The new Universal Park near Bedford is due to bring 50 billion pounds to the British economy.
Universal film company will build its first European amusement park in the United Kingdom. This was stated on Wednesday by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and introduced an agreement that could create thousands of new jobs and attract millions of tourists. According to AFP, TASR writes about it.
“What a significant day, what an important day. It is not just the first in the United Kingdom, it would be quite good is the first in Europe, and that is really incredible,” Starmer said.
New park at Bedford
He had previously announced that the United Kingdom has concluded a “investment agreement worth several billion pounds” with the American communication giant Comcast owned by Universal. The new amusement park will be built near Bedford, about 80 kilometers north of London.
At present, Universal has five amusement parks worldwide. The first opened in 1964 in Hollywood around the original film studios, later it was Orlando in Florida. Three others are in Asia – in Beijing, China, Japanese Osaka and Singapore. In 2023, Comcast bought the 200-hectare land of the former brick at Bedford.
Their attractions are based on film characters from the stories of Shrek, Dinosaurs from Jurassic Park and the magic apprentice of Harry Potter.
The new tourist attraction could create approximately 28,000 jobs, including 20,000 during construction to start next year. By 2055, it should bring £ 50 billion (over € 58 billion) to the British economy, the British Prime Minister’s office said.
It is estimated that in the first year after the opening planned for 2031 the amusement park will be visited by about 8.5 million people. Universal has not published official details of attractions, and media reports also indicate the presence of Paddington teddy bear.
Investment reports come only a few days after the government has signed the extension of the nearby Luton airport.
