Published: March 28, 2008
New owners for Brean's Pontins holiday camp are unveiled

Pontins holiday camps at Brean and across the UK have been bought for £46 million by a Bristol company.

Businessmen Clarke Osborne, Ian Smith, Graham Parr and John Parr intend to take the chain of camps - including Brean Sands, near Burnham, where Pontins started after World War II - upmarket.

They have set up investment and management company Ocean Parcs to run the firm and make the traditional, bluecoat-style holiday experience more sophisticated.

Despite a recent downturn in UK holidays, the consortium behind the takeover is convinced a combination of global warming and rising demand for cheap family breaks means the future for Pontins is bright.

They are planning a major investment in their seven camps and Chris Lynch, spokeswoman for the new group, said: "There is a growing demand for good quality family holidays in this country. We want to modernise the holiday experience at Pontin's and give our customers the quality they expect."

Burnham-On-Sea.com first reported last November how Pontins was seeking a new owner.