Holiday park operator Pontin’s has been placed in administration, according to reports.
Accountancy firm KPMG has been appointed at the company, which employs 850 staff in the UK.
All five Pontin’s sites – Brean Sands in Somerset, Camber Sands in Sussex, Pakefield in Suffolk, Prestatyn Sands in Wales and Southport in Merseyside – will remain open.
No redundancies have been made, and KPMG is said to be confident of finding a buyer and retaining the Pontin’s name.
KPMG said the company had run out of cash because bookings had fallen drastically in the past year.
The administrator plans to appoint an “experienced leisure operator” to help it run the company until a buyer can be found, and has pledged to honour all reservations.
The firm was founded by Fred Pontin in 1946 – 10 years after Billy Butlin had opened his first holiday camp.
Pontin’s reputation was battered in the summer when the camps were on BBC’s Watchdog . The programme highlighted some of the less luxurious conditions in the chalets at Prestatyn Sands.
The administrators have a helpline operating from Monday: 0844 576 8481.