London Entertainment Resort: All Discussion

[DiogoJ42]

Told ya it wouldn't happen.

 

[Sku]

Paramount and the suggested attractions IPs are not very inspiring brands, and I doubted they would ever get this off the ground with such a weak brand. Such a large development with such a "meh" brand, from a development firm who have no theme park experience.

The only way this project can become anything is if nothing short of Universal step in and take it over, and rework the plans from scratch.

A Universal park probably works in this location, more so than Salou ever worked. London is the best chance of a universal park in Europe, and think we can agree the best thing Paramount has going for it is location and transport links.

Unless Universal have a few billion laying around they want to bail this out with it isn't happening. Complete longshot.

 

[Rob]

I actually don't think it is a great location for a theme park. It's good from the perspective of having a large catchment area for guests and being close to London but it is a very industrial area not exactly suited to the whole idea of escapism in a theme park. It is also a pain to get there at the moment, the roads are there get very busy. I'd imagine trying to solve this as best they can is one of the driving factors for this delay.

 

[Sku]

I actually don't think it is a great location for a theme park. It's good from the perspective of having a large catchment area for guests and being close to London but it is a very industrial area not exactly suited to the whole idea of escapism in a theme park. It is also a pain to get there at the moment, the roads are there get very busy. I'd imagine trying to solve this as best they can is one of the driving factors for this delay.

I thought the theme park replaces the industrial area? A bit like how Thorpe Park is built on an out of use quarry? Surely tidying up the site is part of the project?

Also the project proposes a dedicated ramp from the A2, just one exit away from the M25, surely making it one of the best road connected theme parks in Europe. When I say it's well connected, I meant both road, and rail as well, since you have both a national rail station, and also the major HS1 station connecting to London and Paris. Due to these connections, the majority of London visitors are likely to take a train.

I'd rather a large operator take over the project now, rather than be left with a dud park that is expensive and difficult to convert when it inevitably get's bought out down the road. What is the motivation of this group in building this park? To become the next big park operator? Or to get a favorable valuation and be bought out?

 

[Rob]

I thought the theme park replaces the industrial area? A bit like how Thorpe Park is built on an out of use quarry? Surely tidying up the site is part of the project?

Also the project proposes a dedicated ramp from the A2, just one exit away from the M25, surely making it one of the best road connected theme parks in Europe. When I say it's well connected, I meant both road, and rail as well, since you have both a national rail station, and also the major HS1 station connecting to London and Paris. Due to these connections, the majority of London visitors are likely to take a train.

I'd rather a large operator take over the project now, rather than be left with a dud park that is expensive and difficult to convert when it inevitably get's bought out down the road. What is the motivation of this group in building this park? To become the next big park operator? Or to get a favorable valuation and be bought out?

It does partly although there is still a fair amount of industry in the area. I was stood looking at the site trying to imagine a theme park there and it just didn't feel like the place to create an escapist theme park environment. I'm sure it will be better once all built though. All I'll say is that it's not the nicest part of the country!

I just find the road network around there a bit of a confusing mess. It is always very busy and it is easy to start going the wrong way. Getting there by rail be a lot easier than by car I imagine.

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

The road network is OK round he area once the Dartford crossing sorts itself out and we don't have knockon effects from operation stack its the perfect connected place. The park wants evening entertainment to dely the rush to leave during rush hour. In terms of location granted its not pretty but Thorpe park was a pit! Look at bluewater next door, with some creative landscaping the place could be beautiful. Look at the Olympic park.

 

[Rob]

So, some potentially interesting news regarding London Paramount. Last year at IAAPA the Wanda Group stated that they were looking to expand into Europe with their preference being the UK. A number of us on here speculated that there could be a potential link with London Paramount brewing, but it was purely speculation based on little fact. Well blow and behold, take a look at this:

London Theme Park Holdings Limited access Wanda text brigade hospital

British Embassy Trade & Investment, Mr. Secretary-General, Paul Wills rate London Theme Park Holdings Limited 6-member delegation visited Wanda Culture Travel hospital. Wanda text brigade vice president Li Jun, deputy general manager of overseas real estate center and Laurent Fischler at the meeting with the visiting guests.

Participants on both sides of the Sino-British cultural and creative industries, theme parks and cultural heritage protection and other issues had friendly exchanges and talks. Li Jun, vice president introduced the planning and development prospects of the cultural group in the field of cultural tourism industry, and focuses on the text brigade hospital Wanda on "creative drive, technological innovation, independent brand" core business model and the corresponding "copyright, patents right, trademark "full intellectual property rights operating strategy.

London Theme Park Holdings Limited Mr. CEO David Testa London theme park highlights the size and format, etc., Kevin Waters Business and Investment, Mr. Nigel Spray executives highlighted the financial model of the project, the British expect Wanda Group to investment and development London.

There Google translation is very poor, here is the original article for anyone who understands Chinese.

Of course nothing could materialise of this but it is interesting none the less.

 

[Rob]

BIG NEWS!

