Pontin’s to get a touch of Disney magic
Pontin’s is set to get a Disney-style makeover under its new ownership.
The holiday camp brand was purchased by Britannia Hotels’ owner Alex Langsam last week.
In an interview with the Observer at the weekend, Langsam said he would invest £25 million in a makeover for the brand.
He plans to keep the traditional ‘bluecoat’ staff but will also have Disney-style cartoon characters and attractions.
He accused the former management of starving the business of investment.
He said the former managing director Graham Parr, who led a management buyout of Pontin’s in 2008, had milked the business of money and failed to invest.
“There’s been tremendous arrogance – that you don’t have to control costs, you don’t have to control service, you don’t have to control staff."
According to the Observer, these allegations were flatly rejected by Parr, who said any money taken out of Pontin’s was used to service hefty borrowing taken on to refinance the business in 2008.
"We did everything we possibly could to keep the business afloat. We were just beaten by the amount of money we borrowed in the good times to buy it," said Parr.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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