About us: Who we are
PGL is the UK’s leading provider of activity courses and holidays for schools, colleges, youth groups and individual children and young people, with centres spread across the UK, France and Spain.
In addition to adventure courses, we also operate a programme of cultural, language and sports tours for schools to UK and European destinations. In winter, we also arrange inclusive ski packages to well-known European and American resorts.
PGL is widely recognised as the UK’s original and biggest operator of summer camps. In this context our name became known as “Parents Get Lost”, but we now also operate a programme of family holidays so that parents can come too!
2007 was our 50th Anniversary year, so there is a tremendous amount of experience invested in all our courses, tours and holidays. We are proud of our achievements and reputation, but never complacent. We continue to build on our expertise – ensuring that the experiences we offer are safe, friendly, exciting, educational, challenging and fun!
To find out more about the company please click on the links below to take you to the appropriate section:
Peter Gordon Lawrence – the founder of PGL
PGL Company history Affiliations and Awards
Holidaybreak - our parent company
Although children often refer to us as ‘Parents Get Lost’ the Company actually takes its name from the initials of the man who started it all in the 1950s - Peter Gordon Lawrence.
After leaving engineering college Peter Lawrence went on a canoeing holiday down the River Danube in 1955. He enjoyed this so much, he wanted to share the experience, and so in 1957 he started leading similar canoe trips down the River Wye for small groups of young adults. A different stretch of the river was tackled each day, making camp on the riverbank every night, striking tents in the morning and paddling onwards. Peter called his new venture PGL Voyages and over a 50 year period it has developed into the company known today as PGL Travel Ltd.
Peter Lawrence's contribution to outdoor recreation and education has been immense. Several generations of children have benefited enormously from his achievements. Many parents are today sending their sons and daughters on PGL holidays and courses that they themselves enjoyed as children. In addition thousands of young people have entered careers in outdoor education, teaching and other professions following the essential skills learnt whilst working at PGL centres.
Sadly Peter Lawrence died in August 2004 following complications with a heart condition. However, the solid foundations that he laid leave a platform from which PGL will continue to grow and offer countless more opportunities for fun, adventure experiences and personal development.
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PGL company history
From its small beginnings as a canoeing specialist in the Wye Valley in 1957 (on the border between England and Wales), PGL expanded into Wales and the Brecon Beacons National Park. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s the ‘PGL Experience' was based on three main activities - canoeing, sailing & pony trekking, with accommodation in tents. PGL's initial market was young adults, but during these early years the company established a key position in the organised school group market.
Gradual expansion throughout the 1980s confirmed PGL's position at the forefront of the adventure market. Properties ranging in character and location from a mansion house in Perthshire to a converted farm in Oxfordshire joined the list of permanent centres, with the 250 acre estate of Boreatton Park in Shropshire standing as the Company's flagship in the UK. PGL was also one of the first UK organisers of canoeing holidays in the Ardèche Gorge in the South of France and developed a French headquarters there.
Diversification into other markets has been a major part of the Company's growth in the last 20 years with development via educational tours for schools, IT and field study courses. The acquisition of the former Quest Outdoor Adventure programme, and purchasing a number of centres operated by competitors, resulted in a considerable expansion in the schools adventure market in the UK and France in the early nineties, and 1993 saw PGL become a major force in schools skiing through further acquisitions.
Development reached a new peak in the Millennium when PGL bought the Château de Grande Romaine, a 300 bed former hotel with extensive grounds on the eastern outskirts of Paris. This was followed by PGL’s biggest acquisition ever with the purchase of its major competitor 3D Education and Adventure, which added three large centres on the South Coast of England. Further significant additions have included Caythorpe Court, another large centre, near Grantham and Liddington in Wiltshire.
Today PGL is a part of the Education Division of Holidaybreak PLC and provides outdoor education courses, activity holidays, cultural tours and ski trips for over 250,000 children each year.
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PGL is a founder member of the British Activity Holiday Association (BAHA) and our substantial bond with the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) is a symbol of the Company's stability, and protects our guests' financial security.
Due to our high standards of safety and staff training PGL is recognised by all the major activity organisations and is licensed by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) for activities within its scope.
It doesn’t stop with the well-being of customers; our staff are of paramount importance to us and we invest in their training, offering work based Apprenticeships and NVQs as well as awards from the following National Governing Bodies:
• British Canoe Union
• Royal Yachting Association
• Mountain Leader Training Board
• Off Road Training Consultancy
• Royal Life Saving Society
• Health & Safety Executive
As a result of this commitment to education and training we hold the Investors in People award and were recently awarded a SkillsActive award for ‘Achievement in Training’. Following our recent inspection by the Adult Learning Inspectorate we can be confident in saying that we are benchmarked as one of the top training providers in our industry.
Click here to enter our recruitment pages and learn more about our training programmes.
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PGL Travel Ltd is a company registered in the UK with company number 1191534. Our registered office is: Alton Court, Penyard Lane, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 5GL. VAT no. 134 628373.