Universal GB - Archived Pre Announcement Discussion

[The_bup]

Merlin apparently only employeers 30,000 people worldwide, so even considering the indirect employment of independant hotels etc that number seems huge.

I know but.. also Merlin staffing. There’s isn’t a lot of it

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Treasury minister Darren Jones declined to give a date and said negotiations were ongoing, adding: "I hope to come back shortly with updates."

Negotiations still ongoing is quite different to the "poised to be signed off" claim.

I do wonder how much state assistance Universal is asking for.

Merlin apparently only employeers 30,000 people worldwide, so even considering the indirect employment of independant hotels etc that number seems huge.

It's worth nothing, however, that they don't employ any food and beverage staff. Nor do they employ any staff to run their games at theme parks. The former is a considerable chunk of potential employees for a hospitality company.

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

Negotiations still ongoing is quite different to the "poised to be signed off" claim.

I do wonder how much state assistance Universal is asking for.

It's worth nothing, however, that they don't employ any food and beverage staff. Nor do they employ any staff to run their games at theme parks. The former is a considerable chunk of potential employees for a hospitality company.

And alot of staff are seasonal!

 

[Josh555]

Negotiations still ongoing is quite different to the "poised to be signed off" claim.

not necessarily.

An MP is going to give the official line and that will always be that negotiations are ongoing because they technically are; until they aren’t.

The journalist could have been making it up for clicks or it could be that it’s virtually agreed and there’s some final points to consider and they’re not ready to confirm it yet; hence stating that the negotiations were continuing.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

The journalist could have been making it up for clicks

It's far more likely that their source was simply misinformed, or got it wrong. We don't need to start accusing professionals of lying.

 

[Mick]

I think it must be close-ish or it wouldn’t be being leaked/briefed alongside lots of other things that have now been confirmed. And it has only been a few days since Rachel Reeves big statement and since then Darren Jones the treasury minister has given a politicians answer so I don’t think it’s a moment for alarm bells to be ringing.

There’s still many reasons why it may end up not happening in the end of course, but I don’t think anything has changed this week.

 

[Josh555]

It's far more likely that their source was simply misinformed, or got it wrong. We don't need to start accusing professionals of lying.

It’s not lying though, being in ‘negotiations’ can mean anything. Football managers say this sort of thing about transfers all the time, it’s just the right thing to say until everyone is ready to say something more.

 

[Bowser]

Personally I’d veer towards it being accurate because asides from the other information being correct validating said journalist, I’d be surprised if they were also a thoosie with a vested interest in the project. It’s just another bit of information within the overall story that to the majority of people is far less interesting and controversial than Heathrow et al.

 

[Matt N]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it has already been signed off and the government is just saying that “negotiations are ongoing” because the relevant parties aren’t ready to announce yet.

It’s quite a generic reply that shuts up any speculation without really giving too much away.

I had my fears that the government giving money to a theme park project might be controversial, but it does seem that public and parliamentary support is mostly coalescing behind the project, as far as we can tell. Both Labour and Conservative politicians seem to be supportive, and unlike, say, Heathrow, I have not seen any moaning about the prospect of Universal getting government money.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Personally I’d veer towards it being accurate because asides from the other information being correct validating said journalist, I’d be surprised if they were also a thoosie with a vested interest in the project. It’s just another bit of information within the overall story that to the majority of people is far less interesting and controversial than Heathrow et al.

I don't think that the journalist is a Thoosie, by any means. I believe that their anonymous source for the entire story is either misinformed, or is exaggerating the state of various large projects (which weren't announced in the speech, but are in the pipeline), in order to drum up more support for the government and the chancellor.

I think the next time we'll hear any sort of update on the status of the project, if anything at all, will be in Comcast's year end results call.

 

[jon81uk]

It's worth nothing, however, that they don't employ any food and beverage staff. Nor do they employ any staff to run their games at theme parks. The former is a considerable chunk of potential employees for a hospitality company.

True, I don't think Universal use any outside companies or contractors in the parks? I know Disney contract or franchise out quite a few things and some operations have been that way since the original Disneyland 70 years ago.

And alot of staff are seasonal!

Yes, I think its likely that Merlin are not counting seasonal staff in the 30k but Universal are including them in the 8-10k as they mainly reference jobs created.

 

[benpicko]

I believe that their anonymous source for the entire story is either misinformed, or is exaggerating the state of various large projects (which weren't announced in the speech, but are in the pipeline), in order to drum up more support for the government and the chancellor.

