Grand Pier – mixing tradition with 21st century entertainment
THE theme park and attractions industry is littered with venues steeped in tradition and history and perhaps nowhere else is this more evident than in the UK. Throughout the country there are attraction
venues that date back well over a century, indeed to the very roots of the static amusement park industry, and while theme parks are the modern day phenomena, traditional amusement parks and similar forms of entertainment still grace our shores – literally in many cases – and keep this still popular sector of the industry alive and kicking.
Seaside piers, of course, are a major part of this tradition
of providing entertainment by the coast and the UK boasts over 50 still in existence with many continuing to provide fun and entertainment to tens of thousands of visitors each year. One such structure is the Grand Pier at Weston-super-
Mare on the Bristol Channel in Somerset, south west England. Built in 1904, the pier stretches 400m (1,300ft) out to sea from the town’s promenade and originally featured a 2,000 seat theatre at the seaward end. This was destroyed by fire in 1930 and a new pavilion building was built three years later, housing an indoor fun fair rather than a theatre. The pier was sold in 1946 to Mr. A. Brenner and further
investment saw the addition of more facilities over the ensuing years. In February 2008, after 64 years in the Brenner family, the pier was again sold, this time to the
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brother and sister partnership of Kerry and Michelle Michael, who set about a multi-million pound investment programme, which included a major new go-kart track and a range of other attractions and facilities. However, a few months later, in late July 2008 (as
was widely reported at the time) another fire completely destroyed the pavilion building, but undaunted and determined to rebuild and create something even better than before, the Michaels set about their plans for the pier’s future. “We had sold a big garden centre business at the end
of 2007,” explains Michelle Michael, “and had a desire to recreate something in a prime location in the M5 (motorway) corridor. Discussions here were aborted in November 2007 but around that time we were approached to buy the pier. “We dismissed the idea at first because of a lack of
knowledge and experience in operating piers or attractions, but over the following few days we kept passing it and thought what we could do with it. And in the end we decided to buy it. “We realised very quickly that what was here was 25 or
so years old and also that there was no marketing spend, so for the six months we operated it (before the fire) we made a big difference to the food and beverage and retail sides of the business. We also did a lot in the arcade and improved turnover there by eight per cent, and removed the Bowlingo and added the go-kart track which made a big difference. “At that stage we thought ‘let’s just learn it and understand it’ which we did. We started very slowly.”
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