Sudden Closure of Holiday Resorts. For What Though.

Pontins is a U.K. Company which has run Holiday Camps (now called resorts) along the lines of the traditional Butlins model. Butlins Holiday Camps first appeared shortly after the end of the Second World War. The whole idea was to provide affordable week long holidays for the traditional working class British family. Usually situated near the coasts Holiday Camps were based around fun led by entertainment staff wearing colourful coats.

Residents stayed in rows of chalets and were treated to traditional seaside entertainment such as swimming pools, knobbly knees contests, donkey rides and Punch and Judy Shows in the day. In the evenings parents could expect to be entertained in the central ballrooms by lavish productions provided the Red or Blue Coats, dancing to live music and of course affordable beer. While camp staff monitored the chalet lines of sleeping children paging chalet numbers that contained a crying child.

Obviously Holiday Camps adapted with the times to attempt to compete with cheap foreign holidays but many did not survive. The sudden closure of the two resorts in the article just before Christmas has left those who had booked seasonal stays very unhappy and others are puzzled as to why.

If I was being very cynical I would hazard a guess that the reason behind these sudden and unexpected closures lies in the handsome profits to be made from a government gravy train that has seen boarding houses, hotels and even stately homes full to the brim.

Payments in the hundreds of pounds per resident per day and the promise of a full taxpayer funded refurbishment on completion of the government contract are very attractive to the venue owners but not so much to the local residents.

www.independent.co.uk...

the closings night be planned Lock-downs to keep populations Interned @ Home and rationing utility usage...

government 'purse strings' equally as important

The U.K. Government has very deep pockets when it comes to housing and providing for people from other places who arrived through non-traditional methods.

a reply to: StudioNada

a reply to: TheWhat

If I was veing cynical I would hazard a guess that the reason behind these sudden and unexpected closures lies in the handsome profits to be made from a government gravy train that has seen boarding houses, hotels and even stately homes full to the brim.

I don't think you're being cynical at all , Holiday camps have a perfect set up for housing large numbers of people within an enclosed area in reasonable comfort , I think that is likely the plan .... although Rwanda is warmer this time of year.

I'm glad to see my reticence didn't entirely obscure my meaning to those with eyes to see, ears to hear and a functioning logic.

a reply to: gortex

a reply to: TheWhat

They probably closed those operations because they were losing money on them.

They were probably losing money on them because not enough people were signing up.

Probably not enough people were signing up because that type of holiday is mainly a baby boomer thing, and baby boomers are dying off.

That's probably not the answer you were hoping for.

originally posted by: Boomer1947
a reply to: TheWhat

They probably closed those operations because they were losing money on them.

They were probably losing money on them because not enough people were signing up.

Probably not enough people were signing up because that type of holiday is mainly a baby boomer thing, and baby boomers are dying off.

That's probably not the answer you were hoping for.

I suggest we revisit this response a few weeks from now and see.

a reply to: TheWhat

Isn't the closure of just two resorts (which have been in financial difficulty for years) a bit of an overreaction in your attempt to malign the re-use of vacated facilities for low cost housing by the government?

originally posted by: chr0naut
a reply to: TheWhat

Isn't the closure of just two resorts (which have been in financial difficulty for years) a bit of an overreaction in your attempt to malign the re-use of vacated facilities for low cost housing by the government?

I will bet you dollars to donuts that the low cost housing you seem to think this is for will not be provided to first time buyers or social housing.

Of course they are being closed to house immigrants, probably being paid upto 1000 Pounds per day per immigrant they take in.

a reply to: TheWhat

Here is the kicker, this nation is facing a housing crisis the likes of which we have never seen.

Don't be surprised when they start using holiday camps to house the masses.

Because it's not like they have the affordable accommodations to meet the demand, nor likely to have any time soon.

Im getting served a section 33 notice come January through no fault of my own.

Might end up being housed in such an establishment myself come next year if i fail to find other private accommodation.

Ile say this through people don't wish to be forced to live in caravans, they want houses, that they can afford to pay for, and communities that they can be part of as opposed to being moved about like pawns on a chessboard.

And it's not just the likes of refugees and asylum seekers that are in this predicament, but people from all walks of life.

