Pontins firm CEO refuses to apologise to staff when confronted by Mirror
The Pontins boss responsible for closing down a third holiday park weeks after two others were shuttered has refused to comment about how his decision left former employees devastated.
Yesterday, the multi-million-pound company took to Facebook to announce that its Southport Park in Merseyside would no longer be open after "assessing the viability of the park".
But staff also took to social media with their own announcements, revealing they found out about their job losses by text just a few hours earlier. Pontins, which is owned by Britannia, also shut the parks in Prestatyn, North Wales and Camber Sands in Sussex were shut without warning overnight last November.
This afternoon, our reporter Hollie Bone gave the founder and owner of Britannia, Alex Langsam, the opportunity to respond to his former workers' grievances and to explain why the decision had been made despite the company reportedly still turning over millions of pounds.
Pontins owner Alex Langsam on the driveway of his 10-bedroom mansion in Cheshire (Daily Mirror)As the doors of his property opened, Mr Langsam turned away from photographers and remained silent as our reporter asked: "You still have nothing to say Mr Langsam?"
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The reporter then told him how his employees had been in tears at the gates of the Southport holiday park, but he still refused to comment. He then walked further away, seemingly inspecting the huge trees overhanging the winding driveway of his 10-bedroom mansion in Cheshire.
Last month the Welsh 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 that 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 several events companies that 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.
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.”
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. Only two remain open now to holidaymakers: Pakefield at Lowestoft, Suffolk, and Sand Bay at Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset. Brean Sands, in Somerset, is open but closed to holidaymakers because it is being used to house construction workers.
Earlier this year, Britannia was voted the UK’s worst hotel chain for the 11th year in a row by Which? magazine. 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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