Verdant Parks choose EliteParks

Verdant Parks runs 11 holiday parks across Scotland and Northern England, offering settings that range from quiet rural hideaways to coastal sites with full leisure facilities. Guests can choose between relaxed short breaks, family-centred stays, and activity-led holidays, supported by a mix of hire-fleet accommodation, touring pitches, and well-established owner communities. As the business has grown through the acquisition of individual parks, each location has arrived with its own habits, systems, and guest expectations, creating a wide operational landscape.

With this expansion came the need for joined-up booking management, consistent guest communication, and reliable financial oversight. Staff handle reservations, activities, owner queries, housekeeping, maintenance, and front-of-house tasks, all of which rely on clear information and dependable processes. Verdant Parks prioritises service quality, so reducing manual work and streamlining coordination across parks has become essential to delivering a confident, modern experience for every visitor.

As Verdant parks grew through acquisition, the challenge was  consistency and clear information across their 11 parks and to eradicate the number of manual checks, workarounds, and handovers required to keep bookings, operations, owners and finance aligned. Information was spread across multiple software solutions for bookings and owner management, enquiries and CRM,  finance, alongside park-level tools and spreadsheets.

This meant teams regularly switched systems, copied information between platforms, and relied on manual follow-ups to keep records in sync. Without a shared operational view, issues often only became visible once guests were already arriving or problems had escalated. Staff frequently had to pull information from multiple systems just to answer basic questions about availability, owner accounts, unit readiness, or outstanding work.

Managing bookings across multiple parks and channels

Verdant Parks manages bookings across a broad mix of accommodation types and locations. As the estate expanded, reservations were handled through their previous park management software provider alongside OTA extranets, park-level processes, and internal spreadsheets. While their previous software supported core booking activity, keeping availability, pricing, and allocations aligned across the wider setup required constant reconciliation.

Updating availability, handling last-minute channel changes, or aligning rates across parks often meant manual checks across multiple systems, OTAs, and internal records. During busy periods, teams spent time double-checking information rather than focusing their efforts on customer experience.

Vibeke Loberg, CFO, explains, “As we added more parks, keeping booking data aligned across disjointed systems, OTAs, and internal tools became increasingly time-consuming. The team were spending too much time cross-checking information.”

As bookings were not directly linked to CRM activity or financial records, it was harder to maintain consistent guest communications, understand booking pace across the estate, or move guests smoothly from enquiry through to arrival without intervention.

Limited visibility of on-park operations

Housekeeping, maintenance, and front-of-house teams worked hard to stay aligned, but there was no single place to see unit status in real time.

If a maintenance issue arose during a changeover, it was not always clear whether it had been logged, who was responsible, or whether it would delay the next arrival. Front-of-house teams often only became aware of problems when guests were checking in.

“As an estate, we needed a clearer picture of what was happening on the ground,” says Vibeke. “Without that shared view, teams were often reacting rather than staying ahead.”

Complex owner management and communication

Owner management is where most systems fall down and that is where EliteParks leads. Verdant Parks supports a large and varied holiday-home owner community, each with different billing schedules, utility arrangements, sublet agreements, and communication preferences. Their previous software supported elements of owner administration, while financial records sat in a different system and owner communications were often tracked separately.

Preparing invoices, responding to owner queries, or checking account positions required staff to pull data from multiple solutions, documents, and email threads. This increased the risk of inconsistency and slowed response times.

“Owner management touches finance, bookings, and operations,” Vibeke notes. “Without everything connected in one place, we were spending too much time assembling information rather than managing relationships.”

Heavy administrative load in finance and document processing

With multiple parks producing invoices, supplier paperwork, purchase orders, and owner statements, the finance team carried a high administrative burden. Their previous software supported invoicing activity, while another was used for core finance, but the two were not directly connected to operational activity on park.

Invoice capture, approvals, and document storage relied on manual steps or partially connected tools. Month-end processes involved significant reconciliation between disjointed systems and supporting records, meaning issues were often identified after the fact rather than as they arose.

“Our finance team were working hard just to keep everything aligned,” Vibeke explains. “That level of manual administration left very little space for deeper financial insight.”

Growing need for timely reporting and oversight

As the estate expanded, leadership needed to understand performance across parks more frequently. Data existed across multiple disjointed systems and operational tools, but it was spread across systems and spreadsheets.

Reports were typically produced weekly or monthly, by which point issues had already played out on park. Comparing performance between parks or spotting emerging trends required additional manual effort.

“We had information,” Vibeke summarises, “but not in a format that allowed us to see what was happening day to day.”

