UK holiday park company unveils handpicked heritage-inspired collection

One of the UK’s oldest family-run residential and holiday park groups with an impressive 80-year heritage has started off the new year with the launch of a handpicked heritage-inspired collection of holiday homes.
Allens Caravans has sought inspiration from its eight decades – and four generations of the Allens family – of creating holiday and residential homes to launch The Family’s Choice range, which will feature ABI Henley, the first holiday home handpicked by Allens Caravans in partnership with the country’s leading holiday home manufacturer ABI.
Based on the ABI Ambleside model, the ABI Henley – named after Henley-in-Arden, home to Wootton Hall where Allens Caravans has been based since its inception in 1940 – is a contemporary, open-plan and stylish holiday home that will be available in two or three bedrooms. The ABI Henley will present so many lifestyle opportunities for family and friends all year round and has been personally selected by the Allens family for its parks
Talking about creating the ABI Henley, CEO James Allen and fourth generation of the Allens family said: “We have more than 80 years’ experience of creating the perfect holiday home. There isn’t a holiday or residential park operator in the country that can boast that many years’ knowledge within one family. So, with the arrival of 2026, we thought it was about time that we put all our expertise to use and handpicked our very own holiday home – the ABI Henley – for your family. This new holiday home is representative of the heritage, trust and quality that the Allens family name stands for
“The two-bedroom ABI Henley will be available to buy at our Welsh parks of Aber Bay, and Sunbeach and at Abbot’s Salford in Worcestershire, while the three-bedroom home will be at Bredon View Holiday Park Estate on the edge of the Cotswolds and Overstone Lakes in Northamptonshire. We can’t wait to see what customers, old and new, think of the ABI Henley.”
The news of the ABI Henley follows hot on the heels of the £6 million investment this year in new accommodation, facilities, pitches as well as infrastructure, systems, rebranding, hire fleet marketing and planning and IT. The new accommodation includes a move away from what is thought of the traditional holiday home to glamping pods that were introduced at the Welsh resorts of Aber Bay and Sunbeach.
The investment is one of many that the Allens family have made into the business since the early beginnings of Allens Caravans back in 1940 when Bill Allen launched Allens Auto selling cars in Wolverhampton, but started selling caravans too, which proved popular. Later in the 1940s Bill founded Allens Caravans and began placing caravans in the grounds of Wootton Hall, which Bill had also acquired.
Bill and the family team then went on to create the first Midlands Caravan Exhibition at Wootton Hall in 1957, which became an annual event and a major part of the caravan and holiday industry in the UK. Following a trip to the US in 1960, Bill realised how popular and prestigious it was for so many Americans to live in residential caravans (Park Homes) and use leisure caravans (Caravan Holiday Homes) for weekend retreats.
Following his trip, Bill Allen was convinced the same would happen in the UK and from then on, caravan sales overtook the company’s main business of car sales. Allens Caravans then went on to acquire holiday and residential parks and now has seven in total across England and Wales.
The decision to create The Family’s Choice range handpicked by the Allens family is the first part of a new journey for Allens Caravans and the ABI Henley is the first holiday home in this range – so watch this space!