In keeping with the company’s culture,
Varney prides himself on being as involved with the attractions as he can, although, with 50 sites and more opening all the time, visiting them all is a mammoth task. When he fi rst started as managing director at Vardon Attractions in 1995, before the company became Merlin, Varney would visit all the sites every few months. These days he struggles to visit each site once a year. “That’s inevitable, as my job takes on a bigger corporate dimension,” he admits reluctantly. “Looking at acquisitions, how we’re going to develop the business, the corporate side, fi nancing issues and the governance of the company, those things take up more time. But I think most peo- ple in the company are surprised they see me out as much as they do. Last year, for example, I went to every Madame Tussauds at least once, on all three conti- nents.” For his four children – aged 18, 16, 10 and nine – having a dad who can take them to attractions all the time must be a real boon. “I do take my family sometimes, but I try not to mix business with family too much for fear of divorce!” he adds.
THE BIG CHEESE
I wonder if Merlin’s rapidly expanding portfolio and arrival at Florida has made Disney nervous. “I hope not,” says Varney. “In the last 30 years, every new product
AM 2 2010 ©cybertrek 2010
Varney says he gets the biggest buzz from seeing visitors enjoy themselves at Merlin sites
addition has grown the Florida market. Hopefully we’ll help continue that trend. We offer an interactive, highly immersive Lego world for families with children from two to 12, which is entirely complemen- tary to other brands in the market. We’ll be reaching out to people and asking how we can work with them.” So it isn’t Varney’s desire to beat Disney to that coveted spot of the number one visitor attraction company? “In terms of how we implement our strategy, it isn’t the thing that drives us,” he says. “We’re follow- ing a very different model to Disney – we have our midway roll outs and our theme parks will never be more than two- to three-day destinations; they’re not mega resorts. We make our decisions based on our strategy rather than a need to over take Disney. And Disney is a company we all admire [it was a visit to Disney aged 12 that inspired Varney to work in the industry]. Having said that,” he adds with a smile, “although at the moment we’re a long, long way behind them, we see no reason why it couldn’t be the case that one day Merlin becomes number one.
We’re passionate about the business and one of the things that motivates us is that we’d like to be the best in our market.”
FUTURE OWNERSHIP
A topic that’s been creating unwanted press for Varney at the moment is speculation over Merlin’s relationship with Blackstone, the private equity fi rm which acquired the company in 2005 and enabled Merlin to buy Legoland. A press statement was released in February advising that it’s continuing to consider and debate the options for its future ownership structure and while all options, including an IPO, remain under consideration, the group doesn’t expect to reach any conclusion in the near future. Despite all the global activity, the numer- ous deals taking place and the constant striving to get bigger and better, Varney’s heart remains true to the purpose of attrac- tions – the fun of them. “I’m going to make sure, as much as I can, that all of those things don’t take me away from what I love best,” he says. “Seeing visitors enjoying themselves gives me the biggest buzz and I’m never, ever happier than when I’m sitting with the local team discussing development of a site. I still pinch myself to be lucky enough to be working in this industry and to have been able to do what we’ve done so far. If it all ended tomorrow I wouldn’t regret a single minute of it.” ●
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
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