Universal Great Britain

[Jake S]

The general public will obviously be asking (even though it makes long term financial sense) why payments are being given to a huge corporation like Comcast

I don’t think it’s at all a given that it makes long term financial sense for anyone other than Comcast.

 

[Altonsky]

I don’t think it’s at all a given that it makes long term financial sense for anyone other than Comcast.

Potentially yeah, I see where you’re coming from. I do genuinely think it’d be a net positive in the long run for this country. But the taxpayer is going have to fork over a substantial sum of money, that’s not something I personally disagree with.

We give billions of pounds in tax breaks to Comcast and other production companies so they film here, but we make a lot and those tax breaks bolster our extraordinary creative industry, they allow it to thrive.

I do genuinely think the same could happen here.

But Comcast obviously have vested interests, they’re pretty nailed on imo and they want to open up shop here which is why they’re doing all the PR stuff such as community engagement which is great. But it’s kind of all fluff really isn’t it because like I said it’s the bean counters in London that make the decisions and they’re very unforgiving.

 

[rob@rar]

Just a quick reminder:

£50Bn of economic benefit for the UK

This is a summary of an independent report, which I think was undertaken by Leisure Development Partners using standard analysis approved by HM Treasury. The summary on Universal's project site might look a bit glossy and lightweight, but I'm pretty sure the underlying work is robust and persuasive. Thousands of jobs will be created by this project, many of which will be based in the Bedford locality and across the Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire counties.

It seems to me that the British public have been happy to see the government subsidise the cost of different industries such as car manufacturing, steelworks, tourism and culture if there is the promise of creating (or saving) jobs. I'm not sure that building a bigger railway station and a spur road off a dual carriageway to ensure no traffic chaos would attract much opprobrium.

 

[rob@rar]

I don't think Rachel Reeves is bright enough.

From a modest background she took her first degree from Oxford, a Masters from LSE, and was a high-flyer at the Bank of England before entering politics, where she has now risen to become the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer in British history.

Boy, I wish I was not bright enough like Rachel Reeves.

 

[Altonsky]

I agree with you I think it will be a net benefit.

But the bean counters in London do tend to make decisions at times that don’t seem to be sane or rational.

I think people will be largely support it, but! I also think the messaging is going to be far more difficult when it comes to giving money/tax breaks to a multinational like Comcast. Especially when the press are going all in on freezing grannies and a 20 billion black hole.

I’m not saying they won’t do it, I’m just confused about how they’re going to square that circle.

Just wait and see I guess.

 

[rob@rar]

... I’m just confused about how they’re going to square that circle.

It seems to me that's there's widespread political support at local and national level. There's been lots of press coverage of the proposal, which apart from one stupid Richard Littlejohn article (who is paid to write stupid articles) has been broadly positive, a massive injection of foreign investment, boosts to domestic and international tourism and independent analysis which shows a huge economic benefit to the country including the creation of thousands of jobs. I don't think the British public are stupid, and will readily understand that a small investment of public money unlocks all those benefits. So I don't think there's a circle to be squared.

At some point the government, any government which happens to be in office, is going to proclaim this proposal as a 'Good Thing'. Whether it happens in the forthcoming Budget I neither know, nor care. It was a bit of idle speculation on my part, and the one thing which I considered before posting my comment was whether this was a big enough deal to actually warrant a mention in the Budget (assuming that it's close enough to final sign-off to make a public announcement at that time). It might not be big enough, but if the Chancellor is casting around for something nice to say, I'd say that a $10Bn investment in the UK by Comcast, creating thousands of jobs, meets the bill.

 

[Altonsky]

I think the conversation is extremely emotive at this moment in time with things like the winter fuel allowance being cut.

If some of the other leaked proposals for the forthcoming budget (scrapping the 25% discount for council tax, scrapping the higher rate tax rebate for pensions, scrapping the 25% tax free pot for personal pensions etc) are true then it’s going to become a whole lot more emotive.

Whether the proposals are sensible or not doesn’t mean anything when the press have a headline that reads ‘freezing grannies’.

Anyway none of us knows what the true feeling/conversations are behind closed doors.

Like you I suspect we’ll get a better feel for the project at the end of October so it really is just wait and see and hope it’s positive news.

 

[rob@rar]

I think the conversation is extremely emotive at this moment in time with things like the winter fuel allowance being cut.

