emerging from the pandemic” but insisted it is still “business as usual”, and said\u00a0RoyaleLife continues to build in 64 different residential bungalow communities with 40 more in planning and development.<\/p>\n
Last month Bull, the group’s executive chairman, said a recapitalisation of the business was taking place with the aim of installing 1,000 bungalows across the UK, starting later this year. This was also restated by the company, despite the 29 group companies entering administration.<\/p>\n
The affected sites are:<\/p>\n
Cheshire:
\nMoore Lane, Warrington<\/p>\n
Cornwall:
\nBudemeadows Country Park, Bude
\nDolbeare Court, Saltash<\/p>\n
Devon:
\nOakleigh Court, Dolton
\nRegency Court, Newton Abbot
\nRegency Place, Newton Abbot<\/p>\n
Dorset:
\nChristchurch Marina Park, Christchurch
\nMatchams Lane, Christchurch
\nBeacon Hill, Poole
\nManor Farm Park, Poole
\nMatchams Leisure Park, Ringwood
\nSilver Mist, Ringwood
\nDorset Heights, Wareham
\nDeers Court, Wimbourne
\nNew Forest Court, Wimborne<\/p>\n
Essex:
\nDunton Park, Royal Dunton Court, nr Brentwood<\/p>\n
Gloucestershire:
\nMontserrat Caravan Park, Stroud<\/p>\n
Hampshire:
\nFrensham Country Park, Churt
\nMilford on Sea Park, Lymington
\nWickham Court, North Boarhunt<\/p>\n
Isle of Wight:
\nFort Caravan Park, Sandown
\nIOW View, Sandown<\/p>\n
Kent:
\nReculver Court, Herne Bay
\nWaterways, Herne Bay<\/p>\n
Norfolk:
\nPlum Tree Country Park, Thetford
\nRedhill Residential Park, Watton<\/p>\n
Nottinghamshire:
\nSherwood Court, Newark<\/p>\n
Rutland:
\nRanksborough Hall Estates, Oakham<\/p>\n
The holding company for the group’s Hampshire head office property, North Boarhunt 1, has also fallen into administration today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exclusive: Action follows weeks of uncertainty about the future of the residential and leisure property empire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":6510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"coauthors":[81],"class_list":["post-6509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-cornwall","tag-devon","tag-dorset","tag-gloucestershire","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\n