Indian millionaire, Dubai Royal Family team up to save UK’s iconic Pontin’s from sinking

LONDON - Indian millionaire Bhanu Choudhrie has reportedly teamed up with the Dubai Royal Family to buy Pontin’s, the chain of holiday camps in UK which went into administration on Friday.

According to the Daily Mail, Choudhrie, through his family’s investment vehicle C and C Alpha Group, is looking forward to buying the iconic business for up to 15 million pounds. C and C Alpha Group will hold discussions with administrator KPMG on Monday.

“We want to keep the management team in place and expand the business,” Choudhrie said.

The entrepreneur said he had looked at the business six months ago after Pontin’s chief executive Ian Smith was searching for potential investors, but “walked away from the deal, even though we travelled to two sites and spent 100,000 pounds on due diligence.”

Choudhrie said that Santander, which provided a 46 million pounds loan, pulled the plug on the business after talks with potential investors collapsed. It was feared that up to 850 jobs were at risk, along with the holidays booked by hard-up Britons who had opted to for a cheap UK break, the paper said.

In the past Pontin’s used to be flooded with visitors but recent customer complaints have hit the company hard.

One of them posted a video on the YouTube website projecting the bad condition of Pontin’s, saying “people need to know how bad this place is. When I dared to complain I was told to **** off and that I would have my legs broken in five minutes.”

Concerns over health standards at Pontin’s escalated last month when BBC’s Watchdog programme painted a picture of squalor at Camber Sands. Reporters also found a tablet of Temazapan, the paper said. (ANI)