PROFILE
is the priority, a hotel and other Merlin midway attractions will be added eventu- ally. Elsewhere a hotel is being added to Legoland Windsor and Legoland Malaysia is currently being built. Work is also under- way on two Madame Tussauds – Prater Park in Vienna, Austria for 2011 and Bangkok, Thalland for 2010 – Sea Life Phoenix, US is opening in the spring and Legoland Discovery Centres in Manchester, UK, Dallas, Texas and Meadowlands, New Jersey (which will also boast the Pepsi Globe) are all due to open in 2010 or 2011. All this is in keeping with Merlin’s plan
to open between three and fi ve midway attractions each year while expanding its portfolio in North America and Asia. Despite juggling all these different projects, Varney’s confi dent that the Florida park will open in 2011. “We have a great his-
tory – we bring all our projects in on time and on budget,” he says. “And what’s great, for both us and our industry gener- ally, is that we’re going to create 1,000 new jobs.” Training and looking after his staff is extremely important to Varney, which was proven when the company won an IAAPA award for its graduate recruitment scheme. “I think its great for our industry that we’re able to compete with the big companies like Unilever for top graduates across three continents,” he says.
WINNING STRATEGY
Varney believes Merlin’s success results from faithfully following the strategy devised when the company was formed in 1999. The aim was to make Merlin a global, location-based family entertainment company, based on high growth, strong
ABOUT NICK VARNEY
Hobbies? Watching rugby
Favourite food? Saturday night curry Favourite fi lm? Gladiator
What drives you? S type Jaguar
How would you describe yourself? Tall, sophisticated and honest
How would others describe you? Short, direct and self deluded
Best piece of advice you’ve had? “Get off the track, there’s a train coming!”
brands and a balanced portfolio. The com- pany hasn’t waivered from this strategy despite the challenges thrown at it – swine fl u, global recession, terrorism, record wet summers, record hot summers – and has delivered double digit percentage growth in EBITDA for nine consecutive years. “To my mind, that strategy is the right
one,” smiles Varney. “It refl ects a balance of geographical diversifi cation, prod- uct diversifi cation in terms of a balance between indoor and outdoor, and demo- graphic diversifi cation in terms of where our brands are appealing. Therefore, natu- rally, we’re continuing with that strategy by building a balanced portfolio in North America in the image of what we have in Europe – we currently have eight busi- nesses in the US; by the end of 2011 we’ll have 13 – and ultimately we’ll follow the same model in the Far East.” Running alongside Merlin’s strategy is
its instilled culture – to retain the ethos of the small company it once was. “The qual- ity of our portfolio, and the quality of the team that has come together around it, is driven out of the culture of Merlin as an entrepreneurial company that started small and has grown, but has kept its heart by us all staying close to the business,” Varney says. “We treat every pound, dollar and euro like it’s our own and our returns speak for themselves.” This was proven with Merlin’s fi nancial
results for 2009, which revealed group revenue to be up 16.1 per cent, like-for- like revenue up 12.9 percent and ongoing EBIDTA up 16.6 per cent.
Madame Tussauds is a midway attrac- tion – an experience which lasts for a few hours rather than a whole day
22
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
AM 2 2010 ©cybertrek 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86