Hi-de-high-end: how Butlin’s has climbed from camp to resort

Once known for its grim 1950s chalets, the UK chain is pouring millions into waterparks and hoping to wipe away decades of snobbery

For decades it was famous for contests to find the knobbliest knees and most glamorous grandmothers. But in recent years visitors to Britain's best-known holiday camps have been more likely to drink champagne and luxuriate in spas. (The grannies were dispatched long ago, along with fluorescent yellow plastic palm trees.)

Now, as it eyes a potential market among the growing numbers of families wanting to holiday in the UK as a result of a weak pound, Butlin's is preparing to make the biggest investment in its 83-year history and position itself as a rival to upmarket family holiday giant Center Parcs.

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