Ocean Parcs snaps up Pontins for £46 million

Family holiday camp Pontins has been bought for £46 million by Ocean Parcs - a team led by former Pontins chief executive Graham Parr and ex-Matalan finance director Ian Smith.

The new owners plan to re-vitalise the leisure brand by capturing the growing market for value and as an environmentally-friendly holiday destination.

Pontins was established in 1946 by Sir Fred Pontin. The first site was set up Brean Sands, Somerset. Last year, Pontins welcomed one million visitors to its seven seaside holiday village sites.

Ian Smith said we are all looking to reduce our carbon footprint. With money now tighter for many families, people will be taking more holidays in the UK. They may take their main annual holiday abroad, but the chances are they may take more weekend breaks here.

Pontins is well-placed to cater for that, in addition to all the classic themed events like soul weekends, rock weekends and father-and-son weekends, concluded Mr Smith.

Ocean Parcs was formed by Graham Parr, Ian Smith, Clarke Osborne and John Parr, with a combined experience of the leisure, consumer and property development industries.

Graham Parr has spent over 25 years in the leisure industry including a number of years as part of the senior management team of Pontins. He was also the first chief executive of Arena Leisure, one of the UK’s leading racecourse operators.

Ian Smith was previously group finance director at clothing retailer Matalan, where he supervised its stock market flotation in 1998 and helped to guide its growth in the period 1990 to 2002.

The company said the Ocean Parcs team will work closely with Pontins current management led by operations director George Edwards.

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