The reason is that the knock-on effect of the likes of Brexit combined with the pandemic has driven mortgage prices and the cost of private accommodation through the roof.

It's not just immigration that's the problem here, but a multitude of financial issues, and sociological dilemmas that have contributed to our current predicament, a lot of which could quite frankly have been avoided or at least mitigated by my guess if the government had bothered to care.

I am very sorry to hear of your situation my friend. I think there is no single issue that the U.K. political parties are so out of touch with the electorate on than housing.

Illegal immigrants being housed, fed and living a lifestyle beyond the means of working people at their taxpaying expense is, of course, not the only factor, but its the one that stings the worst and causes the most resentment.

a reply to: andy06shake

a reply to: ScottKirkland

I think that might be what we call hyperbole, to be honest.

But let's face facts, if the government were to offer you £1000 per day, per person, with the promise of a full refurbishment on completion of the contract regarding your holiday home.

Are you trying to tell me you would not jump at the chance if you were not using the place?

Keeping in mind that others are apt to jump at the chance.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: ScottKirkland

I think that might be what we call hyperbole, to be honest.

But let's face facts, if the government were to offer you £1000 per day, per person, with the promise of a full refurbishment on completion of the contract regarding your holiday home.

Are you trying to tell me you would not jump at the chance if you were not using the place?

Keeping in mind that others are apt to jump at the chance.

Don't hate the player, hate the game, or in this case those that make the rules of the game.

a reply to: TheWhat

I am very sorry to hear of your situation my friend. I think there is no single issue that the U.K. political parties are so out of touch with the electorate on than housing.

Just the world today TheWhat or so im told, there are about 150,000 people on the waiting lists for entry into social housing, and that is in Scotland alone.

Illegal immigrants being housed, fed and living a lifestyle beyond the means of working people at their taxpaying expense is, of course, not the only factor, but its the one that stings the worst and causes the most resentment.

That may well be the case but it's not just immigrants that are in this predicament.

And the fact is the situation could be rectified if they bothered to get off their arse and build the necessary accommodations the masses require.

Which i may add also also creates jobs, and generates revenue via people paying rent and council tax. Plus the variety of other revenue streams that would arse down to the much-needed creation of affordable homes for the people who require such.

As to politics, well yes politics in the UK is broken, and that's by design as much as anything else imho.

www.scotsman.com...
www.scottishhousingnews.com...
news.stv.tv...

To be rather frank i would not be surprised at the creation of tent cities coming soon enough never mind the appropriation of caravans should things be allowed to continue along the same avenue of travel, because it's certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.

a reply to: TheWhat

The thing is mate the people that run the show are players, just like the refugees.

And in this instance, it is the game that's the problem as much as the people, because it's rigged.

Think of the money that will be wasted if indeed our government decides to house people in caravans as opposed to building them proper homes.

It will be ka-ching all the way to the bank for the lucky few that own these second homes and fecking hell on earth the people forced to reside there.

I've holidayed in a few of these types of resorts and ile tell you one thing, it cost more to eat and live than it does in the likes of Spain.

Even the likes of the local shops and amenities charge well over the odds for basics like bread and milk, so it won't be a party for those forced to reside there.

A couple of weeks at a caravan is expensive, and the cost of living is ridiculous.

a reply to: TheWhat

It'll be for the dingy marines to live in.They have plenty of space for training exercises etc.
Remember when men are fleeing war they bring the women and children.
When men are going to war they leave the women and children at home.
Refugees my ass,wanted and encouraged by our treacherous,treasonous government.

I think it's because they have gone beyond the core priciple of a holiday camp. When I first got married and had 3 children we went to Butlins for 8 years or more. The original concept was marvellous, a family holiday that cost no more than an average weekly wage. Food free, entertainment free, swimming pool free and the "red coats" took the children from 6pm till 9pm, giving adults a small amount of time for themselves. But that was Billy Butlins idea and Pontins copied that. But when Butlins sold out to companies the greed slowly crept in.
A minor rise in accommodation, then pay extra for food, pay for entertainment passes, cheaper and cheaper entertainers, the list just went on. But to be truthful Pontins were not half as good as Butlins in their heyday, but they did the same, basically pricing themselves out of the market.