Plans for the London Paramount Entertainment Resort have received a boost today with the project’s new Chief Executive, Humphrey Percy, confirming that the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the multibillion pound resort will be submitted by the end of November.
Speaking to local press, Mr Percy, who last month replaced David Testa as CEO of the project, stated that following the submission of the DCO in November they expect a decision from the government regarding whether or not the Entertainment Resort can go ahead by the summer of 2019 which would pave the way for a 2022 opening date.
Speaking about what can be expected from the resort, Mr Percy stated: “We’re working with world class theme park design companies to make sure that we have a real attraction. I’m talking about companies that have their headquarters in California and support the major film studios and attractions across the world.” It has also been revealed that, as things stand, the price for a one day ticket has been set at £57, a figure which has undoubtedly been designed to compete with the UK’s existing theme park resorts, including Alton Towers Resort, Legoland Windsor Resort, Thorpe Park Resort, and Chessington World of Adventures Resort.
This latest news follows the announcement last month of a significant change in the leadership team for the project which saw the departure of long time CEO David Testa who had been extensively involved with the project. He was replaced by Humphrey Percy, who is also the group CEO for Kuwaiti European Holdings (KEH), the parent company of London Resort Company Holdings. Mr Percy has been joined by Chief Financial Officer Mike Morrison, and Kevin Doyle who will be responsible for the successful submission of the DCO and has extensive previous experience with large scale projects having worked on Disneyland Paris, and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Speaking about the recent leadership changes, Mr Percy said:
“With any project of this length, people come and go. The stage we are going through now is absolutely focused on the development consent order process. We decided in the KEH Group that we needed a team that can achieve that. We’ve had to bring in experts like Kevin Doyle and Mike Morrison. Moving myself from the group level into this role is a sign of our commitment and determination to make it all happen”
Addressing concerns raised following David Testa’s departure, which came shortly after doubts were raised about a £100 million investment from Chinese company SinoFortone, Mr Percy went on to say:
“This is a £3.5 billion project. We have already invested tens of millions of pounds into this project. By any definition of any business it’s a big deal.
“At a group level we decided that would be a good idea for me to devote my energy and my enthusiasm into this project first hand.
“The decision was taken at group level and as a result of that we agreed with David for him to move on and it was agreed at group board level that I would take responsibility.
“The team before was focusing on different things. We decided at the beginning of the year that we need to give additional emphasis to the DCO application.
“It’s an unbelieveably complicated and detailed application, which it should be for a project of this size.
“We hope to get a decision 15 to 18 months after acceptance of the application.”
If successful, the project will provide a significant boost to the local area, creating up to 33,000 jobs as well as being a catalyst for other developments in the area. However, the project has already been faced with a series of delays with the Resort originally planned to open in the summer of 2019 when the project was initially announced. Details of what will be the fifth and final public consultation are still to be confirmed, despite initially being slated to take place last year (2016).
What are your views on this latest announcement from the London Paramount Entertainment Resort Team? Have your say over on the Attraction Source Forum. As further details come to light surrounding the multibillion pound development, Attraction Source will continue to keep you up to date with all the latest news.
