A log cabin maker has won contracts worth £43 million to create two holiday villages.

Rural Log Cabins, of Twycross, has been asked to build more than 110 luxury holiday homes by two separate developers in Warwickshire. The first contract, worth £18 million, is for 50 cabins at a major waterside development, while the other, worth £25 million, is for 67 units at a site in the south of the county.

Managing director Steve Missen would not name the customers or the exact locations. The company has secured the huge contracts, which are subject to planning consent, despite a slump in the construction market, which has forced Leicestershire building firms to axe hundreds of jobs.

Mr Missen said the luxury end of the market was still going strong because clients were generally unaffected by the credit crunch. "We are delighted with these contracts and I suppose we are bucking the trend," he said. "But despite the credit crunch there are still people out there who are able to splash out on luxury purchases like this. We have already got three people who are ready to put deposits down for the first development when it gets planning permission."

Mr Missen said he was optimistic planning consent for both sites would be granted. Construction work on the waterside development should begin next year and in early 2010 at the south Warwickshire site.

The business was founded in 2000 by Mr Missen and business partner Alex Theobald. However, the pair spent the first five years researching their market. The company has just completed a holiday village in Hampshire, as well as a number of smaller projects. Turnover is set to soar from £3 million this year to £24 million in 2010.

Mr Missen, a former senior manager at housebuilder Bovis, said after suffering from a poor image, timber log cabins were now becoming more popular due to people wanting to get closer to nature and the fact they were more environmentally friendly.

"People want to live in these luxury cabins for the lifestyle, to be closer to the countryside," he said. "The eco agenda is becoming more of an attraction, too. We will design these new cabins to be zero carbon emitting."

Mr Missen said the four and five-bedroom luxury cabins would cost between £350,000 and £650,000 and contain high-quality fittings, including marble work surfaces. "Our aim is to provide high-quality bespoke log cabins, good enough to live in style and comfort, whether for a short break or as a permanent home," he said.

"We worked closely with the customer and the project management team to plan the site and accommodate all the requests made, including disabled access and a fully-equipped disabled unit. The result is undoubtedly a very exciting and attractive holiday village which will give many people a great deal of pleasure."

The cabins are pre-manufactured in Latvia and finished off at the company's workshop in Cadeby, near Market Bosworth. The company employs four people, which climbs to 32 during busy periods.

Source: Leicester Mercury

More news in Leicestershire