The movies group Universal has said a Hollywood theme park it plans to build in Bedfordshire, England, will be open 365 days a year and will boost the UK economy by nearly £50bn.
Universal Destinations & Experiences, which is owned by the US telecoms group Comcast, the parent company of Sky, plans to build on a 192-hectare site (476 acres) in Kempston Hardwick near Bedford. The company has an option to buy a further 25 hectares.
The theme park is expected to attract millions of visitors a year and would include a 500-room hotel and a dining area open to those without a theme park ticket.
The park’s experiences would include rides, shows and areas “based on the most popular films, video games and stories that people have enjoyed for decades”. Universal’s existing theme parks around the world feature Nintendo, Harry Potter and Shrek.
Construction is forecast to create 20,000 jobs and once open create 8,000 jobs initially, with more jobs likely over time, according to Universal. The company has pledged to pay the living wage to employees.
An analysis by Universal, produced in line with Treasury guidelines on economic appraisal, estimates the resort would bring in nearly £50bn of economic benefits to the UK.
The net economic contribution is forecast to be £35.1bn during construction and the first 20 years of operation. It would generate up to £14.1bn in additional tax returns over the same period, the study said.
Universal is still conducting due diligence and expects to decide on the project by the end of the year.
The new park, which would take five to six years to build, would be constructed on the site of Kempston Hardwick brickworks, once the world’s largest brickworks, which shut in 2008 and was demolished in September 2021.
The company said 92% of 6,000 people surveyed during a four-week public engagement period in May supported the theme park. It said it had “been delighted by the enthusiasm and overwhelmingly positive responses provided throughout the public engagement period”.
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Page Thompson, Universal’s president in charge of new ventures, said: “A world-class theme park and resort from Universal has the potential to generate billions in economic benefit for the UK, by creating thousands of high-quality jobs and attracting millions of new visitors to the country.”
He told Sky News: “We’ve spent the last decade looking all over Europe and the United Kingdom for locations, and we think this is the best location we’ve ever seen.”
At the moment, Universal has five theme parks around the world: US parks in Hollywood, California, and at Orlando in Florida; as well as sites in Japan, China and Singapore.
Disneyland Paris, together with the associated Walt Disney Studios Park, is Europe’s biggest theme park, and attracts nearly 15 million visitors a year.
