Latest news with #KempstonHardwick
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Infrastructure needed for Universal UK theme park, says council
Vital infrastructure upgrades are required if plans for the first Universal Studios theme park in the UK go ahead, a council leader has Destinations & Experiences will build its first UK resort on a site that includes former brickworks at Kempston Hardwick near leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, Adam Zerny, said while the plans were "great news", work was needed to improve the area including around junction 13 of the M1, a key route for accessing the proposed site from the west.A formal planning application has not been submitted, but Zerny said the council had been in close contact with the company over the past year and continued to press for major transport improvements. "Universal are well aware of the infrastructure needs that we have continually put forward on behalf of residents," Zerny said."We will continue to lobby the government for what we need in this area."A full public consultation on the plans is expected to be run by the government later this year, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Asked whether he personally supported the project, Zerny said it "would be great news"."Not just the park itself - new infrastructure, jobs in construction and on the site once it's completed, and potentially increased income for local business," he added that the council stood to gain financially as Zerny acknowledged there were major infrastructure needs for the area."Junction 13 does need to be sorted out, and we also believe the roundabouts should be removed from the A1 to improve the flow of traffic. We will be pushing the government for solutions," he continued."We want a lot for this area, and we're going to demand a lot. Don't ask, don't get." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
How Harry Potter holds key to Universal's UK theme park success: Experts cast doubt over £5bn project, due to create 20,000 jobs
With the world looking a more dangerous place than it has been for decades, it may seem like a bad moment to announce the opening of a £5billion theme park dedicated to fun and fantasy. Perhaps it looks frivolous – but that has not dampened the appetite of US media giant Universal, which is embarking on a huge project to turn a 475-acre site near Bedford into the UK's biggest theme park. Nor did it deter Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves from touting it as a major vote of confidence in the UK economy and an example of future partnership between the UK and the US. Days after Universal's announcement, Disney unveiled a plan for a park and resort in the United Arab Emirates – its first for 15 years – ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump next week. Perhaps there will be more demand for the escapism of theme parks as the world grows darker. And the UK entertainment industry could do with a fillip, after being thrown into disarray by Trump's threatened film tariffs. But it will be a while before shareholders in Comcast – the US giant that owns Universal – or the rest of us find out whether Labour's boasts of thousands of new jobs and a £50billion boost to economic growth are warranted. And will the Universal park have a key magic ingredient: Harry Potter? A critical dimension to its success is intellectual property. The resort, set to be built on the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks, will rely on a treasure trove of intellectual property, from Lord Of The Rings to James Bond, Paddington and Jurassic World. But Universal does not have the rights to the Harry Potter intellectual property. This is controlled by JK Rowling's Wizarding World, a trademark jointly held by the author of the books and Warner Bros Entertainment. Sir Nick Varney, who retired as chief executive of Merlin Entertainments in 2022, spent 25 years in theme parks and believes the boy wizard is critical. He says Universal parks including Orlando and Osaka were largely flatlining until the launch of Harry Potter attractions, and adds: 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a game-changer that overturned Disney's dominance. 'Harry Potter is probably the most powerful intellectual property on the planet with regard to theme parks. 'Way more powerful than Star Wars and anything Disney have. 'I'd be absolutely amazed if there wasn't a deal to be done on the Bedford site at some point because Universal is so much stronger with it.' Universal says that it is still too early in the process to know the possible attractions and experiences that will be featured. The park is not expected to open until 2031, and will need planning approvals. The scale is huge: it will include a 500-room hotel, shopping and dining. Universal says it will have a 'transformative impact', and be a 'major contributor to the creative arts and tourism industries'. The claim is that it will generate almost £50billion of economic benefit and create around 20,000 jobs during construction. At opening, it will become one of the biggest employers in the region, with 80 per cent of staff coming from Bedford and the wider county, Luton and Milton Keynes. Behind the hype, the process can be convoluted. Varney, 62, believes reaching a target of 8.5m visitors would be challenging. 'You have to get an awful lot of visitors over a sustained period spending a significant amount per head to get a return on capital,' he says. 'Over and over again, theme park people have got that fundamental equation wrong.' The current non-executive chairman of Bath Rugby adds: 'Too many operators believe their own publicity, fall short, get their break-even point wrong to a degree where they're either losing money or not making the money they need to service the debt and give them a return on capital. 