Potential New Universal UK Park

[benpicko]

An airport has national significance, being an infrastructure project with connectivity. Most of our airports are actually previously state owned, and sold off, or old RAF bases.

A data centre, a la Google, is also of significance. There aren't people physically visiting it, but there are far more employees needed than you realise for the upkeep. The data centre would also improve the UK's digital connectivity and infrastructure, making it more attractive to other companies and supporting the growth of the digital economy. Although the overall amount of jobs created for the data centre would be fewer than a theme park, they would be significantly higher paid. A data centre also has less environmental impact and is less susceptible to market fluctuations.

You wouldn't expect your local council to stump up a chunk of cash to fund a new out of park leisure complex, or to connect it. If the company wants to build there, and they've bought the land, they're already invested, they ought to pay for it. The same as any other company.

I appreciate incentives, or tax breaks, but it ought to be competitive and fair.

I'm not sure how this wouldn't also be of national significance given the value it'll add through tourism?

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I'm not sure how this wouldn't also be of national significance given the value it'll add through tourism?

Is any other theme park, or leisure project, an interest of national significance?

The Co-Op Live, for example, which has recently opened in Manchester hasn't been in receipt of national government tax breaks, or infrastructure assistance. It generates a lot of revenue through tourism, or certainly will do.

It's about fairness, competition and the national interest. I understand that as enthusiasts we really want this to happen, but we also need to realise that Comcast is a commercial entity with a vested interest in making this a reality. If they're going to walk away, because they don't want to fund a few roads or build a train station, then they never really wanted to be here in the first place. It's a literal drop in the ocean for them, compared to what they stand to make.

Yes Bedford, the surrounding businesses and the UK government stand to take a decent chunk of revenue if this project goes ahead, but you know who stands to make the most out of all of this? Comcast.

 

[benpicko]

Is any other theme park, or leisure project, an interest of national significance?

The Co-Op Live, for example, which has recently opened in Manchester hasn't been in receipt of national government tax breaks, or infrastructure assistance. It generates a lot of revenue through tourism, or certainly will do.

It's about fairness, competition and the national interest. I understand that as enthusiasts we really want this to happen, but we also need to realise that Comcast is a commercial entity with a vested interest in making this a reality. If they're going to walk away, because they don't want to fund a few roads or build a train station, then they never really wanted to be here in the first place. It's a literal drop in the ocean for them, compared to what they stand to make.

Yes Bedford, the surrounding businesses and the UK government stand to take a decent chunk of revenue if this project goes ahead, but you know who stands to make the most out of all of this? Comcast.

What infrastructure assistance would the Co-Op Live need in an already built-upon area, serviced by a tram service at Etihad Campus which was partly built with public money? And of course Comcast are due to make the most money out of this, it's their theme park? That doesn't mean that we shouldn't help with infrastructure for what would benefit the country economically through a massive the tourist draws for the entire continent.

 

[Jb85]

It’s a matter of opinion this.
I see both sides - for me - some government funding to secure the investment and future tax revenue is worth it

 

[benpicko]

That article is also written seemingly as an outrage piece that pretends that giving tax incentives is completely out of keeping with the rest of our economy and offers zero benefit for anybody other than the (in this case foreign) corporations in question. It's the reason we have the biggest film industry outside of Hollywood and why it continues to grow in size?

 

[Matt N]

The difference with this compared to, say, Alton Towers is that this has the potential to pull millions and millions of people from potentially all over the continent.

If this is like DLP or the Universal parks in Florida, it could potentially get 10 million guests per year once it's bedded in a bit. That's on a completely different scale to any other theme park, or dare I say tourist attraction, in this country. Even the most visited museums in London don't attract 10 million guests per year. The tourism and tax implications are potentially huge for all involved.

There is precedent for this sort of thing getting tax relief and incentives. As said, the French bent over backwards to build DLP. The UK government also lent considerable subsidy to the Millennium Dome, if I'm not mistaken, to build similar infrastructure to the site and help regenerate the surrounding Greenwich area. This would be a highly significant project for this country, and would be absolutely huge for a number of industries. As well as tourism, it would also be absolutely massive for the UK's construction industry; it would likely be one of the biggest UK construction projects of recent times.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

It's the reason we have the biggest film industry outside of Hollywood and why it continues to grow in size?

