Pontins

Last updated

Pontins Holiday Parks
Pontins
Company type Private limited company
Industry Holiday / Leisure
Founded1946 (1946)
Founder Fred Pontin
Headquarters St Helier, Jersey (registered office)
Hale, Greater Manchester, England (contact address)
Number of locations
Two holiday parks in UK
ProductsFamily holiday parks
Owner Britannia Hotels
Number of employees
715
Website pontins.com

Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. It was acquired by Britannia Hotels in 2011. [1]

Contents

Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment at resorts, or "holiday parks", as they have branded them. Accommodation is usually in the form of chalets (which Pontins calls "apartments").

In 2022, it was rated the worst British holiday park chain out of a field of 19 in a survey by consumer association Which? [2]

Currently, there are no Pontins resorts open due to the two remaining sites being used as homes for workers. [3] [4]

Company history

Brean Sands holiday park in 2008 Pontins Brean Sands holiday park - geograph.org.uk - 2465570 (cropped).jpg
Brean Sands holiday park in 2008

Fred Pontin opened his first holiday camp in 1946 on the site of a former U.S. army base (built during World War II), at Brean Sands near Weston-super-Mare in Somerset at a cost of £23,000. Pontin formed a syndicate, in which he held 50% control, to own the camp. [5] Within a year he had six camps. [6] Over the years he bought more camps and personally ran them for a year, before selling them to the syndicate. [5] He gradually expanded his empire to thirty sites. [7]

Entrance to Camber Sands camp in 2017, a few years before its closure in 2023 Pontins, Camber Sands - geograph.org.uk - 5435214.jpg
Entrance to Camber Sands camp in 2017, a few years before its closure in 2023

The camps were smaller and less expensive than Butlin's holiday camps. [6] Pontins had Bluecoats to entertain their guests, as opposed to Butlins Redcoats. Among the Bluecoats were Stu Francis, Shane Richie, Bobby Davro, Bradley Walsh, Nick Wilton, Lee Mack and Carol Lee Scott (who later played "Grotbags"). [6] [8]

In 1978, the company was sold to Coral for £56 million. In 1980, Coral (including Pontins) was taken over by Bass Brewing, who sold Pontins in 1987 to a management buyout team led by Trevor Hemmings. [lower-alpha 1] It was sold again in 1989, to Scottish & Newcastle.

Play equipment at the now-closed Camber Sands camp in 2017 Pontins, Camber Sands - geograph.org.uk - 5435215.jpg
Play equipment at the now-closed Camber Sands camp in 2017

Over the next ten years, the company closed or sold off multiple sites. In a three-year programme in the mid-1990s, the remaining camps were modernised. By 2000, the company was operating only eight camps, and was sold back to Hemmings. In 2008, the company was sold to Ocean Parcs for £46 million. [9] Wall Park holiday centre was not included in the sale.

In January 2009, Pontins announced the closure of its Hemsby holiday centre. [10] Pontins Blackpool in Squires Gate closed in October 2009 and was subsequently demolished after being acquired by property developer Persimmon, [11] leaving only five parks still operating under the Pontins brand.

Pontins headquarters were relocated to the Southport Holiday Park, Ainsdale in Southport. From the original Hemmings buy-out until then, the headquarters were at Sagar House in the village of Eccleston, Lancashire.

Wick Ferry Pontins camp in 1971 Pontins Holiday Camp, Wick Ferry, Christchurch 1971 - geograph.org.uk - 3825165.jpg
Wick Ferry Pontins camp in 1971

In September 2009, Pontins announced a five-year multi-million investment plan for the remaining five parks. Refurbishment work completed in 2010 included a new half-board restaurant and ice skating rink at the Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park, and a new roller skating rink at the Brean Sands Holiday Park. Proposals of rebuilding the Camber Sands and Southport Holiday Parks and doubling the capacity of the Pakefield Holiday Park were also made.

In November 2010, Pontins entered administrative receivership [6] and in January 2011, the company was bought out of receivership by Britannia Hotels. [1] In 2014, the former Pontins resort at Sand Bay was purchased by the group and it became the sixth resort to be operated under the new Pontins brand.