'There aren't very many examples of brand new out-of-the-box theme parks that have made the shareholders money. And that includes Universal, Disney and, in the past, Legoland.' One property industry analyst pinpointed hotel bedrooms as a potential problem for Universal, pointing out that it is raising the prospect of more than 8m visitors in year one and more to follow, yet it has only announced plans for a single 500-room hotel. Varney said: 'In the big resorts, you'd expect 30 per cent of people to stay overnight, but unless Universal starts building more hotels the best it will be able to offer is a local Travelodge or a Mrs Miggins' guesthouse. 'Bedford is not the centre of the universe for hotels.' By the time the scheme was announced, much of the planning and community legwork had been done and more than a year of feasibility work completed. The launch was hailed as an important moment, although a cynic might say it was little more than an opportunity for politicians including the Chancellor and Prime Minister to pitch up in pristine high-vis jackets. Andrew Sangster, a hospitality industry investment expert, was among the more positive observers. He says: 'The scale, with jobs and £50billion of investment, shows that the future of our economy lies with the service sector, and, in particular, with the experience economy.' He adds: 'While the Scunthorpe steelworks is making all the headlines, it represents less than 10 per cent of the number of jobs, and rather than creating value in our economy, it absorbs taxpayer cash. It is currently losing £700,000 a day.' Universal Destinations & Experiences is part of Comcast Corporation, the global media and technology company that owns NBCUniversal and Sky in the UK. It has five theme parks and resorts around the world, with Universal Horror Unleashed set to open in Las Vegas in August, and the Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas, coming on stream next year. Let's hope the latest addition to its portfolio is a roaring success. Now, more than ever – following Trump's threatened film tariffs – the UK creative industries need a boost.
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Gamechanger': Bedfordshire residents say they have been left out of theme park consultation
When it was announced that Universal Pictures, one of the largest movie studios in the world, were opening their first theme park in Bedfordshire, fans were ecstatic. Social media was filled with questions: Which film franchises will appear? How many rides would there be? Will there be a section dedicated to the Minions? For the people down the road however, the only real question was whether their new neighbour was going to push them out of their homes. Residents and businesses in Kempston Hardwick, a small hamlet on the edge of the town of Kempston, have said that they have heard 'absolutely nothing' from the council as confusion builds about how the new Universal theme park will affect their day-to-day lives. Manor Road, which stretches only a mile long and contains a small hamlet of houses and a handful of businesses, separates the two patches of land which Universal have bought to build their park upon. Amol, the owner of wedding venue The Marquee Bedford, says that while he is excited by the project and the benefits it will have for the area, but feels that the people of Kempston Hardwick have been left out of the process. 'We haven't had any consultations, if we want to know something we all consult with each other,' says Amol. 'We've had no contact with the council, absolutely nothing. Maybe they think it doesn't affect us enough but they're talking to the village 10 minutes down the road, so why not the people on the road.' Amol also feels that the roads through and around the proposed site are nowhere near large enough to deal with the congestion that the construction, forecast to last until 2031, will bring. Some of the houses in the hamlet are already boarded up, with residents saying some of their neighbours have sold their homes to Universal. They say that they themselves have not received any offers from the studio yet or communications from the council. Rahaul and Colbie are residents of the nearby Kempston and work on Manor Rd. The couple, both 28, have had to accelerate their plans to purchase their first home together in the area. 'We've been together for a few years now,' says Rahaul, 'and this announcement has meant that we've had to ramp up our plans because very quickly it's going to be far too expensive.' Residents said they were worried landlords would buy up property to use as Airbnbs for the thousands of people expected to visit the theme park, pushing up prices. Rahaul also says that while there was a meeting between a spokesperson from Universal and some local representatives, nothing that was said from the meeting has been passed on to the people of Kempston Hardwick, who rely on news from nearby towns and social media. Blake Stephenson, the Conservative MP whose Mid Bedfordshire constituency will host the Universal Studios Great Britain, has said that the park will be a 'gamechanger' for Bedfordshire and that the feelings of residents were being considered. 'My focus has already turned to infrastructure, including road, rail and accommodation, and ensuring that local communities are engaged … so that the disruption to local people is minimal. 'I've been engaging with Universal throughout this process and met them in parliament again this week and I know they're committed to being a good neighbour to our local communities.' A spokesperson from Stewartby and Kempston Hardwick parish council said: 'As a parish council we have been actively engaged with the executives of Universal to ensure local interests were listened too and represented, to the gain of some infrastructure amendments to the original plans. We have provided regular updates to the parish via our newsletters and Facebook pages.' 'The residents of those living in Kempston Hardwick, particularly those of Manor Road have a unique set of circumstances with the proposals and have had direct communications with Universal and it would be inappropriate at this stage for the parish council to intervene.'
