 When the camp opened , Butlin realised that his guests were not engaging with activities in the way he had envisioned , as most kept to themselves , and others looked bored . He asked Norman Bradford ( who was engaged as an engineer constructing the camp ) to take on the duty of entertaining the guests which he did with a series of ice breakers and jokes . By the end of the night the camp was buzzing and the Butlin 's atmosphere was born . From that point on , entertainment was at the very heart of Butlin 's and Bradford became the first of the Butlin 's Redcoats . That night Butlin decided that for his camp to work he would require an army of people to carry out the same job as Bradford , and the role of Redcoat was formed . 
