Pontins ... No -, no -, no Irish ....

[SerendipityJane]

Who has seen the landlord signs in windows from the 1950s ?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56246848

Pontins has agreed to change its working practices after disclosure it had a blacklist of Irish surnames used to screen out bookings for its holiday parks from Gypsies and Travellers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigated after being contacted by a whistleblower.

Pontins said it had now signed a legally binding agreement with the EHRC to stop discrimination.

News of the investigation was first reported by the i news website.

The EHRC said Pontins had an "undesirable guests" list on its intranet of mainly common Irish names to identify people it did not want at its parks.

According to the i, there were 40 names on the list, including Boyle, Keefe, Gallagher, O'Donnell, McGuiness, Murphy, and O'Reilly.

It said staff monitored calls and refused or cancelled bookings made by people with an Irish accent or surname, and Pontins' commercial vehicle policy excluded Gypsies and Travellers from its holiday parks.

By declining to provide its services to guests of a certain race or ethnic group, Pontins was "directly discriminating on the basis of race" and breached the 2010 Equality Act, the EHRC said.

Pontins has six holiday parks across England and Wales.

The EHRC declined to say how long Pontins had the policy in place, but according to the i, the list was used for at least six years

I remember reading years ago that Pontins and Butlins do this. Surprised it's only just attracting press attention now.

It’s awful that any company could think that acceptable now

Although my surname is on the list and I am happy to boycott them if they don’t want us!

Hahah my name is on there too! But I’d never go to pontins anyway so they can ban me if they like 😂

That's bloody disgusting
My maiden name is mentioned on that list above. I would imagine my married name is also on the list.
I'm Scottish.

I remember a post about this on here some time ago, but I thought it was Haven or Butlins. They'd booked under the name of Walker and it had been cancelled, the OP thought because it was a traveller name (OP wasn't a traveller and just wanted her holiday). It's astonishing that this has been so blatant for so long and these companies haven't twigged that this breaks the law.

@Sirzy

It’s awful that any company could think that acceptable now

Although my surname is on the list and I am happy to boycott them if they don’t want us!

I think it was surname plus accent that they were using.

Wtf, that's awful.

Years ago (probably around 2005) I tried to book a trip to Pontins. I remember everything being fine with the booking until I gave my details and all of a sudden the woman on the phone said there was a problem and they were actually sold out for my dates. I did think it was a bit weird at the time but ended up booking elsewhere.

Our surname is on that list. Possibly a coincidence but unfortunately this story doesn't surprise me.

I think that they have been let off lightly to be honest. I think they should have been prosecuted, forcing the directors to appear in court and be publicly accountable.

I’d be banned too.

But this came out a few years back, or maybe that was another firm.

This is really common in hotels, caravan parks etc in Ireland.
Irish people can mostly tell the difference in accent between travellers and settled people and there are surnames much more common in the traveller community than the settled.
They just say they are booked up.
I have a friend with a common traveller surname who had to book her wedding venue in person so they would know she wasn't a traveller.
It is awful discriminate and I know most travellers are just normal people living their lives like the rest of us.
But I've also had to hide under tables/run out of pubs where travellers came in a group and then started fighting. I can understand if small business owners don't want to take the risk of damage costing them months worth of takings.

I can’t believe people still go to Pontins. Reading Trip Advisor is enough.

I have an Irish accent and my surname is on the list. I’d never go to Pontins but it’s the principle of it. I cannot believe this is ok in this day and age.

I’d heard about this a long time ago, like others I’m surprised it’s only just become widespread knowledge. My maiden name is on there, I’m Welsh.
Discrimination (which is really crappy and I’m glad they’re being pulled up on it) aside, what exactly are they trying to protect? Pontins is a s*hole and I’m shocked it wasn’t bulldozed to the ground decades ago.