The news on Friday evening (12November) that Pontin's was to be placed into administration marked another stage in the evolution of a leisure business that, along with its larger competitor Butlins, was a household name in the UK holiday business for much of the second half of the 20th century.
The business still bears the name of its founder, Fred (later Sir Fred) Pontin (1906-2000). His earlier city experience no doubt helped him raise capital in 1946, when he formed a company to purchase a redundant US Army camp at Brean Sands, near Weston-Super-Mare, paying £23,000. A second enterprise followed the same year at Osmington Bay, near Weymouth. Fred Pontin's new venture was a huge success turning in an immediate profit of over £17,000 in its first year. Notwithstanding difficulties such as food rationing, the following year four more camps were acquired as the new company, now floated on the Stock Exchange, played a vital role in meeting the pent up demand for holiday leisure in post WWII Britain.
Fred Pontin always looked for existing small camps to add to his business and ran a tight ship. It enabled him to undercut his main rival on price, though his entertainment facilities may have been less lavish. Even so by the 1960s the Pontin's 'Bluecoats' had become as famous as the Butlin 'Redcoat' as Pontins acquired more sites on the outskirts of both Blackpool and Morecambe.
Fred Pontin was quick to realise the 1960s were to see the growth of the Mediterranean package and by the early 1960s he had moved into Sardinia and later took over a Belgian company with sites in the fast growing Spanish destinations. His new 'Pontinental' brand was a shrewd move and the business grew to over 24 camps plus the Mediterranean sites by the early 1970s.
In 1976 Fred Pontin received a knighthood as his company clocked up profits of over £6 million. Two years later Sir Fred (by now 72) decided it was time for him to sell the business. Again it was a shrewd decision in financial terms as the holiday camp business in the UK had almost certainly peaked.
Sir Fred continued to have interests in the leisure industry, but the company he founded was to pass through a number of owners as most seem to struggle to maintain the old momentum. Most recently it was acquired in 2008 for £46 million, though by now only eight camps remained.
Sir Fred Pontin died in September 2000, aged 93. He was a true pioneer and entrepreneur of the post WWII holiday business and would no doubt be sorry to see the present plight of the company he founded sixty-four years ago.
Sir Fred continued to have interests in the leisure industry, but the company he founded was to pass through a number of owners as most seem to struggle to maintain the old momentum. Most recently it was acquired in 2008 for £46 million, though by now only eight camps remained.
Sir Fred Pontin died in September 2000, aged 93. He was a true pioneer and entrepreneur of the post WWII holiday business and would no doubt be sorry to see the present plight of the company he founded sixty-four years ago.
