More than 40 potential bidders have already shown an interest in taking over crisis-hit Pontin’s, including its holiday park in Brean.
Reports in several national newspapers claim an Indian millionaire is among the dozens of ‘serious players’ who are considering bids for Pontin’s, which Burnham-On-Sea.com reported last week has fallen into administration.
Administrators KPMG have this week appointed leisure operators Bridge Leisure to manage the Brean park, and four others around the UK, until a new buyer is found.
Dave Costley-Wood, a partner in Manchester-based KPMG, said on Tuesday (November 16th) that the future for the company is still bright.
“We’re going to have to make a handful of redundancies at the head office in Southport, but there will be no redundancies at any of the camps,” he said.
That will be a relief to the more than 200 people who are employed at Pontin’s holiday park in Brean.
Mr Costley-Wood added: “We’ve brought in Bridge Leisure to help us run the sites and will be conducting a sale over the next two to three months. It will not be a fire sale, it will be a proper process so the right buyer is found.”
He confirmed that around 40 or so people have already shown an interest in the sites.
“Some would like to take on one or two of them, while others would like to take them all. These include rival holiday park operators, property developers and private equity interests.”
Indian millionaire Bhanu Choudhrie and his family’s investment vehicle C&C Alpha Group is reported to be among them.
Pontin’s was started when Fred Pontin opened the first Pontin’s Holiday Park in Brean in 1946. Pontin’s was bought by Ocean Parks for £46m in 2008.
Our photos show TV news crews at the entrance to Pontin’s in Brean this week