Yes, I think that's right. But what I'm interested in is what decision is made, rather than what some elements of the press might make of it. The Daily Mail might see this as an opportunity to strategically lose its mind about the heartless stupid of it all, while the FT might say it makes great economic sense. Neither report would be of much interest to me, only the actual decision.

 

[quinnmac000]

I understand the political nature of this conversation but Universal Studios Korea and Universal Studios Moscow were stopped due to over reliance on government partners and the hope of it being a joint venture.

The fact is Comcast/Sky will try get tax breaks but funding this mostly aside from infrastructure means they are truly invested in this project and have a strong enough belief in the project they can be the full owner. Yea, its great if Labour party will give them things to cut development costs but they are invested in this and likely already planned with the thought of it not getting benefits.

 

[rob@rar]

The fact is Comcast/Sky will try get tax breaks but funding this mostly aside from infrastructure means they are truly invested in this project and have a strong enough belief in the project they can be the full owner. Yea, its great if Labour party will give them things to cut development costs but they are invested in this and likely already planned with the thought of it not getting benefits.

I think that's probably right. There has been no indication that this proposal is anything like a joint venture with government, it's entirely a Universal project. Obviously Universal will negotiate with the government for some support around public/semi-public infrastructure and tax incentives necessary for a major theme park in that location, and obviously the government will enter those negotiations with an eye on value-for-money for the public purse. Nothing wrong with that at all. But ultimately the scale of the overall investment and likely contribution to the public purse dwarfs the expenditure on that local infrastructure, so I'm sure that neither side of those negotiations will see that expenditure as a major stumbling block. It's just a part of the process of getting this thing done.

 

[Jake S]

This is a summary of an independent report, which I think was undertaken by Leisure Development Partners using standard analysis approved by HM Treasury.

I don’t think a report by a firm called “Leisure Development” can be considered independent haha.

 

[yepthatguy]

I don’t think a report by a firm called “Leisure Development” can be considered independent haha.

I didn’t actually notice that, that’s classic.

“ThemeParks4U report says “it’s a good idea” in industry shock!”

 

[rob@rar]

Have you taken a look at what kind of work Leisure Developments does? It’s not developing leisure facilities.

 

[TheUniC6]

One positive outcome to UGB assuming they are able to pull through and get all the approvals they need to break ground, is that it will be the thing to get Disney to step up their game and invest in DLP far more. Because let's be honest, they clearly treat it as an afterthought in the parks portfolio.

The main DL park hasn't really received any large scale expansion since it opened in 1992, and what will become DAW still needs a lot of work, not helped by them moving at a comically slow pace for Frozen Post Covid. LK will likely be 2029 at the earliest and further additions won't happen well into the 2030s .

 

[rob@rar]

Definitely agree that DLP will be the main competitor for Universal GB, which I think is great news for us fans of highly immersive theme parks. With Universal just an hour away from us we will undoubtedly visit DLP less often than we do, unless they increase the pace of new attractions being added to their parks.

 

[Alex23]

Looks like there is subsidies on offer, £500m going to Tata Steel

Tata Steel: Ministers confirm £500m subsidy

Ministers say they have reached "improved deal" to safeguard future of firm's Port Talbot plant.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Lost Meerkat]

Looks as if all the purchased properties in Manor Road are now boarded up with boarding inside the windows. Should make it easier to see what has been purchased....

 

[Scott W.]

Looks as if all the purchased properties in Manor Road are now boarded up with boarding inside the windows. Should make it easier to see what has been purchased....

If Universal have no immediate plans for these houses, this could provide an incredible setting for the most unique HHN.

 

[Luke Hutchinson]

New article… Seems balanced yet trending to positive? Europe's biggest theme park planned for Bedfordshire – in first major test for Reeves

 

[Altonsky]

Interesting article, balanced like you said.

Kind of talks about what I mentioned regarding tax breaks and Labours current messaging about being pro business, pro growth but anti that when potential budget items are being leaked.

Hopefully they push it over the line. A VAT reduction on tickets would be interesting, probably needed I assume to make the tickets ‘affordable’ for the domestic market.

Interesting that the new station (the 4 platform one) that we all know about if it’s built will be running 24 hours a day.

Interesting conversation with the unions because that’s not really the done thing over here, unless it’s a sleeper train etc.

And a new 6 platform station with a name that relates to Universal has been mentioned, have we heard about that?