STAFF who worked at Pontins’ holiday park in Prestatyn have said they feel “used and abused”, having still not been told why they were given no advance warning of the park’s closure.
Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park, which opened in 1971, closed effective immediately on November 30, 2023.
An email circulated to staff, seen by the Journal, read that the reason given for its sudden closure was based on finances, with the park projected to make a loss on 2024.
READ MORE:
Pontins’ Prestatyn holiday park closes immediately after 50+ years
Pontins explains why Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park has closed
Pontins Prestatyn staff say they learnt of site’s closure on Facebook
But after 13 staff members told the Journal that they only learnt of the park’s closure when a statement appeared on Facebook, employees say they still want to know why they were not given any prior notice of this.
Dawn George and Carol Ainsworth, who worked at the park for six years and two seasons respectively, say there has been “no support” from Pontins or from Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd, the company responsible for the park.
Carol, who worked at the park as a checker, said staff had no suspicion that the park would be closing prior to the Facebook post.
She said: “I was reading people saying online that they’d had their holidays at Pontins cancelled, so I messaged a colleague and said: ‘Have you seen this?’.
“Half an hour later, that’s when I saw (on Facebook) that Pontins was closing. We were heartbroken; it was so upsetting.
“You had to work so hard there, but we all put everything into it. We all absolutely loved it; we were like a family.”
READ MORE:
Pontins called Irish Travellers ‘undesirables’, watchdog report finds
Pontins Prestatyn shares new vacancy a day after closing its doors
Readers ‘absolutely gutted’ by Pontins Prestatyn’s ‘tragic’ closure
Dawn left Prestatyn Sands earlier this month, having served her notice period in her role as assistant accommodation manager.
Though she and Carol have both since found new jobs, they each feel aggrieved that Britannia or Pontins “haven’t batted an eyelid”.
“It came as a shock,” Dawn said.
“It did need a lot of money putting into it, but we had back-to-back bookings for 2024.
“We haven’t heard from anyone from Pontins or Britannia. We’ve had no support. They haven’t batted an eyelid.
“It was just: ‘Your services are no longer required, goodbye’, and absolutely nothing else. We have general managers at the park, but they’re as much in the dark as we are.
“We’ve not been particularly supported through the redundancy process; none of the area managers have been down to see how we are, or to say ‘We know it’s come as a bit of a shock’.
“There’s been absolutely nothing.”
READ MORE:
Pontins Prestatyn shares new job despite closing almost two months ago
Pontins’ Prestatyn park owners not yet ‘entering into negotiations’
‘Serious expressions of interest’ in Pontins Prestatyn, MP says
Some staff members at Prestatyn Sands had their employment terminated immediately, while others, such as Dawn, were told to continue working at the park until further notice.
There have also since been vacancies advertised at Prestatyn Sands, including for security staff roles.
Carol said: “They should have told us first, and explain to us why, rather than let us find out on social media. A lot of people working there had been there season after season.
“Even just a: ‘Thanks for your service’ would have been nice.
“Even the zero-hours staff expected to be going back to the park in January; we’d filled all of our forms out ready to come back. Families had been going there for years and years.”
It is believed that roughly four permanent members of staff remain working at Prestatyn Sands, with the park’s future remaining unclear.
James Davies, MP for Vale of Clwyd, previously said he has been made of “serious expressions of interest” in the site, but nothing has been made public as yet.
Dawn added: “We’ve been used and abused, and flung out with the rubbish. We put blood sweat and tears into that place, and we’ve been treated disgracefully.
“A little bit of communication is all it would have taken. We’re none the wiser now than we were on November 30, while we’re all still struggling to put roofs over r heads.
“We can live with the fact that people have lost their jobs to a degree, because that happens. It’s the way they’ve gone about it; when you’ve worked so hard over a number of years.
“They’ve got to acknowledge this. We’re not asking for them to open the park back up and give us our jobs back; all we’re asking for is just a little bit of respect.
“We just get passed from pillar to post. The least they could do is apologise for people finding out on social media.”
Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd was approached for comment.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here