News Archive
Why one couple were happy to swap St Lucia for Scarborough
07th Nov 2008
The Times Online this week reports on why one couple where more than happy to swap the sun of St Lucia for the Yorkshire Coast!
Mike and Janice Murphy take their roles as grandparents so seriously that they are swapping their life of sunshine and sailing in St Lucia, where they had planned to spend most of their retirement, for family holidays on the windswept beaches of Scarborough.
“Ask any grandparent and they will tell you that the role gives you a second chance to do a better job. When our own children were small we were so busy building up our business that we didn’t have time for big holidays,” says Mike, 56. The couple had spent most of the past 30 years building up MM Designs, their graphic design company in Sheffield. But, having managed to retire this year, they intend to spend more time with Josh, 5, Lewis, 4, Holly, 3, and Jack, 2, as well as their brother or sister who is arriving next May.
Mike and Janice, 53, are part of a new breed of hands-on grandparents who are taking a greater part in the lives of their offspring. They want to spoil their grandchildren with ice- creams and building sandcastles – and what better place for that than a British seaside town near by?
The Murphys choose Scarborough, the recently spruced-up, prize-winning Victorian spa town with enormous sandy beaches. It was here that they snatched the few days of holiday that they could spend with their two sons, Andrew, 28 (father to all five grandchildren), and Stuart, 27, and it has remained a favourite holiday spot with the family ever since.
“We wanted somewhere that was under two hours’ drive away from us all,” says Mike, who lives in Barlow, Derbyshire. “Transporting that many children is a military operation. It takes an hour just to pack the car. So having a flat and beach hut in Scarborough makes it easier for them as everything is already there.
“The children have visited us in St Lucia a lot but as the family grew it got harder and more expensive. An eight-hour flight is quite tough on small children, whereas all they really want is a bucket and spade.” With all this in mind, Mike and Janice bought a three-bedroom flat off-plan in The Sands, close to The Clifton Hotel Scarborough,, an eyecatching new development in North Bay, Scarborough. The Murphys were keen to go ahead with their plans last year and put down a deposit on a £415,000 flat just as Northern Rock collapsed.
“I’ve worked through two recessions and I could see this one coming,” Mike told The Times. “But we have made our choices carefully.” The Murphys’ top-floor flat is one of 100 at the 55acre Art Deco-style development on the seafront. Seventy per cent of the flats have been sold. The rest on offer from the main sales office are priced between £140,000 and £490,000.
Some of the flats bought off-plan by investors are already on sale through estate agents such as Nicholsons Yorkshire Coast for similar prices. Alison Williams, office manager, told the Times online: “The market peaked at the beginning of 2005 and has fallen by about 15 per cent since then. But we haven’t noticed a massive depreciation at The Sands.” The design of the development stirred up controversy among some locals, but the huge scheme, which includes a “beach management centre” with a first-aid station, lifeguard post and showers, is part of Scarborough’s metamorphosis from moribund resort to bustling seaside town.
The regeneration, which began in 1995, has been so successful that last month the Scarborough was named the most enterprising place in the UK in the Enterprising Britain 2008 awards.