On 30 November 2023, Britannia Hotels, owners of Pontins, suddenly closed the parks at Prestatyn and Camber Sands with immediate effect, affecting people who had made bookings for the Christmas period. [2] On 3 January 2024 the park at Southport was suddenly closed following flooding in Storm Henk. [12]

Discrimination against Irish people

In March 2021 a whistleblower provided the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) with an internal Pontins document listing what were considered to be common Irish surnames, deeming people so named to be "undesirable guests" whose booking was to be refused. [13] [14] [15] This was done to be able to refuse bookings from Romani and Irish Travellers based on their name; discrimination was also by accent. [16] The practice was investigated by the EHRC, which found Pontins was "directly discriminating on the basis of race", breaching the Equality Act 2010. [13] The Britannia Hotel Group, which owns Pontins, made a legal agreement with the EHRC to investigate and end the practice, and change its policies and systems accordingly. [17]

Resorts

As of January 2024 Pontins operated the following resorts:


class=notpageimage|
Location of current Pontins holiday camps

Resorts closed or sold

Entrance to Blackpool camp in November 2009, shortly after closure The entrance to the old Pontins holiday camp - geograph.org.uk - 1591761.jpg
Entrance to Blackpool camp in November 2009, shortly after closure
Balloon car 707, seen with an all over advert for Pontin's, at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1990 Balloon car 707 - geograph.org.uk - 780771.jpg
Balloon car 707, seen with an all over advert for Pontin's, at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1990
Chalets at former Camber Sands camp Pontins, Camber Sands - geograph.org.uk - 5435210.jpg
Chalets at former Camber Sands camp

This is a list of some former Pontins resorts in the UK and Ireland that have either closed or been sold:

Notes

  1. ↑ Hemmings construction firm had originally built the holiday centre at Southport.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prestatyn</span> Coastal town in Denbighshire, Wales

Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holiday camp</span>

A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with terms such as holiday park, resort, holiday village and holiday centre replacing it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartmouth Steam Railway</span> Heritage railway line in Devon, England

The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a 6.7-mile (10.8 km) heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth.

All Tomorrow's Parties was a UK organisation based in London that promoted music festivals, concerts and records throughout the world for over ten years. It was founded by Barry Hogan in 2001 in preparation for the first All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, the line-up of which was picked by Mogwai and took place at Pontins, Camber Sands, England. Named after the song "All Tomorrow's Parties" by the Velvet Underground, the festival exhibited a tendency towards post-rock, indie rock, avant-garde music, and underground hip hop, along with more traditional rock fare presented in smaller venues than typical stadium performances. It was at first a sponsorship-free festival where the organisers and artists stay in the same accommodation as the fans. It claimed to set itself apart from festivals like Reading or Glastonbury by staying intimate, non-corporate and fan-friendly. Another difference was the line-ups being chosen by significant bands or artists, resulting in unorthodox events which often combined acts of all sizes, eras, and genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camber, East Sussex</span> Village in East Sussex, England

Camber is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Rye. The village is located behind the sand dunes that occupy the estuary of the River Rother, where the seaside settlement of Camber Sands is situated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camber Sands</span> Beach in East Sussex, England

Camber Sands is a beach in East Sussex, England, in the village of Camber, near Rye. It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex, and is east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay stretching 3 miles (4.8 km) to just beyond the Kent border, where shingle and pebbles take over again. It is one of three stretches of non-tidally submerged sand east of Poole Bay, which just exceeds the three in total length, on England's south coast, the others being West Wittering and Avon Beach. Two holiday resorts are near Camber Sands owned by Pontins and Parkdean Resorts just off New Lydd Road and Lydd Road respectively in the alighting village of Camber. The former closed on 30 November 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand Bay</span>

Sand Bay is a strip of coast in North Somerset bordered to the south by Worlebury Hill and to the north by Sand Point and Middle Hope. It lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare, and across the Bristol Channel from South Wales. It is adjacent to the village of Kewstoke.

Sir Frederick William Pontin was the founder of Pontins holiday camps and one of the two main entrepreneurs in the British holiday camp business in the 30 years after World War II, alongside Billy Butlin.

