September 21, 2020 3.15 pm This story is over 42 months old

Jobs of 1,000 Butlin’s furloughed staff up in the air

Butlin’s has a branch in Skegness

Butlin's in Ingoldmells, Skegness.

The jobs of 1,000 staff are at risk as holiday camp operator Butlin’s has yet to make a decision over the people whoa are still on the government’s furlough scheme.

A document sent to staff and seen by the BBC suggests employees either take paid holiday or unpaid leave once the government wage subsidy scheme ends in October.

Butlin’s, which has branches in Ingoldmells (Skegness), Bognor Regis and Minehead, has 6,000 employees in total and is currently operating at 50% capacity.

A staff member told the BBC: “I can’t believe a great British holiday brand, owned by multi-millionaires, wants staff to take unpaid leave after furlough”.

The firm told the BBC: “Since we reopened Butlin’s we’ve worked hard to bring back as many of our team as possible whilst ensuring we’re safe and secure.

“There has been no decision made regarding our team who are still furloughed.”

Butlin’s is open to a reduced number of guests, with social distancing measures in place and drive-through check-ins.

It has also introduced a Coronavirus Book with Confidence Guarantee that between 28 days and 3 days prior to arrival a holiday can be transferred to new dates in 2020 or 2021, credit can be redeemed against a future holiday or customers can cancel to receive a refund.

Butlin’s is part of the privately-owned Bourne Leisure Group, which also operates Haven caravan sites and Warner Leisure Hotels, with a total workforce of 15,000.

Bourne Leisure Group had warned that 10,000 jobs would be at risk without government help before the furlough scheme was announced.

Since then it has secured hundreds of millions of pounds in government support in the form of loans, furlough payments and deferred VAT and business rates.