Pontin’s is plunged into administration

Pontin’s has been at Camber Sands since the 1960’s and brings in thousands of holiday makers each year as well as hosting big music weekenders.

Pontin’s is iconic for its blue coat entertainers such as Shane Richie and Bobby Davro, But the Camber park was featured on a recent edition BBC Watchdog programme where it was claimed that holidaymakers had complained of poor and dirty facilities. 
Pontin’s is a chain that has four other sites as well as Camber Sands. They are: Brean Sands in Somerset; Pakefield in Suffolk; Prestatyn Sands in Wales and Southport in Merseyside.

Accountant KPMG has been appointed joint administrator and said that all five sites continued to trade as normal. No redundancies have been made.

Jane Moriarty, joint administrator at KPMG, said: “Everybody should get their holidays. We fully expected a lot of interest in Pontin’s – it’s an iconic British brand.”

Pontin’s slide into administration has come as a surprise because more people have been taking holidays in the UK rather than abroad because of the weak pound.

Fred Pontin opened his first holiday park in Brean Sands in 1946. At one point, there were 30 of them.

News of the administration was greeted with dismay in Camber this week.

Trish Locke, a parish councillor and member of Camber Residents Association, said: “It is bad news. Pontin’s has been good for Camber. We have had a good relationship with them for many years and they have always been very good at donating raffle prizes and supporting local community events.

“There is a shop on site but holiday makers often shop in the village itself and use local cafes and the beach amenities.

“I can’t fault Pontin’s, they are part of life here in Camber.”

Peter Gilchrist, who runs the post office and stores, said: “At the moment we do not know exactly what is happening but if Pontin’s closes then it is bound to have a knock-on effect on the village.”

Parish councillor David Greenfield said: “It would be a major blow to the village if Pontin’s were to close so lets hope another buyer can be found who will carry out an upgrade, which it badly needs.

“They do not employ a lot of local people, most of their staff come from outside Camber.

“It would be a real shame if it closed as it brings a lot of people into the area, even out of season with the music weekends.

We live right opposite Pontin’s and there has never been any real problems. Ninety nine percent of those going to the music weekends are very well behaved.”

Bob Atkinson, a travel expert at TravelSupermarket.com, said he was ‘amazed’ that Pontin’s had gone into administration, describing it as ‘an iconic British brand and a stalwart of the British holiday industry’.

Mr Atkinson said the news was surprising because the boom in ‘staycation’ holidays since the beginning of the economic downturn had generally benefited holiday parks like Pontin’s.

He said: ‘If Pontin’s were to close down it would remove a significant number of competitively-priced short breaks from the more economic end of the market.’

Mr Atkinson said it was difficult to speculate as to the cause of Pontin’s entering into administration but added that competition outside of the peak season may have damaged the company.

Fred Pontin, who died in 2000 at the age of 93, was an East End boy who left school at 15 and went to work on the stock exchange. During the second world war he built hostels for construction workers, and in 1946 he used that experience to open his first camp at Brean Sands on a former US army base bought for £23,000.

The derelict wooden huts were given a lick of paint and, after just one advert in the Sunday Express, Pontin had his camp full of holidaymakers.

Within a year he had six camps.

KPMG said it was optimistic of finding a buyer and hoped the Pontin’s name would live on. Joint administrator Jane Moriarty said: “It has unfortunately struggled in the current economic environment but, with some support from new management, we are optimistic that it will be part of thousands of family memories in the years to come.

“From day one, we will be actively running Pontin’s to ensure that our guests’ holiday expectations are met.”

KPMG has set up a helpline for people who have made bookings at Pontin’s: 0844 576 8481.