Most people's concerns with this whole project has been the financing, well at long last it appears that the first inverstor has been lined up and agreed an intention for an inital £100 million investment.

London Resort Company Holdings attracts investment from SinoFortone in the £3.2bn project for the London Paramount Entertainment Resort

20 October 2015

London Resort Company Holdings and SinoFortone Group today announce an intention for SinoFortone to invest an initial amount of £100 million in the London Paramount Entertainment Resort (London Paramount). This announcement is made following talks in China recently and after an initial Memorandum of Understanding was signed in August 2015. SinoFortone has access to significant Chinese funding to benefit the London Paramount Entertainment Resort project. Kleinwort Benson acted as financial adviser on the investment.

The London Paramount project will comprise an entertainment resort, including a theme park, events space and hotels on the banks of the Thames in North Kent. It is the first major leisure scheme to be designated a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the UK Government, and is due to open in 2021, subject to planning permission from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The project, which will create up to 27,000 jobs, expects to receive 15 million visitors per year once fully established.

David Testa, CEO, London Paramount, said: “We are delighted that SinoFortone Group of China has decided to invest. This shows that our vision for London Paramount and its location in North Kent with excellent transport links to London, Europe and the rest of the world, is appealing to investors, residents and tourists alike.

“SinoFortone Group of China’s decision reflects the unique economic and regenerative opportunity provided by this multi-billion pound project, which will employ thousands of people and be a huge additional offering to the UK’s entertainment and tourism industries.”

Dr. Peter Zhang, managing director, and Sir Richard Heygate, senior advisor at SinoFortone Group, commented: “London Paramount is an ideal investment opportunity given its excellent connectivity to the capital. We are delighted to act as a bridge from China to this major European and British project, and are excited to be able to make London Paramount a reality.

“This investment supports President Xi Jinpeng’s important ‘One Belt One Road’ strategy, which encourages international infrastructure investment and trade relationships. Given the President’s October visit to the UK as a guest of Her Majesty The Queen, it is well-timed.”

Kleinwort Benson was appointed as the sole adviser to London Resort Company Holdings in May 2015. As part of this mandate, Kleinwort Benson is responsible for overseeing both debt and equity fundraising for the £3.2 billion London Paramount project.

Nigel Spray, head of Principal Investments & Advisory at Kleinwort Benson, said: “We are delighted to have brought together two major players across the globe for a truly world class entertainment resort. The resort combines the best of Hollywood through Paramount Pictures, the best of British through the involvement of the BBC and Aardman Animations and now the best of Chinese construction expertise through SinoFortone Group.”

The announcement of this decision to invest coincides with the trade visit to China by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the UK Trade & Investment department, and also the recent visit by Alderman Alan Yarrow, the Lord Mayor of London. Chinese premier Xi Jinpeng is visiting the UK this week.

Lord Mayor Alan Yarrow said: “It is very encouraging to see sustained Chinese investment in large scale UK projects such as London Paramount. 2015 marks the beginning of a ‘golden era’ in Anglo/Sino relations as we look to encourage further collaboration and facilitate inward investment for Chinese firms across all sectors.”

Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE, Chief Executive, Visit Kent, said: “This exciting announcement comes at a time when Visit Kent, the Destination Management Organisation for Kent, is embarking on a wide-spread campaign to prepare the county to make the most of the growing potential of the Chinese market. Kent has always had a unique offer for foreign markets, boasting both heritage appeal and modern connectivity with the fastest rail links in the country to London and the continent. We have a diverse range of high-quality tourist attractions, including award-winning vineyards and stunning cathedrals, and London Paramount’s expected opening in 2021 will further increase our wow-factor to tourists.”

This can only be seen as good news. I know for a fact that some people on here will pick on the word 'intention' but I say let yourselves get excited about the real prospect of a new theme park in the UK!

Let's hope that further investment follows.

 

[Tom]

Despite Vainey's gloomy predictions of failing to materialise - which some people just regurgitate becaus ethey literally know no better - it's good to see things moving.

 

[Dave]

BIG NEWS!

Most people's concerns with this whole project has been the financing, well at long last it appears that the first inverstor has been lined up and agreed an intention for an inital £100 million investment.


This can only be seen as good news. I know for a fact that some people on here will pick on the word 'intention' but I say let yourselves get excited about the real prospect of a new theme park in the UK!

Let's hope that further investment follows.

At some point something will probably get built here.

Theme parks however offer too little profit in the modern capitalist structure to allow for a straight from the ground build.

Even Disney freak out at the idea of new parks in the west. And only those able to take existing infrastructure have ever been successful.

If paramount where taking over an existing park I would be very confident. Ground up building of a park i have little faith in.

Wish someone with money and decent theme park ability would by Towers!!

 

[Rob]

There is nothing so far to indicate that a new theme park will not happen, only news that suggests the opposite. As news continues to remain positive so will I. Of course there is a chance that it will not go ahead, you just have to look at Murcia for that. However if the Wanda group are involved they are very keen for a UK theme park. Will be interesting to see if any more comes out at IAAPA next month in regards to this.

