In their quest to operate an industry leading business, Taupo DeBretts Spa Resort Directors, Barry and Carolyn Kirkland, have travelled throughout New Zealand in their campervan in the past 18 months "to have a look and most importantly use the facilities, to find out what works and what doesn't". Says Barry, "I'm quite convinced holiday park operators have ideas but don't end up actually using their facilities, so they don't really know what's working for them."

Barry, who bought the property and business from what was Dominion Breweries 30 years ago, admits experience has taught him the value of facilities which tick hygiene, environmentally-friendly and long-lasting quality boxes. "We've learnt the hard way and made mistakes along the way," he says. "Resco is more expensive, but we now know it is value for money. Cheap is not always best."

Barry says they are thrilled with their new and upgraded amenities which include gender neutral facilities at the pools and camping ground ablution blocks. Shower and toilet cubicles are Resco's most robust Series 7000 made larger than standard; excellent use has been made of natural light and the setting, and new underfloor heating uses water from the hot pool complex.

"We have worked closely with Resco to achieve solid, bullet-proof facilities. We've aimed to be innovative, we've done some cutting edge things and we know that others are now looking at what we have done."

The antibacterial properties of Resco's Compact Laminate products also add value to the end result says Barry, who has written about the Resco Antibac technology in glowing terms on the Taupo DeBretts website.

Resco product specialist Troy Henriques says they enjoyed being really challenged by Barry in his quest to raise the benchmark for the spa resort and holiday park industry.

Troy noted the Taupo DeBretts Spa Resort achievement of Qualmark 5-star Enviro Gold ratings in both the holiday park and pool and day spa complex.