AvantiGas supply over 120,000 litres of LPG a year to Hazelwood Holiday Park a third generation family business based in Devon.
Originally built by Frederick Hazelwood in 1947, the site was then sold to Arthur Chenery 1959 and in 1973, Arthur’s son, Peter Chenery, took over the business. By 1975, Peter Chenery had acquired the neighbouring site to create Hazelwood Holiday Park which is now run by Patrick Chenery who joined the family business in 1996.
Today, the site features 110 luxury holiday lodges and 140 chalets. Available all year round, a number of the lodges are owned by members of the public and then sub-let throughout the year; other lodges are let by Hazelwood Holiday Park as holiday accommodation on a weekly basis.
In addition to the 250 accommodation units, the site also houses a fish and chip shop and laundrette, a club house and swimming pool and a main site office. In total, there are 253 units on the site, all of which consume LPG gas for hot water, central heating and cooking. LPG has always been Hazelwood’s source of fuel: in its early years, the site used to give each caravan bottles of LPG but in 1996, it began its relationship with AvantiGas who now supply over 120,000 litres of gas a year. AvantiGas installed nine, two tonne underground storage tanks which supply each of the 253 units through a network of below ground level pipes. The site uses a top-up system which sees AvantiGas driver, Martin Clamp, replenish stocks every three weeks.
Speaking about Hazelwood’s LPG consumption, Patrick Chenery, Managing Director, said: “LPG really is the lifeblood of the site. It is used as a source of gas for cooking as well as to heat water in the chalets, lodges and swimming pool. We also use it to fuel our central hot water systems and it is even used to operate the tumbler dryers in our on-site laundrette. “In terms of consumption levels, as we are now open throughout the year, we have found our demand for LPG has continued to grow as we have expanded. Summer is by far our busiest time but we are finding that Christmas is becoming more and more popular so top-ups are required frequently to service our lodges and main site buildings.” Meeting this demand is something that Patrick entrusts to the account management and distribution teams based at AvantiGas’ head office in Chesterfield. Led by account manager Jude Payne, the AvantiGas team monitors Hazelwood’s LPG tanks and arranges deliveries accordingly.
Customer service continues on-site when longstanding AvantiGas delivery driver, Martin Clamp, arrives to top-up Hazelwood’s LPG supply. “We have known Martin for over 10 years and he has sussed out our needs brilliantly. Every member of staff here knows him: he has become a familiar face on site and we all really value having the same representative each time,” added Patrick. “Working alongside Martin is our AvantiGas Account Manager, Jude Payne, who is incredibly efficient and responsive. I see Jude regularly and he is always available to chat on the phone to sort anything from price negotiation to orders. I feel in very safe hands dealing with Jude and his head office team,” Patrick commented.
Speaking about the overall service Hazelwood Holiday Park receives from AvantiGas, Patrick concluded: “When it comes to talking about things like gas and electric supply for the site, I always feel that if these topics don’t arise, it’s because everything is running just fine. People really only ever bring things like fuel supply up in conversation when they’re going wrong and things never go wrong with our LPG supply!
“I would not hesitate to recommend AvantiGas to other businesses looking to use LPG or switch LPG suppliers. We have used the company for 18 years and I think this in itself says so much. AvantiGas is reliable, knowledgeable, efficient, competitive and its staff are very friendly to boot.”