 

[AirFAN]

I actually don't think it is a great location for a theme park. It's good from the perspective of having a large catchment area for guests and being close to London but it is a very industrial area not exactly suited to the whole idea of escapism in a theme park. It is also a pain to get there at the moment, the roads are there get very busy. I'd imagine trying to solve this as best they can is one of the driving factors for this delay.

Have you seen the area that surrounds Universal Studios Japan?

Or the area that surrounds Disneyland Japan for that matter? They're similar to what's found in Kent. These parks are really clever at immersing you in the surroundings with the a clever use of landscaping and the positioning of buildings/structural theming.

 

[Funcone]

Merlin very cleverly theme all their parks to industrial areas. That way, you don’t know what’s inside the park and what isn’t.

 

[shawnoc]

http://m.westerndailypress.co.uk/Br...ng-2-billion/story-29158203-detail/story.html

I love the headline then the following line in the article.
There seems to be a bit of justification going on. The news of the 80 bed premier inn has confirmed its gonna happen. lol.

 

[Bryan Forbes]

Nothing new in this story.....just rebundled facts to try to convince the world that it is going ahead. Company has approx £93 in the bank with debts of £14-15 million at end of last FY so don't hold your breath! They've been talking about new funding for so long that the Chinese economy is on the water slide; the Kuwaitis have run out of oil; so the only real source of major loot left is Russia or India. Pigs might fly comes to mind!

 

[Rob]

Time for a London Paramount update as things have been very quiet recently. First of all here is a statement from London Paramount posted in June detailing where they are at right now:

London Paramount Sets Out Timeline in North Kent
03 June 2016

London Resort Company Holdings (“LRCH”), the developer behind the multi-billion pound London Paramount Entertainment Resort for North Kent, has announced that the company has completed a further full year of environmental surveys and is making good progress on the transport studies, along with the business plan and masterplan reviews.

David Testa, on behalf of London Paramount, said:

“We’re delighted we are entering a critical stage in the planning process for the Entertainment Resort. While we had hoped to have submitted an application by now, it is much more important to ensure the evidence base is robust and comprehensive to maximise the prospects of success, which means the preparation time is longer. The funds are in place to take this project through the planning process.

“We received a wealth of feedback at our consultations last year which, along with new information from further studies we have conducted in the area, has allowed us to refine our masterplan. We were always conscious that there was a need to share more detailed information in relation to transport and ecology and we’ve been working hard on those reports.

“We have decided that, given some of the changes we are making to the masterplan, we should hold a further round of public consultation on the updated information. This decision comes as part of our continued dialogue with the Planning Inspectorate and local authorities in Dartford, Gravesham and Kent, and the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. Following the further consultation events, we intend to submit our application to the Planning Inspectorate in 2017.”

The specific challenge in relation to a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) is that the process for submitting a planning application, known as a Development Consent Order, is heavily front-loaded. Nearly all of the detail must be assembled prior to submission rather than amassed or worked on as the scheme is considered.

Traffic and transport are without doubt the greatest challenges facing the local area and we have been working closely with Highways England, the Garden City and others on the proposed Access Route, as well as continuing detailed work on our traffic modelling.

The additional consultation events will represent the fifth stage of an extensive programme of community engagement carried out by LRCH, which has already seen over 8,000 attend. In the interim, the London Paramount team has just written to local authorities, parish councils and residents’ groups in order to establish a Community Liaison Group to ensure more regular information is being shared with the local community as we lead into the planning submission and beyond.

That is all very well and good however news broke last week that one of the project's directors has stepped down:

One of London Paramount’s prominent figureheads has walked away from the project, just two months after the developer made a public assurance that the theme park was on track.

Fenlon Dunphy has played a major role in progressing the plans for the £2bn (US$3bn, €2.8bn) Kent-based theme park and resort, attending many of the public consultations and exhibitions held by developer London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH).

Progress on the project seemingly slowed when a planning application that was expected last year was delayed, but LRCH insists the scheme is going ahead.

Dunphy has given no reason for his departure, but local news provider Kent Online reports CEO David Testa is continuing as CEO and the rest of the team will stay the same.

Dunphy remains UK boss at LRCH’s parent company and Paramount’s largest investor, Kuwaiti European Holdings (KEHC), which he joined in 2013. KEHC is owned by Abdullah Al-Humaidi, who oversees the theme park and resort development alongside Testa and former politician Steven Norris.

There are also unconfirmed reports that three of the main creative leads on the project have also left. Clearly this is worrying news and even I am beginning to doubt whether this will materialise. A pity if so as if this doesn't happen I can't ever see a new theme park project in the UK working out.

 

[DiogoJ42]

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Rob]

I have however just found out that the operations director/consultant for the project has 31 years of Disney Parks experience with stints as general manager of operations for Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom!

 

[shawnoc]

I was chatting with sku the other day, we both think they need to drop the paramount link and let someone like universal take the lead.

Surely they could make it work, aswell as fulfill catching the European market.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Has any Paramount park ever been successfull?