Livingbridge announces reinvestment in Sykes Holiday Cottages

We are pleased to announce our reinvestment in Sykes Holiday Cottages, the UK’s leading independent holiday home provider with over 25 years’ experience in the market.

 

Livingbridge first invested in Sykes in January 2015, when the business managed 5,000 properties in the UK and Ireland.  We successfully sold Sykes to private equity firm Vitruvian Partners in October 2019, at which time it managed over 17,500 properties, having successfully delivered market leading organic growth and completed 12 acquisitions underpinned by a highly effective digital transformation strategy.

We were then offered the opportunity to re-invest in Sykes and, following a full due diligence process, are delighted to be able to continue to support the business as it embarks on the next stage of its growth.

In line with the company’s strategy to continue to grow both through acquisition and organically, Sykes has also recently acquired three further UK-based rental businesses including Pure Cottages Group, a group of five high quality letting agencies in the Lake District, Cotswolds and North Cornwall.  These acquisitions take Sykes’s total property portfolio to c.19,000 today.

Adam Holloway, Partner at Livingbridge, said: “Sykes Holiday Cottages is a fantastic business, which has succeeded in driving the use of digital technology to deliver outstanding service to property owners and customers.  We are therefore delighted to be continuing our partnership with the business for the next growth chapter.”

Graham Donoghue, chief executive of Sykes Holiday Cottages, said: “The unwavering support from Livingbridge over the last five years was instrumental to our success in becoming a market leader in the holiday home and rental business.  We are glad they have reinvested alongside Vitruvian Partners as we continue to invest in our people, our service and technology platform.”

Ben Johnson, Partner at Vitruvian Partners, said: “We welcome the reinvestment by Livingbridge into Sykes. We are excited to partner with Sykes during its next phase of growth, and are pleased to be able to continue to benefit from the insight and experience of the Livingbridge team.”