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 ofchalets (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 associationWhich?[2]
As of April 2024[update], two of the remaining Pontins resorts (Brean Sands and Pakefield) were closed to the public for a temporary but extended period due to serving as accommmodation for construction workers on nearby projects.[3][4]
Fred Pontin opened his first holiday camp in 1946 on the site of a former U.S. army base (built duringWorld War II), atBrean Sands nearWeston-super-Mare inSomerset 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
In 1978, the company was sold toCoral for £56 million. In 1980, Coral (including Pontins) was taken over byBass Brewing, who sold Pontins in 1987 to a management buyout team led byTrevor Hemmings.[a] It was sold again in 1989, toScottish & Newcastle.
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 toOcean 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 inSquires Gate closed in October 2009 and was subsequently demolished after being acquired by property developerPersimmon,[11] leaving only five parks still operating under the Pontins brand.
Pontins headquarters were relocated to the Southport Holiday Park,Ainsdale inSouthport. From the original Hemmings buy-out until then, the headquarters were at Sagar House in the village ofEccleston, Lancashire.
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 newroller 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 enteredadministrative receivership[6] and in January 2011, the company was bought out of receivership byBritannia 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 inStorm Henk.[12]
In March 2021 awhistleblower provided theEquality 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 fromRomani andIrish 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 theEquality Act 2010.[13] TheBritannia 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]
Sand Bay - Weston Super Mare. The last park still open. Adults only, still referred to as a Pontins, though most of the signage just says ‘Sand Bay holiday village’.[citation needed]
Entrance to Blackpool camp in November 2009, shortly after closureBalloon car 707, seen with an all over advert for Pontin's, atBlackpool Pleasure Beach in 1990Chalets at former Camber Sands camp
This is a list of some former Pontins resorts in theUK andIreland that have either closed or been sold:
Barton Hall,Torquay,Devon; now aPGL site from 2010 (children's activity holidays)
The 1973 British filmHoliday on the Buses was filmed at and set in the Prestatyn resort. A plaque was erected in 2004 at the main entrance gates (unchanged since the film was shot) to note this event.[21] The same venue hosted professional snooker each year. Prestatyn Sands also hosted the finals for the annual Brass Band Festival;[22] historically, the qualifying rounds were held in other Pontins centres.
The previousOn The Buses film,Mutiny on the Buses (1972), depicted buses carrying adverts with the slogan "Go Pontinental", a chain of holiday villages set up in Continental Europe.[5]
In November 2020, Liverpool-based indie band Courting released their fourth single 'Popshop!' which mentions the resort (in particular the Southport site) in its lyrics saying: "take the lads on tour, we'll go to Pontins."[citation needed]
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