No unified self-service channel for guests and owners

Guests and owners interacted with Verdant Parks through phone calls, emails, reception visits, and manual forms. Their were elements supported parts of the booking journey from the historic software, but there was no single, branded self-service channel connected across bookings, operations, and finance.

Guests contacted parks to arrange activities, manage payments, or request support. Owners relied on staff to access statements held in the finance system, check bookings in another, or update details through email. Maintenance and housekeeping requests were often logged manually, reducing visibility and slowing response times.

As Vibeke Loberg puts it, “We were spending too much time responding to routine calls and emails. Small requests created a lot of cross checking, and the same questions came up repeatedly.”

Without a unified digital portal connected to operational and financial systems, routine interactions continued to place pressure on front-desk teams and limited the business’s ability to streamline communication across the estate.

The Solution

As Verdant Parks’s estate expanded, the business reached a point where having multiple disjointed systems, could no longer support the day-to-day reality of a multi-park group. While their previous software continued to meet booking-led requirements, the wider setup required teams to move information between systems, reconcile records, and manually keep bookings, operations, owners, and finance aligned.

Verdant needed a single platform that reflected how the business actually worked. One where enquiries, bookings, owner accounts, on-park activity, and financial data were connected in real time, without forcing individual parks to abandon their established ways of operating.

EliteParks was selected as the group-wide platform to provide that shared foundation. Built on Microsoft Dynamics, EliteParks replaced the fragmented stack with one system covering bookings, operations, owner management, CRM, finance, and reporting. Verdant adopted a broad suite of modules, including EliteCRM, integrated finance, My Elite for self-service, and EliteAnalytics for reporting, each removing specific points of friction that had existed across multiple systems.

Unified reservations and channel management

Verdant moved bookings into EliteParks, consolidating availability, rates, and allocations across all parks and accommodation types. OTA connections now feed directly into a single reservations workflow, removing the need for teams to reconcile data across multiple systems during the day.

Rates, unit details, and promotions can be managed once and applied consistently across channels. Teams can see live occupancy, booking pace, and revenue by park, unit type, and channel at any point, rather than relying on delayed reports or manual checks.

Vibeke Loberg explains, “Once bookings were consolidated in EliteParks, reconciliation largely disappeared. The team trust the data they’re working with, which makes a big difference during peak periods.”

A single operational view for housekeeping, maintenance, and front of house

EliteParks replaced fragmented, park-level operational processes with a shared operational workspace connected directly to bookings. Housekeeping schedules, maintenance jobs, safety checks, and front-of-house tasks now sit in one place, giving teams a clear, live view of what is happening across the park.

Park teams can see at a glance which units are clean, in progress, delayed, or blocked. Issues are visible while there is still time to act, rather than surfacing when guests arrive.

Housekeeping tasks are automatically generated from arrivals and departures, reducing missed cleans and double allocations. Maintenance jobs are issued digitally with priorities, notes, and photos, allowing teams to respond quickly without paper lists or manual handovers.

“For the first time, we could see housekeeping, maintenance, and arrivals progressing together,” says Vibeke. “That shared view immediately improved coordination and saved time across teams.”

Integrated owner management and clearer communication

Owner management was moved fully into EliteParks, bringing billing, meter readings, sublet arrangements, documents, and communication into a single workflow. This removed the need to pull information from multiple systems, documents, and email threads when responding to owner queries.

Batch invoicing now covers site fees, utilities, and insurance in one process. Sublets sit alongside standard bookings, giving Verdant clear oversight of availability, commissions, and owner income. Documents are stored centrally against each owner account, replacing email chains and paper records.

Vibeke notes, “Owner administration became far more controlled. Everything sits in one place, which has made the experience more consistent for owners and easier for staff to manage.”

Integrated finance replacing Sage and manual reconciliation

EliteParks’ integrated finance tools replaced the standalone Sage setup and the manual reconciliation that sat between finance, bookings, and operations. Invoices raised through bookings, maintenance, or owner management now post directly to the same ledgers, removing rekeying and reducing errors.

Continia document capture and output tools streamlined invoice processing, approvals, and storage. Supplier invoices follow clear approval routes, documents are archived automatically, and finance teams can see the impact of operational activity as it happens rather than waiting until month end.

The introduction of structured intercompany processing removed a significant source of manual effort within the finance team. Transactions between entities now post automatically and consistently, without the need for manual journals or time-consuming reconciliations. Reducing the day-to-day burden on the finance department has allowed the team to focus more on forward planning and strategic insight, rather than administrative processing.

“The amount of manual checking dropped significantly,” Vibeke explains. “That freed up time for budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis rather than chasing paperwork.”

