Park People
www.parkworld-online.com “
You will
see more branding in the next 10 years definitely; the new generation are used to brands in everyday life and we have got to recognise that. This industry has got a record of being able to spot the social
changes and adapt
Gary Smart
Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park, part of a growing trend in recent years for branded attractions
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get them and they will come to use rather than go inland.
What progress is the association making on ongoing issues like VAT and daylight saving? GS – I think the issue of VAT is one we must keep chiselling away at, because if you look around the EU there are others that have an advantage over us because of their lower tax rates. We can’t be blind to that. Daylight saving may happen. We got so far with it, but I’m afraid it gets mired in the Union (UK) politics, which are all up in the air at the moment. We’ve also been able to ward off several other threats. Last year’s Machine Games Duty (MGD), for example, would have been particularly serious for our members had it not been for the exemption we secured on non-monetary prize machines. JB – Yes we have done very well to get the prize exemption. My concern with VAT is that whatever rate it came in at, it would not be the same in a few years. I actually remember when VAT was 5% – for everything – but I’ve only ever know it go up, not down.
Explain why London remains such an important meeting place for BALPPA members each January JB – It all goes back to the old Amusement Trades Exhibition (ATE), which started at the Horticultural Hall around 1936 I think. A few years after the war it moved to Alexandra Palace, then onto Olympia and Earls Court as ATEI, before the show was sold about five or six years ago. It was a different era back then, it used be called meeting week; the BALPPA dinner was on Monday night, the Fellowship on Tuesday and then the BACTA [British Amusement Catering Trades Association] on the Thursday night. GS – We have always held our AGM in January to because everyone was here in London anyway, and the dinner is a bit of a legacy from that.
JB – Now we have EAG Expo at Docklands, but I preferred it when we were at Olympia, and I think that’s why Euro Attractions Show (EAS) was a big success last September at the same venue. One year at ATEI we had a European rides show in Earls Court 2 and there was at one time a vision of doing a joint ATEI/IAAPA European show in London on an annual basis. JC – We were dreaming even further, thinking there would probably only be two or tree such shows around the world – IAAPA in the States, London and then one in Asia or the Middle East. The first EAS was in London, organised by ATEI.
What are some of your fondest memories of BALPPA’s summer meetings and events? GS – We always used to have one year in the UK and then one on the continent somewhere. Geoffrey [Thompson] suggested Torquay, he said it was really nice and recommended a hotel. When we got there and it was just like Fawlty Towers, I don’t think Geoffrey had actually stayed there since the 1950s – they really hadn’t touched it since! JC – When we used to go to Europe you’d have quite a fair itinerary, two or three parks a day. We’d be on the coach all day and then suddenly Geoffrey would spot a signpost. “Oh look, a model village! Shall we go and do that?” So off we all went to the model village… JB – You talk about memories, but it’s all about the people really. People like Geoffrey, and Pat Evans who could really make you laugh in a very strange way. I remember a German trip where we were in Munich and a reception had been arranged for us. We were all stood there drinking champagne when the mayor came over. “Ah Mr Evans, have you been to Munich before?” he asked. “Only as a bombsite!” Pat always spoke his mind – and more besides.
Where will the British parks industry be in 10 years’ time? MH – I think we will see more Thomas Lands and Peppa Pig Worlds appear, that’s for sure. GS – Yeah more branding definitely, the new generation are used to brands in everyday life and we have got to recognise that. This industry has got a record of being able to spot the social changes and adapt. JC – Looking from the outside to a degree, I think you won’t find three better examples than those people and families sat around this table. When they are so involved with ownership there are ways and means of bucking the trend or moving that little bit faster in the marketplace. GS – My boys have just come into the business in the last three years and they bring new thinking that challenges the old thinking, and that’s entirely right.
balppa.org MARCH 2012
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