The world's biggest film industry is Bollywood, and has been since 2004. Second is Nollywood (Nigeria), third is Hollywood (in some places considered second), and fourth is Cinema of China. We come fifth, if we're being generous.

 

[KolonelKlink]

That article is also written seemingly as an outrage piece that pretends that giving tax incentives is completely out of keeping with the rest of our economy and offers zero benefit for anybody other than the (in this case foreign) corporations in question. It's the reason we have the biggest film industry outside of Hollywood and why it continues to grow in size?

The staunchly Conservative-leaning Express would be spitting feathers if the lack of tax incentives meant Comcast pulled out, accusing Labour of squandering a massive investment opportunity - it’s an excuse to have a pop at the government.

Is any other theme park, or leisure project, an interest of national significance?

The Co-Op Live, for example, which has recently opened in Manchester hasn't been in receipt of national government tax breaks, or infrastructure assistance. It generates a lot of revenue through tourism, or certainly will do.

Coop Live is expected to generate around £1.5 billion for the economy. Contrast that with Universal, with the impact assessment suggesting a net economic contribution to UK PLC of £50 billion. It blows any other leisure project, or the Google data centres you mention for that matter, out of the water in terms of its importance for growth, job creation and tax revenue plus the ripple effect through the supply chain.

The Treasury putting forward some cash to help get the infrastructure built is a savvy move to get the deal done, and I don’t say that as an enthusiast, it’s sensible economics - the tax yield will far, far outweigh the outlay. You clearly have moral objections to tax breaks but without them, Britain wouldn’t have much of a creative sector - and ours is the envy of the world.

 

[benpicko]

The world's biggest film industry is Bollywood, and has been since 2004. Second is Nollywood (Nigeria), third is Hollywood (in some places considered second), and fourth is Cinema of China. We come fifth, if we're being generous.

Sorry I meant in terms of studio space but point taken. We're a massive country for film production but our film industry itself isn't top two for revenue -- regardless, it's tax incentives that have created that hotspot for production and which have created thousands of jobs and generated billions every year.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Coop Live is expected to generate around £1.5 billion for the economy. Contrast that with Universal, with the impact assessment suggesting a net economic contribution to UK PLC of £50 billion. It blows any other leisure project, or the Google data centres you mention for that matter, out of the water in terms of its importance for growth, job creation and tax revenue plus the ripple effect through the supply chain.

Great, wonderful. The data centre was entirely hypothetical. Comcast can still make the development, and continue with the programme without state aid. I understand that it's beneficial to the Treasury for the project to happen here, but in reality it's not going to fault at the finish line (at this point) without the incentives. If Comcast weren't keen, eager, or willing in the first instance, they wouldn't have bought the land, they wouldn't have publicly announced, they wouldn't have made it a big deal. The ball is in our court, not theirs and now we're calling the shots.

Realistically they're not going to go to any other European nation for all of the reasons we've waxed lyrical in this thread. Native English speakers, world tourism destination, colonialism, soft power, lack of a serious competitor. France, Germany and Spain are off the table, the other European nations would be grateful, but not as beneficial for Comcast.

ours is the envy of the world.

Our creative sector is good, but it's not the envy of the world. I generally despise jingoism, or patriotic feelings, so perhaps I'm biased here. We are good, were very good in certain regards, but we're not the best and our soft cultural power has been weaning over the past two decades. The cultural power/influence of the east, with Japan and China already outweighs ours. We also consistently play second fiddle to the US. We're a good factory source for raw talent, but we don't lead the projects.

regardless, it's tax incentives that have created that hotspot for production and which have created thousands of jobs and generated billions every year.

Tax incentives are industry wide. Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, BBC Studios, heck even Comcast get the same breaks. What we're proposing here isn't the same. This is the equivalent of the giving a single Premier League football club a massive tax bonus, incentive or a direct train route to their stadium. That single club will generate lots of revenue for the treasury, tourism too, but it's anti-competitive for the other teams in the league, and arguably not in the tax payer's best interest.

If Universal want to operate here then that's wonderful. They can play by the same rules as everyone else does, and if the state wants to help Universal, well it can also help Merlin, Paulton's, Looping, Blackpool and Flamingo too, via industry tax breaks. Not by preferential treatment to one corporate body.