Amid a tariff trade war between the UK and the US, new plans have been announced by the British government for Universal to build Europe’s biggest theme park in Bedford.
“Today we closed the deal on a multi-billion-pound investment that will see Bedford home to one of the biggest entertainment parks in Europe, firmly putting the county on the global stage,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
Universal’s first European park will join its roster of American theme parks in Orlando, Florida; Los Angeles, California; as well as Osaka, Japan; Sentosa, Singapore; and Beijing, China.
The £50 billion (€58 billion) plan for Universal Studios United Kingdom will be constructed on an old industrial site called Kempston Hardwick brickworks. The 3km2 site near Bedford is around 90 miles from central London – around an hour away by train.
Set to open in 2031, the new theme park will create around 28,000 jobs – 20,000 for construction and 8,000 in creative and hospitality roles – with 80% of employees coming from the local area.
When it’s all up and running, Universal Studios UK expects to attract up to 8.5 million visitors every year, with guests able to stay in a 500-room hotel.
In scale, it will be nearly four times the size of Disneyland Paris, although its expected attendance will lag slightly behind the France-based theme park which saw over 10 million visitors through its gates in 2023.
No rides or areas have been confirmed for the new UK park. The five other parks in the US and Asia have rides based on many of NBCUniversal’s major properties.
Thanks to the company’s long-standing collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, rides have frequently featured his films including Jurassic Park, Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Other major properties including Harry Potter, The Simpsons, and Nintendo have also been features of their current theme parks.
NBCUniversal agreed to a seven-year deal with Warner Bros. in 2016 for the television rights to the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchise, allowing them to create areas dedicated to the beloved wizarding world in their parks in Florida, California, Japan, and China.
“This is not just about bringing great American creations to Britain, this is also about showcasing great British creations to the world,” Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the press. “These are things like James Bond, Paddington Bear, these are things like Harry Potter. We’ve got so much to be proud of.”
To create the theme park, Universal has said it will commit to making upgrades to the local Wixams train station as well as build a new station on the rail line. There will also be new slip roads added to the motorway that passes through Bedford for the park.
“Bringing a world-class theme park and resort to the United Kingdom is a tremendous opportunity and is part of our strategy to introduce the Universal brand and experiences to new audiences around the globe. We appreciate the incredible support for our proposed project and look forward to bringing it to life in the years ahead,” said Mark Woodbury, Chairman and CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences.
Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast Corporation, added: “We could not be more excited to take this very important step in our plan to create and deliver an incredible Universal theme park and resort in the heart of the United Kingdom, which complements our growing US-based parks business by expanding our global footprint to Europe.”
