Pontins staff say 'they were fired over text' as owners shut third camp in weeks

03 January 2024 , 22:01

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Pontins Southport (Image: Liverpool Echo)

A third Pontins holiday park closed with immediate effect today, just weeks after two others were shut down.

The company announced on Facebook that its Southport park in Merseyside would be closing its doors “after assessing the future viability of the park”. Staff took to social media claiming they had found out they had lost their jobs by text message just hours before the announcement on social media. It comes after the parks in Prestatyn, North Wales and Camber Sands in Sussex were shut without warning overnight last November.

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The shuttered Pontins at Prestatyn (Redferns)

Last month the Senedd were told that an estimated 200 jobs would be lost from the closure of the North Wales park. Welsh ministers also heard that staff had allegedly only learned the news when it was announced on Facebook. A former employee of Camber Sands claimed to MailOnline the same was true for staff.

Pontins, which is owned by Britannia, said customers with future bookings would be refunded and apologised for any inconvenience. But a number of events companies who run weekend musical and dance events were left desperately trying to find new venues with just days to go. The Southport park was closed on Tuesday due to Storm Henk flooding.

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In its statement, Pontins said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Pontins Southport Holiday Park. After assessing the future viability of the park, we have come to the difficult decision to close.”

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The 700-chalet holiday development in Southport was built in 1970 and five years later, the company bought the Prestatyn Sands holiday park, built by another firm in 1939.

Camber Sands Park, built in 1968, had 820 self-catering chalets with a capacity of 3,000 guests. Pontins now has just three parks left, Pakefield in Suffolk and at Brean and Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Britannia, who earlier this year was voted the UK’s worst hotel chain for the 11th year in a row by Which? magazine, were asked to comment. The firm made £33.3million before tax in the year to March 2022 – £9.5m down from the previous year. But accounts filed to Companies House show it achieved a turnover of £117.8m, up from just £38.4m.

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