Pontins' decline from angry guests 'taking it out on staff' to closing parks
Dirty chalets, overworked staff and the pull of bargain holidays abroad have seen a once beloved holiday brand decimated.
Yesterday staff at the Southport Pontins in Merseyside were told that the park would not be reopening after a flood on New Year's Day forced it to shut at short notice. Its closure means it is the third site to lock its doors since the end of November, with Prestatyn and Camber Sands also being chopped.
The apparent decline of the brand is not only sad for those who grew up looking forward to holidays at the seaside park surrounded by its famous blue coat clad staff, but is a big hit for the communities they have now deserted.
There are just two sites left open; Pakefield Park in Lowestoft, Norfolk and Sand Bay in Weston-super-Mare, north Somerset. The other surviving site, Brean Sands, is closed to the public throughout 2024 so 900 EDF employees working on the Hinkley Point C power station can live there with their families.
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Pontins has closed a number of holiday parks in recent months (Liverpool echo)The temporary closure of Brean Sands has had a massive negative impact on the surrounding area, according to Alan House of Discover Brean. He told SomersetLive that the organisation had conducted surveys of its members and claimed some local businesses around the area of the Pontins camp are between 30% to 50% down in revenue "because of the lack of footfall coming from the Pontins site".
He said: "EDF continue to use the Pontins Brean Sands site which is having a big detrimental impact on the local economy and amenities in Brean. Brean is the second largest caravan and camping destination in the UK."
Many of those connected to Pontins, whether as former staff members or as loyal customers, are predicting that its remaining two camps are not long for this world, although the company has given no indication that they will close.
While the holiday firm regularly offers weekends away for absolutely bargain basement prices, it is tough to compete with the allure of cheap holidays abroad. When the Spanish coast and Greek islands are just a £20 return flight away, it takes a commitment to the British seaside and its sometimes challenging summer weather to stay loyal to Pontins.
The brand has also taken a battering since it was saved from administration by Britannia Hotels just over a decade ago. The chain, which was voted 2023's worst in the country, is now running a series of holiday parks which have been ranked as some of the worst value in the UK.
In 2021 a member of staff at one of the Pontins parks told the Mirror of the many issues they saw with how the firm was run. "There are major staffing issues with the cleaning, which is why it falls behind a lot. There aren’t enough staff to train cleaners properly, and we have to resort to agency cleaners a lot in the busier months," they said at the time.
One big issue that has confronted many guests in recent summers has been huge queues, both to check in and to book into specific attractions. The holiday park insider said this is partly the result of hundreds of guests being told to check-in at the same time, and partly staffing issues fuelled by people's assumption that "it wouldn't be a good place to work".
Angry customers are also an issue, with the Pontins employee revealing they've dealt with "guests that think it’s okay to speak to the staff horribly and try to blame all staff for their problems" including one man who "got in my face and started screaming, shouting and threatening me".
They added: "He was dealt with very quickly by security and the duty manager and was held on park until police arrived. It turned out he was wanted and was subsequently arrested."
Pontins has been contacted for comment.
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