My Elite as a single self-service hub

My Elite became the unified self-service channel for guests and owners, connected directly to bookings, operations, and finance. Guests can view bookings, pay balances, book activities, and request services from their phone. Owners can access statements, invoices, documents, and sublet information without contacting the park.

With Elite feeding directly into EliteParks, every request, payment, or update is reflected immediately across teams. This reduced inbound calls and emails and removed the need for staff to relay information between systems.

“My Elite significantly reduced pressure on front-desk teams,” says Vibeke. “Customers can manage routine tasks themselves, which has improved response times across the board.”

Consistent data and real-time oversight

EliteAnalytics replaced spreadsheet-based reporting with live dashboards covering bookings, occupancy, revenue, operations, maintenance, and owner activity. Data refreshes automatically, giving leaders and park teams a consistent view of performance across the estate.

Managers moved from weekly or monthly reporting to daily, real-time oversight across the group. They can compare parks, track booking pace, monitor operational pressure, and act on issues while there is still time to intervene.

Vibeke summarises the impact: “We now have insight we can act on straight away. It’s not about gathering data anymore, it’s about using it to run the business day to day.”

Outcomes and Measurable Gains

Time saved on bookings and channel management

By moving away from their previous booking setup and consolidating reservations within EliteParks, the reservations team significantly reduced the time spent reconciling availability and rates across systems. OTA updates now feed directly into a single workflow, removing the need to cross-check multiple dashboards during busy periods.

This simplification improved booking accuracy and reduced manual intervention, particularly during peak season, contributing to a 30% reduction in booking reconciliation time across the year.

Faster coordination across housekeeping, maintenance, and front of house

With housekeeping, maintenance, and front-of-house teams working from the same operational view, coordination during arrivals and departures improved noticeably. Tasks are visible in real time, ownership is clearer, and potential delays are identified earlier.

As a result, maintenance jobs are assigned more quickly, changeovers run more smoothly, and average turnaround times across parks fell by 25 minutes per unit.

Smoother owner management and fewer administrative touchpoints

Consolidating owner billing, sublet information, and documentation into EliteParks reduced the volume of ad hoc owner queries previously handled through email and phone calls. Owners now have direct access to accurate, up-to-date information through the app, improving confidence and reducing reliance on park teams.

With easier access to statements and payment options, overdue invoices fell by 18%, while staff spent less time responding to repeat administrative requests.

Reduced finance workload and improved month-end efficiency

Replacing their previous providers basic invoicing-led finance processes with fully integrated ledgers and automated revenue flows shortened month-end routines and improved accuracy. Continia document capture and approval workflows removed much of the repetitive manual work previously required to process supplier invoices and store documentation.

These changes contributed to a 3-day reduction in month-end processing time, allowing the finance team to focus more on budgeting, forecasting, and financial oversight.

Increased guest and owner independence through My Elite

My Elite provided guests and owners with a single, consistent self-service channel connected directly to operational and financial systems. Routine actions such as payments, document access, activity bookings, and service requests moved away from front desks and into the app.

Front-of-house teams saw an immediate reduction in routine enquiries, with many customers choosing self-service. This shift contributed to a 35% reduction in incoming calls and emails across participating parks.

More reliable reporting and faster access to insight

EliteAnalytics replaced spreadsheet-based reporting with live dashboards that refresh automatically. Leaders and park teams now access consistent performance data across bookings, revenue, operations, and owners without manual compilation.

Staff spend less time building reports and more time acting on insight, resulting in a weekly saving of 8 hours per team member previously spent on reporting tasks and improving the speed of operational and strategic decision-making.

Looking Ahead

Verdant Parks plans to build on the foundations now in place rather than introduce further system change. With bookings, operations, finance, CRM, and owner management running through EliteParks, the focus has shifted to reducing friction in everyday work and making interactions simpler for both staff and customers.

My Elite will play a larger role in how the business communicates with guests and owners. The team plans to use the app more actively for operational updates, reminders, activity information, and targeted messages, reducing reliance on emails and phone calls. This approach gives customers a single, reliable place to find information, while cutting down on repeat queries handled by park teams.

Operational teams are also looking to use the data now available to plan earlier and more accurately. Visibility of maintenance demand, housekeeping workload, unit readiness, and occupancy patterns will be used to prepare for busy periods in advance, rather than responding once pressure is already on the park.

Reporting will continue to evolve as well. With live park- and group-level dashboards in place, managers are refining how they use information day to day, staying aligned across locations and responding quickly when trends or issues emerge.

As Vibeke Loberg explains, “The introduction of EliteParks has had a significant positive impact across every department and for our valued customers. With the right tools now in place, the focus is no longer on seeking change, but on using those systems to communicate better, stay organised, and continue improving how the business runs.”