Pontin's

Type	Private
Founded	1946
Headquarters	Ainsdale, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Industry	Holiday
Parent	Ocean Parcs

Pontin's is a British holiday company founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. It specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays with regular entertainment on offer. Accommodation is usually in the form of chalets. The company once grew to be a major operator of seaside holiday accommodation, but has now shrunk considerably.

Contents 1 History 2 Resorts 3 Former resorts 4 Bluecoats 5 Popular culture 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

In 1978 the company was sold to Coral in a UK£56 million deal. In 1980 Coral (including Pontins) was taken over by Bass Brewing who later disposed of the Pontinental side of the business. In 1987, Pontins was sold to a management buyout team lead by Trevor Hemmings, whose construction firm had originally built the holiday centre at Southport. It was sold yet again in 1989, this time to Scottish & Newcastle. Over the next ten years the company closed or sold a number of sites. In a three-year programme in the mid-1990s, the remaining camps were modernised. In 2000 the company, which now owned only eight camps, was sold back to Hemmings. In 2008 the company was sold to Ocean Parcs for £46 million.^[1] Wall Park holiday centre was not included in the sale, and in January 2009, Pontin's announced the closure of its Hemsby holiday centre^[2], leaving 6 centres still trading under the Pontin's brand.

Pontins are now to close the Blackpool Holiday Camp http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Blackpool-holiday-camp-to-close.5626367.jp

Pontin's headquarters have recently been relocated to the Southport Holiday Centre, which is located on the coast at Ainsdale-on-Sea, close to the village of Ainsdale. From the original Hemmings buy-out until then the headquarters were located at Sagar House in the village of Eccleston, Lancashire, but the Southport Holiday Centre had always had provision for the establishment of emergency offices as part of Pontins' disaster recovery planning.

[edit] Resorts

Pontin's currently runs five resorts (known as "centres") in the United Kingdom.

• Camber Sands, East Sussex
• Southport, Merseyside
• Prestatyn Sands, Denbighshire, North Wales
• Brean Sands, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
• Pakefield, Lowestoft, Suffolk

[edit] Former resorts

These are a list of former Pontin's resorts in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that have either closed or been sold off.

• Barton Hall, Torquay, Devon now a PGL site (children's activity holidays) (formerly 3D Education)
• Bay View, Brixham, Devon
• Blackpool, Lancashire - Closed Oct 2, 2009. To be re-developed as housing
• Bracklesham Bay, Chichester, West Sussex
• Broadreeds, Selsey, West Sussex
• Buckleigh Place, Westward Ho!, Devon
• Dolphin Holiday Village, Brixham, Devon
• Homelea Holiday Camp, Brixham, Devon
• Hemsby, Norfolk - Closed January 2009
• Jersey Holiday Village, Portelet Bay, Jersey
• Little Canada, Wooton, Isle of Wight now a PGL site (children's activity holidays) (formerly 3D Education)
• Middleton Tower, Heysham, Lancashire
• Osmington Bay, Weymouth, Dorset now a PGL site (children's activity holidays) (formerly 3D Education)
• Plemont Bay, Jersey
• Riviera Chalet Hotel, Bowleaze Cove, near Preston, Weymouth, Dorset
• Sand Bay, Weston-super-Mare, north Somerset
• Sands Hotel, Prestatyn, Denbighshire, North Wales
• Seacroft, Hemsby, Norfolk
• South Devon, Paignton, Devon
• South Downs, Bracklesham Bay, near Chichester
• St Mary's Bay, Brixham, Devon now a Park Holidays UK site
• Torbay Chalet Hotel, Paignton, Devon
• Tower Beach, Prestatyn, Denbighshire, North Wales
• Trabolgan, County Cork, Republic of Ireland (still opened as "Trabolgan Holiday Village")
• Wick Ferry, Christchurch, Dorset
• Wall Park, Brixham, Devon

[edit] Bluecoats

Bluecoats were, like their redcoat counterparts at the Pontin's competitor Butlins, both guest hosts and often entertainers:

• Mo Power, TV and radio host of "In with Mo Show", Long Beach, California
• Shane Richie, actor (played Alfie Moon on EastEnders)
• Helen Chamberlain, Sky Sports "Soccer AM" presenter and fire-eater
• Nyle Wolfe, opera singer
• Bobby Davro, TV game show host, comedian and EastEnders actor
• Lee Carroll, TV host and scriptwriter
• Mark Fez Harrison, reality show star (from Magicians in Love)
• Scott Bruton, later to make it to the final 12 on The X Factor 2008 and be eliminated 3rd
• Lex Carter, Radio Presenter/Actor (Lex&Davey)

[edit] Popular culture

• The 1973 British film Holiday On The Buses was filmed at and set in the Pontins Prestatyn resort. The same venue hosts professional snooker each year. Prestatyn Sands also hosts the Pontin's annual Brass Band Festival [1]; the finals have always been held in this location, historically the qualifying rounds were held in other Pontin's centres.
• Pontin's are long-term sponsors of reserve football leagues in England.
• Pontin's at Hemsby was host to the annual Bloc Weekend music festival.
• Princes Theatre at Pontin's Blackpool was used as the base for Most Haunted Live 12, in December 2004.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Pontin's.com
• Pontin's Memories

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