New owner for family visitor attraction following £1.85m acquisition

A family visitor attraction near Thirsk has re-launched to the public after being taken over by new owners.

Monk Park Farm has been acquired for £1.85m by York Forty Four Ltd, a Boroughbridge-based company that operates a portfolio of North Yorkshire retirement and holiday parks under the trading name of York House Leisure.

The purchase has secured the animal park’s future after it was forced to close during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has now re-launched with a new look following investment in a programme of improvements.

Phil Brierley, a director at York Forty Four Ltd, said their experience within the leisure industry meant Monk Park Farm was a great fit for the company.

He said: “We are delighted to be giving such a much-loved local attraction a new lease of life. In many ways, the elements that make our holiday and residential parks such a success equally apply to a visitor attraction like Monk Park Farm.

“We’ll be using our knowledge of the tourist market in North Yorkshire and our expertise in providing a great experience for our holiday home owners to ensure visitors have a fantastic day out.”

At its peak, Monk Park Farm was welcoming up to 50,000 visitors each year.

The 85-acre site at Bagby offers a range of farm-based activities, including the chance to meet and feed a variety of animals.

A new management team has been appointed at the park, comprising Peter Wilson, Lorraine Wilson and Hayley Cooke, all of whom have experience within the tourism, hospitality and residential sectors.

York House Leisure has been operating in North Yorkshire since the 1960s, and is well-known in the holiday parks industry.

The company was advised on the purchase by a legal team from Andrew Jackson Solicitors LLP, led by property lawyer Yasmin Fenton, who was supported by Jon Croft in the corporate team.

Fenton said: “We are absolutely delighted to have assisted our clients in the acquisition of Monk Park Farm, which complements their existing North Yorkshire portfolio perfectly.

“With a strong and experienced team in place, Monk Park Farm is poised to welcome and delight visitors back through its gates over the coming months and years.

“We wish Phil, Tim and the rest of the team every success for their latest venture.”

Brierley added: “We’ve used Andrew Jackson Solicitors on a number of occasions, most recently when we bought the site of our new retirement village, Gateforth Park near Selby.

“As always, they have done a great job for us with the purchase of Monk Park Farm.”