On the move with HPB

The couple had moved – physically that is – the year before, when Keith retired as Director of Human Resources for a major global engineering company. Having lived in Oxford for 10 years, for the McCartneys early retirement meant relocation: to Lyndhurst in the New Forest, Hampshire.

So, how did they come across the Holiday Property Bond? There was, says Keith, nothing particularly unusual about it. “My father-in-law gave us the HPB marketing materials. We liked what we saw – enough, anyway, to go along to an Open Day at Langton House, our nearest HPB site. We met the site manager, who was delightful, and were very impressed with the overall concept, so we signed up. It felt like a good decision at the time – but our subsequent spell as Bondholders has surely justified our decision!”

The McCartneys have taken no less than 40 HPB holidays. In the UK, their travels have taken them as far afield as Tigh Mor Trossachs in Scotland; Lodge Yard in Yorkshire; Duloe Manor in Cornwall; Lower Knapp Farm in Dorset; Upper Norton in Shropshire; the two Welsh sites, St Brides Castle in Pembrokeshire and Henllys in Anglesey; Barnham Broom in Norfolk (“our first HPB holiday”) and, of course, Langton House. Overseas, they have visited HPB’s French “Big Three”– Le Manoir du Hilguy in Brittany, Constant in the Dordogne and Le Mont de St Siméon in Île de France; La Reserva de Biniorella in Majorca; HPB’s two Canary Island sites, El Balcón de Santa Ana in La Gomera and Santa Rosa in Lanzarote; and Rocha Brava in Portugal’s Algarve.

Along with providing its Bondholders with access to a unique and extensive holiday property portfolio, HPB provides an extensive range of “Theme Week” holidays at HPB sites throughout the year, enabling holidaymakers to pursue a hobby, or take up a new one, with like-minded people in beautiful locations. The McCartneys are keen golfers, and a dozen of their holidays have been HPB golfing Theme Weeks, allowing the couple to indulge their passion for “a good walk, spoiled”.

Pressed to name a favourite site, Jennifer struggles a little. “In the UK? Well, Tigh Mor is magnificent. St Brides is magical – the Pembrokeshire coast is so beautiful. Playing golf at Henllys, with Snowdonia as a backdrop, is hard to beat. In Europe – well, we love Biniorella. Quinto de Rosal, too, an HPB Tenancy property in Portugal; so many great golf courses to choose from! And Hilguy is very special – our own French château, and so easy to get to.”

Keith comes to Jennifer’s rescue. “All the sites are special, in their own individual ways – it makes it nigh on impossible to pick a favourite. But one thing that’s common to all of them is the quality of the sites, and the site staff. From the manager downwards, everyone, at every HPB site, is dedicated, caring, and committed to ensuring that we as Bondholders have the best holidays possible. Couple that with the quality of the accommodation, the beauty of the locations, and the friendliness of our fellow Bondholders – as they say, what more can one wish for?”**quote**

The McCartneys are on the move again, though not so far this time. The couple have moved from their large family home to a more manageable apartment. This may give additional opportunities to top up their existing HPB holding. The plan, says Keith, is ultimately to pass on their HPB investment to the next generation: sons Gavin and wife Jane, with their two children George and Rex; and Robert and wife Emma, with their three boys Sam, Harry and Jack. “Robert and Gavin have already used HPB, at home and abroad,” says Jennifer. “But we think that splitting it between them is one of the nicest ways to bequeath it. Not that we’re planning on doing so any time soon! Another advantage to downsizing is that we can just ‘lock up and go’. We predict a lot more holidays to come!”

So, isn’t there any negative aspect to the Holiday Property Bond?

“The only drawback is I have to keep explaining to people that it isn’t timeshare!” says Keith. “Telling them that we can holiday when and where we want helps to change their minds. Explaining that the investment can be passed on to our children and grandchildren completes the process!”