The truth is very likely that Alton Towers are perfectly profitable, but not to the margins desired by Merlin.
Merlin will have spent a lot of money on business consultancy to develop a target operating model for all RTPs; an objective, streamlined, cost efficient model. It won’t factor in any variables for individual parks, because why? It’s a theory, it works on paper, and will be calculated based on square footage, guest numbers, number of assets etc etc and will demonstrate exactly how much funding a park needs to operate based on its size. It’s then down to Alton Towers to make it fit.
And what happens if it doesn’t work, if a park doesn’t perform to the margins set by Merlin’s Magic Spreadsheet? Merlin aren’t going to pull funding, and they won’t allow a park to become illiquid. So the fall comes to the management to conform, or get out. And then it’s down to another team to meet these demands. So two sets of people need to make a decision.
A) are the demands being placed in my role unreasonable, and can I justify putting these demands in place for the business I operate, or
B) are these parks worth the profit we’re receiving to keep in our group.
Until the latter is decided by Merlin, they will continue to place these demands on Alton Towers, and it’s down to them to prove to Merlin that the demands are unreasonable, be it by refusing to conform to them, or by offering resignation.
I’m not calling for the resignation of any staff. I understand that walking away from a position you were the most passionate about until recently is not a light decision, and has severe consequences for personal lives too. But I am questioning how much management care for the place if they continue to obey Merlin’s demands
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