{"id":1891,"date":"2025-04-08T23:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2025-04-09T08:43:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T08:43:48","slug":"first-look-at-new-universal-theme-park-which-could-bring-50000000000-to-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/08\/first-look-at-new-universal-theme-park-which-could-bring-50000000000-to-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"First look at new Universal theme park which could bring \u00a350,000,000,000 to UK"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"The\t<\/div>
The hugely popular Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida (Picture: Shutterstock\/Chansak Joe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An opening date has been set for the UK\u2019s first Universal theme park<\/a> after the government<\/a> closed a deal with bosses at the film studio.<\/p>\n

The massive new attraction \u2013 predicted to bring in \u00a350 billion<\/a> to the UK- is preparing to open its doors on a site outside Bedford in 2031.<\/p>\n

It will make the English market town<\/a>, located halfway between Cambridge and Northampton, the seventh place to host a Universal park after Hollywood, Orlando<\/a>, Beijing, Osaka, Singapore and Frisco in Texas.<\/p>\n

As well as a range of thrill rides, the 476-acre former brickworks will host a retail and entertainment complex and a hotel with 500 rooms.<\/p>\n

On a visit to Downing Street today, president of Universal\u2019s parent company Comcast Mike Cavanagh unveiled an artist\u2019s rendering of what the park could look like.<\/p>\n

What do we know about the Universal Studios theme park in Bedford?<\/h2>\n

The plans showed the entrance gates leading to a large plaza, built around a fountain that appeared to feature a sculpture of the studio\u2019s famous planet Earth logo.<\/p>\n

Visitors would then walk along a street to reach different areas scattered around a large central lake including three very twisty rollercoasters \u2013 with one looping over the water\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
The new attraction will be the first Universal theme park in Europe (Picture: Universal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The theme park that opens in six years\u2019 time could look very different from the artists\u2019 impression, but some clues are offered by the other five versions around the world.<\/p>\n

Several have areas celebrating Harry Potter<\/a> \u2013 though the Potter-heavy Warner Bros Studio Tour is only 30 miles south in Watford \u2013 as well as Jurassic Park and the Minions from Despicable Me.<\/p>\n

There are also rides based around popular franchises like The Fast and the Furious and Universal monster movies like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Universal\t<\/div>
The site where the new park will be built (Picture: Universal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What has Keir Starmer said about the deal?<\/h2>\n

Welcoming the new deal, Prime Minister Keir Starmer<\/a> said the attraction will create around 28,000 jobs \u2013 split into 20,000 during the construction phase and 8,000 once visitors start coming through the turnstiles.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018It is not just about numbers, it\u2019s about securing real opportunities for people in our country.\u2019<\/p>\n

Universal expects the park to generate more than \u00a350 billion for the UK economy: \u00a335.1 billion during the construction period and first 20 years of operation, and \u00a314 billion generated from taxes in the same period.<\/p>\n

The announcement will come as a relief to Starmer\u2019s government, which has been battered by a week of tough economic news after Donald Trump introduced tariffs on much of the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"EMBARGOED\t<\/div>
Comcast President Mike Cavanagh and PM Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street (Picture: Stefan Rousseau\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves<\/a> said she saw it as \u2018a vote of confidence in Britain as a place to do business\u2019.<\/p>\n

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith described the announcement as \u2018great news for Britain\u2019, but said the Conservatives should be credited with securing the land and bringing forward plans.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018We\u2019re pleased that, despite Labour\u2019s economic mismanagement, Universal Studios has committed to investing in Bedfordshire.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mark Woodbury, chief executive of Universal Destinations & Experiences, said: \u2018Bringing 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hugely popular Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida (Picture: Shutterstock\/Chansak Joe) An opening date has been set for the UK\u2019s first Universal theme park after the government closed a deal with bosses at the film studio. The massive new attraction \u2013 predicted to bring in \u00a350 billion to the UK- is preparing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1891"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1898,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions\/1898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}