What are the projects in the article that weren't mentioned in the speech, other than Universal? It seems quite convenient to me that a source could be misinformed or exaggerating, and yet every project in the article was mentioned in the speech -- aside from Universal, which the authors of the article specified would not be mentioned.

Heathrow: mentioned in the speech.
Gatwick and Luton: mentioned in the speech.
Lower Thames Crossing: mentioned in the speech.

 

[Blackrock]

Merlin apparently only employeers 30,000 people worldwide, so even considering the indirect employment of independant hotels etc that number seems huge.

Nothing to be sniffed at in today’s economy.

 

[Craig]

Airport capacity and the likes of the Lower Thames Crossing were mentioned because despite their constant delays, they’re much further along in (very!) lengthy planning processes and have long been required to address existing problems with traffic and capacity in the region/nationally. They’re also hideously contentious issues both nationally, and especially locally not only due to environmental issues, but also on the basis that some options are likely to see the removal of whole villages in the area. Indeed, political candidates have won and lost elections off the back of their views on the projects. They’re the poster children for the whole growth agenda that the government have been pushing. Universal have a part to play in that too of course, but with only an outline of what the project entails and no official word on whether Universal are going ahead with the project - I don’t see why it should be mentioned in the same way at this stage.

So is the reporter exaggerating or are they misinformed? It’s impossible to say, but I don’t think anyone should be drawing any conclusions to determine that off the back of public comments from MPs. Take Mohammad Yasmin for example, he’s simply making a holding statement in the same way that he has throughout this process. Look through his Facebook or Twitter and the comments he’s making are of the exact same that he’s been putting out since the project was first on the table. It’s just a generic thing to both keep people informed that the project is still in the works, but as mentioned also a not-so-subtle reminder to those who would potentially be able to move the project along.

There’s clearly work ongoing, but this is a private company in discussions on whether to make a substantial investment in the UK. Until they agree on any potential government investment (be that directly or indirectly in infrastructure like trains/roads), agree to go ahead, secure funding, go through the planning process, have that accepted and have boots on the ground and diggers on site it’s a very delicate process.

 

[dave___]

The airports and LTC also come under the umbrella of critical national infrastructure. While Universal will be a big undertaking and would be economically significant, it's not CNI and is private enterprise so won't be afforded the same level of attention from central government.

National Highways are always fairly up to speed with things so if there's even a hint of anything in the pipeline they will already have the design consultancies drawing up documents for redoing the M1 junction and A-road out to the planned site.

 

[Ted]

The airports and LTC also come under the umbrella of critical national infrastructure. While Universal will be a big undertaking and would be economically significant, it's not CNI and is private enterprise so won't be afforded the same level of attention from central government.

It's also, in a literal sense, not critical in the same way airport expansions, upgrades to rail and road etc are

From a certain perspective, this isn't even the most important project in Bedfordshire when you compare it to expanding Luton Airport

 

[JT01]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it has already been signed off and the government is just saying that “negotiations are ongoing” because the relevant parties aren’t ready to announce yet.

It’s quite a generic reply that shuts up any speculation without really giving too much away.

I had my fears that the government giving money to a theme park project might be controversial, but it does seem that public and parliamentary support is mostly coalescing behind the project, as far as we can tell. Both Labour and Conservative politicians seem to be supportive, and unlike, say, Heathrow, I have not seen any moaning about the prospect of Universal getting government money.

Unless something drastic goes wrong, I can really see this happening. In recent years, I haven’t seen a project where all political parties are so enthusiastic and engaged. MPs from both parties in Parliament are asking for updates, not objecting or voicing their concerns.

As a nation, I think we’re so anxious because the UK has developed a reputation for being terrible at delivering ambitious projects. It always seems to involve endless rejections, red tape, and value engineering. I can’t be the only one who’s lost faith in this country, and I’m still in disbelief that something like this is actually being proposed here. But there’s just something different about this—whether it’s how both sides of the government are handling it, the positive reaction from the local and wider population, or even our often-critical media—it all feels like it’s being done right.

 

[Benzin]

There's a positivity about it because it won't be the incumbent government in charge of the project. So it might actually get done on time.

Also aided by the general area backing it, rather than there being lots of opposition over various aspects of the project.

Of course, things can change very quickly.

 

[Bowser]

Construction has begun!

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Construction has begun!

Likely in response to the YouTubers who keep pitching up on the field to record "update" vlogs.

That or they've secretly sold the land to Merlin, who are now using it as storage for all of their temporary fencing for Thorpe Park, which in turn would explain all of the recent layoff rumours and redundancies.

IT'S STARTING TO ALL MAKE SENSE!