Calling UK: for some of Disney-style magic was gone Pontins
Alex Langsam, the Britannia Hotel boss has plans for Pontins
Hi-de-hi campers! There is a new head at Pontins Bluecoat and he has big plans for the future.
Alex Langsam, the Britannia Hotel Empire spans 36 hotels, get the keys to the chalets on Monday and plans to wave a Disney-style wand over the resorts, some of which are 65 years old, and some fear, well past their sell by date. "It's not the brains of Britain stuff," Langsam said, of his ambitions for Pontins remaining five resorts. He is planning to expand its famous cast of "Blue Coats" with entertainers, dressed in cartoon costumes and other gimmicks. "I am planning to put some Razzmatazz," he says. "Pontins is a kiddy place and if you meet the kiddies, you meet adults. We believe there is a growing demand for traditional sea holiday."
Langsam parting with an estimated £ 20m to the collapse of holiday company buys its directors and intends to fork out another £ 25m beautification of the vast camps that other bidders wilde bulldozer, with all those holiday memories with them.
If you think he is crazy, the entrepreneur, who rarely gives interviews and is 72, amassed an estimated £ 64m fortune by rescuing neglected slices also common heritage of Great Britain, the Adelphi in Liverpool – where Harold Wilson used to the election to spend night – and the Grand in Scarborough under the group properties.
Based in expensive Hale, Cheshire Britannia has its headquarters in the former town. Like Langsam itself, the building borders on the eccentric, the grandeur of the stained-glass and wood-paneled entrance give way to a maze of desks and file cabinets that old lijken among the footballers' mansions that populate the area. Many of Britannia hotels are traditional seaside resorts such as Bournemouth, Blackpool and Scarborough and to outsiders, more accustomed to zipping outside the "no frills" airlines, may seem somewhat anachronistic.
Langsam's desire to hold on to rotting pieces of British history may have originated from his father. His Jewish parents fled Hitler, leaving considerable property and retail interests in Vienna and a new life in "rooms" in Hove, West Sussex. "My father was the most nationalistic person I've ever met," he says. "Britain saved his life and gave him a living and he instilled that in me. I'm grateful for what this country has given me."
Langsam studied economics at Aberystwyth University because, he says, it was the only place that would let him in without an O-level mathematics. It was so long ago, he jokes that he can not remember when he got his diploma. Followed a stint as an estate agent, but soon made the successful transition to developer, with successful projects in Manchester, setting him on his way.
Today the group, he says, is one of the few with the time and resources to tackle major projects. What is now the Britannia Hotel in central Manchester, and the company takes its name, had expired when they acquired. He bought his first hotel in 1976 and is considered a smart buyer of distressed assets. It is not always plain sailing with a 20-year row with Manchester City Council about a historic former fire station to come to a head at a public inquiry in April.
"We do this because we enjoy the challenge," he says. "Above all, it's nice, I do not do it for money." And despite the grandeur of the hotels architecture firm to target the mass market. "Our special buildings are enjoyed by ordinary people. This is a formula that has given us a thriving and sustainable business over the years." The recession has been good to the hotel Langsam the group as the credit crunch saw Britons opt for a holiday home sales increased by approximately 10%. "We have more cases in last two years than ever before," he says. "People go for value for money. We do not advertise, it is mostly repeating things over the estate."
It is difficult for the company's true financial performance and ownership of hotels meter varies, with some owned outright by Langsam. He is based in Cheshire, but also has a house in London, but more to the point not like impertinent questions about his finances. "I do not believe in boasting," he says, although he can not resist mentioning his Rolls-Royce.
His success seems to know what people want and he seems to want to get where Fred Pontin, who founded the chain in 1946, left. Industry analysts, however, say Pontins Butlins is hopeless by archrival and new claimants such as Haven Holidays and Center Parcs. The problems were exacerbated by a BBC Watchdog investigation that conditions of poverty, poor sanitation and tatty rooms highlighted.
During its heyday in the years 1960 and 1970, Pontins had 24 sites, but only today Brean Sands in Somerset, Camber Sands, East Sussex, Pake Field, in Suffolk, Southport, Merseyside, and the Welsh resort of Prestatyn Sands remain. "You have in your mind that Pontins suffered from a lack of business," says Langsam. The tour boat foundered when his bank Santander pulled the plug, but he says the £ 7m of new bookings increased in the days after the sale to Britannia was confirmed.
If the unholy trinity of Pontins, Razzmatazz and Disney does not sound like your cup of tea, then wait until you hear it all summer entertainment Lenny Henry, the Cheeky Girls and the Rainbow gang consists of George, Zippy and Bungle. "When we saw Pontins blew our minds what we visited," he says, adding that the Bluecoats would stay, but Britannia will introduce ideas borrowed from the American holiday. "If I go to the Disney site in Florida, I am a child again – I see all these people dressed, the adults enjoy it as much as the children .."
Pontins, says he needs a little loving care, although some of the parks are in better shape than others as Camber Sands, Prestatyn received substantial investment from the previous management. "My first impressions were: great, wow, what an opportunity."
Pontins has an annual turnover of approximately £ 40 million, but Britannia will seek to increase its occupancy during off-peak months. Quick wins for Britannia will be to stimulate re-occupancy dwellings which are no longer used because they need repairs. "Number one we go in and fix what ever we need to solve," he says. "In Scarborough [the Grand] We started with a plan to spend £ 13m, but ended up spending £ 15m. We have set aside £ 25m, but always ultimately spend more money on Pontins."
The camps are already responding to all other candidates, hosting clairvoyant weekend and the Mardi Gras of the North "at Southport. Langsam rattles off a list of special events organized by bird watchers, chess players – and there was even talk of a swingers event. What? The dancers? "No, the sex bit," he admits. "You have to get away from the idea that Pontins to people from the working class and [the camps] are down market. The reality is that many different things."
More Source:
Challenge Britannia: to perform some Disney-style magic at faded ...Back from the brink Pontin's set for £25m Disney-style makeover ...
Pontins to get 'Disney' makeover - Worldnews.com
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Submited at Friday, February 18th, 2011 at 7:00 am on Hotel by samantha
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