Hemsby is a village, seaside resort and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England. It is situated some 8 mi (13 km) north of the town of Great Yarmouth. In the 2001 census Hemsby had a population of 2,973 in 1,221 households; by the 2011 census it had increased to 3,275. Hemsby borders the villages of Winterton-on-Sea and Scratby. For the purpose of local government, the parish is in the district of Great Yarmouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churston railway station</span> Heritage railway station in Devon, England

Churston railway station is on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, a heritage railway in Torbay, Devon, England. It is situated beside the main road to Brixham and close to the villages of Churston Ferrers and Galmpton. There has been no scheduled service at the station since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haven Holidays</span> Holiday, caravan park and campsite operator

Haven Holidays is a company operating a chain of holiday parks in the United Kingdom. It operates self catering static caravan holiday parks with many also including touring and camping facilities. The company operates 38 sites in the UK in predominantly coastal locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brean Leisure Park</span> Amusement park in Somerset, England

Brean Leisure Park is an amusement park in the coastal resort of Brean, near Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England. The park covers an area of 200 acres (80.9 ha).

Britannia Hotels is a British budget hotel group with 64 hotels in Great Britain. The company also owns the Pontins Holiday Parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PGL Travel</span> Travel agency in the United Kingdom

PGL Travel Ltd is a provider of school activity courses and summer camps for children in the United Kingdom. Along with NST, European Study Tours and StudyLink it is a part of the HB Education group, owned by Midlothian Capital Partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakefield</span> Human settlement in England

Pakefield is a suburb of the town of Lowestoft, in the East Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the centre of the town. It 2011 the ward had a population of 6,563.

Park Holidays UK operates 54 holiday parks in the UK and is one of the largest holiday park operators in the UK, offering caravan and lodge holidays, glamping breaks, touring and camping, and holiday home ownership. It has parks in both country and coastal locations. The company is a member of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association (BH&HPA).

Warner Leisure Hotels is a hospitality company owning 14 country and coastal properties around the UK in North Wales, Somerset, Herefordshire, Berkshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Hampshire and Warwickshire. Founded in 1932 as Warner Holiday Camps, later known as Warner Holidays and has been adult only since 1994. In the 1990s Warner's started developing country house hotels and changing their existing 'camps' into coastal resorts and hotels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkdean Resorts</span> Holiday park operator in the United Kingdom.

Parkdean Resorts is a holiday park operator in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 2015 through the merger of Parkdean Holidays and Park Resorts. As of 2022 it operates 66 holiday parks across England, Scotland, and Wales, and is the largest holiday park operator in the UK. Parkdean invested £140 million into its parks in the UK in 2021 and 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 "Pontin's holiday firm bought by Britannia Hotel group". BBC News . 28 January 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 Sweney, Mark (1 December 2023). "Pontins to close Prestatyn and Camber Sands resorts 'with immediate effect'". The Guardian.
  3. 1 2 Leaman, Tom (11 January 2023). "Holiday park closes to accommodate hundreds of Hinkley Point C workers". Bridgwater Mercury.
  4. 1 2 "Pontins Pakefield to house 500 Sizewell C construction workers". BBC News. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Barker, Dennis (4 October 2000). "Obituary: Sir Fred Pontin". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Finch, Julia; Treanor, Jill (13 November 2010). "Pontin's falls into administration as fond memories fail to save firm". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Pontins to get 'Disney' makeover". BBC News . 6 February 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Grotbags actress Carol Lee Scott dies aged 74". BBC News . 6 July 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "Pontin's bought by former boss". The Guardian . 27 March 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  10. ↑ "Pontin's to close holiday centre". BBC News . 5 January 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  11. ↑ "Blackpool holiday camp to close". Blackpool Gazette.
  12. 1 2 Wearn, Rebecca; Horsburgh, Lynette (3 January 2024). "Pontins closures: Southport site shut after 'viability' assessment". BBC News.
  13. 1 2 "Pontins used 'undesirables list' of Irish surnames". BBC News . 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  14. ↑ Booth, Robert (2 March 2021). "Secret Pontins blacklist prevented people with Irish surnames from booking". The Guardian . Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  15. ↑ Rodger, James; Shaw, Megan (3 March 2021). "Full list of Pontins banned surnames excluded from booking holidays". Yorkshire Live. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "Pontins used 'undesirable guests' list to discriminate against Gypsies and travellers, EHRC says". Sky News. 2 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "Pontins used blacklist of common Irish surnames to keep Traveller families out of holiday parks". inews.co.uk. 2 March 2021.
  18. ↑ "Property". Commercial Search UK. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Middleton Village officially opened". The Visitor, Morecambe.
  20. ↑ "Holiday on the Buses Event 2013".
  21. ↑ "Restaurants". Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.