Butlins
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Leisure |
| Founded | 1 January 1936 (First site, Skegness) 9 April 2000 (As present company) |
| Founder | Billy Butlin |
| Headquarters | Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom |
|
Area served
|
Great Britain |
|
Key people
|
Dermot King (Managing Director) |
| Products | Holiday Camps |
| Revenue |
 £184.6m (2010) |
|
£17.2m (2010) |
|
|
£12.2m (2010) |
|
| Owner | Bourne Leisure Holdings Ltd |
|
Number of employees
|
3,571 (2010) |
| Website | www |
Butlins (also Butlin's) is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families.
Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and one in the Bahamas. In the 1970s and 1980s, Butlins also operated numerous large hotels, including one in Spain, a number of smaller holiday parks in England and France, and a revolving restaurant in the Post Office Tower in London.
Tough competition from overseas package holiday operators, rising operational costs, and rapidly changing demand, forced many of the Butlins operations to close in the 1980s and 1990s. Three of the original camps remain open under the Butlins brand in Bognor Regis, Minehead, and Skegness. They are now owned and run by Butlins Skyline Ltd, a subsidiary company of Bourne Leisure Ltd, which also operates other leisure brands in the British Isles, including Warner Leisure Hotels and Haven Holidays.
Butlins runs a variety of "family fun activities" and entertainments, many of which are included in the price of a holiday. Redcoats provide entertainment, organise activities, and act as hosts.
Billy Butlin's inspiration for his holiday camp empire came from an unhappy holiday on Barry Island in his youth, when he had been locked out of his bed and breakfast accommodation all day by his landlady, which was normal practice at the time. The first of the Butlins holiday camps was opened by Billy Butlin in 1936 in Skegness, following his success in developing amusement parks. A second camp quickly followed in Clacton (1938), and construction Filey Holiday Camp began in 1939. With the outbreak of the Second World War, building at Filey was postponed, and the camps at Skegness and Clacton were given over for military use. Wartime use of Butlins camps continued, with resorts at Ayr, Filey, and Pwllheli being completed and opened as military camps. This camp was later renamed Wonderwest World, and is now owned and run by Haven, part of Bourne Leisure, who own both brands.
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Wikipedia