...Rick Wright, Chairman of Majesic Holidays, first showed an interest in the camp on 19th February 1987. The deal
was agreed in March, and on Saturday, 23rd May 1987 the camp reopened.
Majestic had big plans for the camp, including demolishing the existing site and
building a new £15 million holiday complex. However, these plans never came about. The entertainment buildings were reclad
and in indoor and outdoor pools were completly refurbished around the early 1990's to give the camp a fresh look, but
apart from that, things continued roughly the same.
Unfortunatly, Majestic didn't keep the camp in the state of repair that Butlins
did, and slowly the accommodation started to deteriorate. In the last few years it was so bad a clause was put in the booking
contract so that you could only sue for 20% of the holiday cost (the percentage for accommodation).
1996, the last season for Barry Island was a very unusuall year. Majestic franchised
the camp to a trio of business men, trading under the name of Insurebowls Ltd. Their way forward for the camp was to attract
big name caberets and charge £5 a ticket, to either residents of the camp or non-holidaymakers. This ticket charge however, only just covered the crippling cost of putting on these cabarets once a week. By the time
they paid Majestic their rent for the season, very little was put into refurbishments for the camp. The Vale of Glamorgan
council were reluctant to renew the camp's entertainments licence over concerns about fire safety. By the time the concerns
were withdrawn, Insurebowls had closed the company, owing local suppliers thousands of pounds. This, along with many
other reasons like storm damage, sealed the fate of the camp. The closure was officially announced on 7th November 1996...
For more information on the camp during the Majestic period, 'The Barry Island Holiday Camp Story' is available
from our online shop!
