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Merlin management
changes Attractions giant announces new
operating division Merlin Entertainment has announced significant changes to its organisational structure as it steps up the rate at which it opens new attractions, pursue new acquisitions and invest in its existing portfolio. The changes, effective June 15, include
John Jakobsen, now leading New Openings
the creation of a completely new operating group, New Openings. The Group will take responsibility for these developments from initial board approval through to at least one year trading after opening or acquisition, and then their integration into the wider business. Appointed to the position of chief new openings officer will be John Jakobsen, currently managing director of the Legoland Parks operating group. In his new role the Legoland veteran, who joined Merlin in 2005, will oversee not only new Legoland developments, but also spearhead Merlin’s “Midway” (short say attractions) rollout as well as any future acquisitions. New Openings will operate alongside Merlin’s current three existing operating groups, each of which now have new leaders, leaving the teams free to focus entirely on “delivering the highest quality experiences across Merlin’s existing estate.” Hans Aksel Pedersen takes over from Jakobsen as managing director of Legoland Parks. An
experienced marketing man with 15 years’ Lego theme park experience, he should feel at home with both Merlin and Legoland culture. Originally with Legoland Billund in Denmark, he spent time at the parks in Windsor and Germany before taking up a position last year as divisional director of Legoland Parks USA. Nick Mackenzie replaces Glenn Earlam as managing director of Midway Attractions. The
chartered surveyor joined Merlin as part of the company’s acquisition of the Tussauds Group in 2007 and led the company’s property and development group until 2011 when he took over the senior operational role as managing director of Resort Theme Parks. Earlam, who joined Merlin in 2004 after managing Chessington World of Adventures, is off to become the new CEO of David Lloyd Leisure.
Justin Platt succeeds Nick in his former role as MD of Resort Theme Parks, previously serving
as the marketing director of same group, and before that Alton Towers. Like Merlin CEO Nick Varney, Platt has a strong marketing pedigree in FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), with Kellogg’s, and also pharmaceuticals with AstraZeneca. The four operating groups will continue to be supported by Merlin’s fifth business group, Merlin Magic Making (MMM), its creative and development team led by Mark Fisher. Other roles on the executive committee remain the same including, in addition Varney, chief financial officer Andrew Carr, strategy director David Bridgford, group legal director Colin Armstrong, group HR director Tea Colaianni and chief information officer Mark Allsop, “Merlin has an accelerating pipeline of new openings as we continue to deliver against our
proven business model,” notes Nick Varney. “To help ensure the success of these ambitious roll-out plans, and support any potential future acquisitions, we believe the creation of a dedicated New Openings team will provide additional focus and efficiency. This change has also provided an opportunity to promote two of our senior managers to add new expertise and impetus to the executive board. After opening an average of six new Midway attractions (including Madame Tussauds, Sea
Life and Legoland Discovery Centre), Merlin now plans to increase this to seven or eight a year. In the last four years it has opened two new Legoland parks but now has three more on the way in as many years in Dubai, Japan and South Korea, with several other projects also in discussion for 2019/20 and beyond. As it has done at Legoland, the company will continue to develop new accommodation concepts, in line with its strategy to develop all of its theme parks into attractive short break destinations.
6
Speak to
SpongeBob! SpongeBob SquarePants makes his debut this season at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas, in a new interactive show reminiscent slightly of Disney’s Turtle Talk with Crush. Realised by LA studio Super 78, SpongeBob SquarePants Adventure takes audiences on a submarine voyage into the world of Bikini Bottom, viewed through a 30ft (10m) wide observation window. Bob, Patrick and the rest of their animated pals are seen on screen in 3D forms as guests get to have real-time conversations with them and choose their path through the adventure. To make all this possible, Super 78 provided a custom animation system, allowing a performer behind the scenes to control all aspects of the experience on screen in front of audiences. The performer’s voice becomes an on-screen character, and they have an unlimited palette of animation options with which to bring the character to life. Also used in the design of this attraction is a proprietary tool that utilises the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset to pre-visualise the experience. SimEx-Iwerks,meanwhile created custom seats, designed and installed all theatre systemsand programmed special effects. “For the first time ever, the SpongeBob SubPants
Adventure allow guests to interact with a 3D digital character, a major breakthrough in digital puppetry,” notes Michael ‘Oz’ Smith, Super 78’s technical director.
JUNE 2015
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