Great story on a business that is still here today.

Rosie Kennar, fourth generation Chairman of Hoburne Holiday Park Group on the family business entered a centenary year and is still going strong.

Rosie Kennar is the fourth generation Chairman of the Dorset-based Hoburne Holiday Park Group. She took over the role from her father when he reached the age of 70 in 2002. She is the first woman to hold this position, and, 14 years on, she is relishing her position with the company 

"My father is a hugely respected and highly successful businessman, and 10 years ago, the idea of filling his big shoes was an intimidating one. However, the company was fit and strong, and as I had had the privilege of working in the marketing department for the previous 10 years and had also sat on the Board for several years too, I had got to know the business really well and had, I believe, earned respect in my own right. Therefore, when the time came for me to take the Chair, I had the unconditional support of our extraordinary management and staff – many of whom I have known for most of my life. With this vital support, we have been able to build on our success together, and I am immensely proud that Hoburne is in such great shape as we have reached our 100th birthday."

The policy that this family-owned business has adopted over the years has been one of continual investment to provide impressive facilities, accommodation and service for families and couples at the seven popular holiday parks in the south and south-west of England.

"In the current economic climate, families appear to be increasingly looking for holidays they can trust to give them great quality and value. Many are looking to relive the simple family breaks they remember from their childhood – time spent together with a bucket and spade on the beach, or picnicking in the countryside – and our aim is to provide a great base from which to do just that, along with good quality leisure and entertainment facilities for when they want them."

Hoburne has seen holiday booking figures increasing year-on-year since 2008, and was named the KPMG Company of the Year in the 2011 Dorset Business Awards in November.

"What a fantastic start to our centenary year! I was so proud to collect our Award in front of around 600 local business colleagues. The Award went to the company that demonstrated all-round business excellence, and we were competing against all other business types, not just tourism-based ones, so it is a great accolade to our extraordinary Hoburne team."

At the core of the Hoburne brand are values such as integrity, value and warmth, and Rosie and her senior management team work tirelessly to ensure these values come through in all they do. Rosie is also an enthusiastic promoter of the caravan industry and believes it to be a great British success story; one of which Britain should be proud.

"Britain can boast some really beautiful parks in breathtaking locations, and manufacturers offer a vast range of models from budget to state-of-the-art. We are incorporating increasingly stylish design and technology into our top-of-the-range models, and we are always delighted by newcomers to our parks who are almost shocked by the high standards they find."

The Hoburne Holiday Parks story began on May 7 1912, when Rosie's great-grandfather John Burry, a tenant farmer, purchased 'Hubborn Farm' in Christchurch.

Eight years on in 1920, he bought nearby Naish Farm – 100 acres on the cliff top at Barton on Sea, with stunning views across the Solent. In such a fabulous location, it is perhaps not surprising that one by one people applied for permission to put up temporary holiday homes, including disused railway carriages and old buses, around the edge of the fields.

By the time he died in 1947, there were some 400 holiday homes at Naish, and with following generations purchasing more Parks and investing heavily in them, the rest, as they say, is history.

"Hoburne has always been part of my life. My earliest memories of the Parks are walking through a field of kale opposing Hoburne Park at Christchurch, and of Mr. Punch the carthorse, who lived and worked at Naish. My first work experience in the 1960s was picking up litter and working in the coffee shop at Bashley in the New Forest. I'm not quite sure how I escaped the toilet cleaning duties that fell to my sisters!"

Today, where old railway carriages once stood, there are now spacious timber lodges and stylish caravans, and this year sees the first luxury lodges with first floor sun decks being constructed at Hoburne Naish.

"What a long way we have come in 100 years – who knows what the next 100 years will bring!

Source: http://www.familybusinessunited.com/news/celebrating-100-years-and-still-going-strong/