With staycations continuing in popularity during times of pandemic uncertainty, Perthshire-based entrepreneur Morris Leslie is set get into luxury lodges with the launch of Morris Leslie Villages.
The owner of the plant hire and sales company and vehicle auction businesses which both bear his name, said the development will be positioned at the top end of the market and available exclusively for purchase.
Morris Leslie, whose business career spans six decades, explained: “This concept was already in the planning pre-Covid as we had noted the ever-increasing popularity of Brits opting to holiday in the UK rather than overseas.
“We coupled that with the undeniable majesty of the Scottish countryside and Morris Leslie Villages was developed from there.”
Having invested an undisclosed sum in the venture, several sites across the country have already been earmarked to become locations for the lodge developments.
Details of the first development will be announced in the coming weeks, while plans are at an advanced stage for the company’s second and third sites.
At the start of this year, Morris Leslie Group submitted proposals for a £33.8m leisure-led development at West Kinfauns in Perthshire, near where its headquarters are based.
The development would include a four-star hotel, lodge-style cabins and a museum that would tell the story of transport and and vehicles over the last century.
“The pandemic has undoubtedly heightened demand from staycationers seeking to own a UK based holiday home, enabling them to maximise their leisure time and as a result, sales of static homes and lodge properties are soaring,” said Leslie.
“We anticipate interest in Morris Leslie Villages will come not only from Scottish based buyers, but also from those living in other parts of the UK and overseas who have come to love and appreciate the beauty of rural Scotland but are selective and have high expectations for the property in which they and their family stay.”
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