Leisure Industry News - October 2025

October has been a month of major investments, high-profile refurbishments, and key moves across the UK leisure landscape. 

From million-pound upgrades at a popular holiday park to landmark hotel redevelopments and golf resorts preparing for world-class events, operators are clearly focused on elevating guest experience and long-term growth. Projects like the £170 million transformation of Luton Hoo Hotel underline the scale of ambition driving the sector, while new leisure centre proposals and potential stadium expansion plans show activity stretching from community to elite level. 

Here’s a look at the stories shaping the industry this month...

• Lyons Holiday Parks, a family-run company is investing over £1 million into its flagship Lyons Robin Hood Holiday Park site to upgrade its facilities and create new guest experiences, which is planned to be ready for the 2026 season.

• Three Lake District holiday parks owned by Parkdean Resorts - Fallbarrow, Limefitt, and White Cross Bay have all maintained their five-star ratings from VisitEngland with regional director Toby Durston of Parkdean saying: "It’s wonderful to receive such positive feedback from VisitEngland".

• The Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa has closed for a two-and-a-half-year, £170 million refurbishment project by Arora Group, specifically aimed at preparing the resort to host the prestigious Ryder Cup in 2035. The upgrade includes developing the championship golf course with input from professional golfers Justin Rose and Gary Player.

• Two highly regarded Scottish golf clubs, Strathmore Golf Centre and Newbattle Golf Club, have been placed up for sale with asking prices of over £1.65 million and £2.67 million respectively, with the Newbattle sale including its surrounding land in a single lot.

• The Grade II-listed Lancaster hotel, a 54-room, 41,000 sq ft property overlooking Hyde Park, has been acquired with £20 million in funding from Cohort Capital, and its new owner is assessing a major redevelopment, including a possible conversion into a 67-bedroom boutique hotel.

• The Little Silver Country Hotel in Tenterden, Kent, has been sold to a local buyer for £1.7 million and is scheduled to reopen by the end of the year following a full refurbishment that will upgrade the rooms and improve the garden.

• JD Gyms has opened a new club in Chester and is set to surpass its target of 100 UK sites after scheduled launches in November (starting with Enfield) and other locations including Aberdeen, Basildon, Gloucester, Reading, and Wakefield.

• Plans are anticipated to be approved for the construction of a new sport and leisure centre in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, which will replace the Dewsbury Sports Centre that permanently closed last November following the discovery of dangerous Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in 2023.

• The Royal Hospital School in Holbrook, Suffolk has been sold to the Inspired Learning Group after being owned by Greenwich Hospital since its founding in 1712; the transition is expected to be "carefully managed" and completed by mid-November.

• Arsenal is looking into expanding the Emirates Stadium which currently holds 60,700 in order to regain its status as the biggest club ground in London. This distinction was lost after Tottenham and West Ham moved into newer, larger stadiums following Arsenal's 2006 move from Highbury.