Universal hints at century-long plans for UK park

The company behind a new Universal Studios theme park in the UK has spoken for the first time

A new theme park is "just the start" of Universal's century-long plans for its UK site, the company's president has said.

The US firm bought a former brickworks near Bedford which it plans to transform into a 476-acre attraction that will draw in 8.5 million annual visitors by 2031.

"We look at these projects as really long-term projects," said Page Thompson, president of new ventures at Universal Destinations & Experiences, speaking for the first time since the announcement.

"We try to think about the next 100 years."

He added: "We have a lot more land that we intend to develop... in ways that bring more people to the area and hopefully is beneficial for everybody.

"Phase one of this project is the theme park, a 500-room hotel, some restaurants that people can visit without buying a theme park ticket.

"This is just the start of the development in the Bedford area on our land that we're going to own."

Destination in Europe

Universal theme parks already exist in America, China, Singapore and Japan.

Mr Thompson insisted that the UK attraction would be the only Universal site in Europe - and not the first of many.

"This is probably our real destination in Europe, and we do expect to draw from all over Europe," he said.

"In fact, we expect in our first year that about 30% of our visitors will come from outside of the UK. So we think we're going to be a major driver for tourism to the country.

"A country with the population and the tourist visitation of the UK should have probably three of the top 25 theme parks in the world.

"Right now they don't have any - and our smallest park that we operate anywhere in the world draws nine million people.

"So we feel very confident that demand is there."

Why Bedford?

Page Thompson believes the new Universal theme park will be a "major driver" for tourism in the UK

Before choosing to build at the former brickworks, the company had considered other locations across Europe.

Mr Thompson described Kempston Hardwick as "the perfect site for us".

"It's just a fantastic location, and the site was flat and already slated for development, and we knew from the very beginning we had incredibly strong support from the people in Bedford."

The government's decision to back East West Rail and Luton Airport's expansion plans were positive factors, the firm said.

Mr Thompson was not worried when it was pointed out East West Rail was not expected to be completed until the 2030s - and Luton Airport's annual passenger target of 32 million was set for 2043.

"The Oxford link to our site on the East West Rail should be completed by 2030," he said.

"Already London Luton Airport is drawing 18 million passengers a year. So the recent news about their planning approval for the expansion is just an extra bonus for us as well."

The nearest access road, the A421, suffered severe flooding last year after heavy rainfall, but this did not faze the Orlando-based executive.

"We have plans to work on the access ramp from the A421 directly into our site, and we will be addressing some of the issues you mentioned on that."

Local jobs

Bedford's central location and transport links were important factors for Universal

During construction, Universal is expecting to create 20,000 jobs, with a peak of about 5,000 workers on site.

It estimates that 80% of those jobs will come from Bedford, central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.

The company does not expect to struggle to fill those roles and is working to ensure jobs are available for local people.

Mr Thompson said: "We'll work with all of the local colleges, universities, and schools to try to make sure that we can help develop the skills that we need to attract those people.

"The reason we went to Kimberley College and to Bedford College for our public meetings was to emphasise how we want to work with those institutions and others to develop curricula that helps create the jobs.

"We've done a lot of research on both the number of people during the construction period and the number of people during operations, and we believe that in Bedford and the surrounding boroughs and the surrounding area, that we will have no trouble drawing that number of people."

He said half of the management team based in Orlando started as hourly workers and there would be similar opportunities for career development for the young people of Bedford.

Transforming Bedford

During a visit to Kimberley College in Stewartby, Bedfordshire, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised the park would create jobs for students

Mr Thompson said he expected the theme park would be "transformational" for the Bedford area.

He explained that at other parks, tourists had travelled from around the world, stayed in nearby hotels and made use of local amenities.

"We want people to stay overnight, because that's really a beautiful area," he said.

"I think people coming from London will come out and have a little bit of a staycation there for the weekend.

"There's quite a lot of fun things to do in the surrounding area, so I think, and that will only grow.

"I think we'll see more hotels, and I think there are many local businesses that are going to benefit from the park because we don't do everything ourselves.

"Whether it's a local bakery, electrician, plumber security services, construction people - there's just going to be ongoing work on the site. And we're going to be outsourcing a lot of that work to the local community. "

What will be in the park?

Page Thompson has visited colleges in Bedford twice and said the local area would benefit hugely from the theme park

The company confirmed planning documents would be submitted to the government "in the next couple of months", with construction still targeted to start in 2026.

Mr Thompson smiled when asked if those documents could include hints at what film franchises would inspire attractions at the park.

"We've had a lot of speculation about what's in the park," he said. "We always enjoy the speculation.

"We think it's very entertaining to see what people would like to see and what they expect to see in the park.

"But we won't comment on the specific properties or lands in the park until we get a lot closer to opening."

He paid tribute to the people of the borough, adding: "This project would not be happening if it weren't for the enthusiasm of the people in the Bedford area.

"They deserve incredible thanks from us for their support at every stage of the project."