Pizzazz yes Nec birmingham

The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 611 acres (2.54 km2) making it the largest exhibition centre in the UK. It is the busiest and seventh-largest exhibition centre in Europe.

FYI ....AT = 800 acres (3.2 km2)

I understand the argument that AT is only 1hr away that said chesssington , thorpe park , and legoland are all within an hr of each other

BPB I can see the council buying it and getting Merlin to run but not them buying it

I think if anyone buys the NEC Group (not just the NEC) then it will be live nation or AEG

yep, they are in the mix live nation and AEG ... AEG must be robbing every bank they can to buy. NEC and the NIA are being sold as separate entities with the NIA going on a 25 year term. I guess it must be to maximise revenue.

Merlin won't buy it, and it won't be turned into a theme park. Completely wrong location for a theme park, and already makes plenty of money as a major exhibition and concert venue with only the NIA in central Birmingham as a serious alternative concert venue locally, both of which are currently council owned

Yes TP, Legoland and Chessington are all with in an hr of each other but they are in London, which has more people living there and loads of tourists, the NEC and AT are midlands, less people living there and less tourists. Yes it has brill transport links but unless it was to be completely flattened and have a super park built on it, like the proposed Paramount Park, then I doubt it would be made into a theme park. Plus it would be SUPER expensive, not only the £300 million to buy but the X million spent on building the the rides and stuff as well as demolishing anything that is in the way. Millions which could be spent on increasing visitors to current theme parks. Imagine the improvements to AT if they spent only £100 million of the £300 million on it.

Well at the Nec there building a entertainment complex which is opening next year.
Also 5 years ago there was a funfair called Fun World in 1 of the halls at the Nec http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yffm18ldkMA and heres the plans for the area. http://www.resortsworldbirmingham.co.uk/

There good parking there and good transport links by plane,Train and buses.

I would absolutely hate for the NEC to be changed, it is perfect how it is thankyou very much! We don't need another theme park, especially there. So many big events take place at the NEC every year, minus concerts big shows such as Crufts which wouldn't benefit from moving to a smaller venue. The many halls are made fantastic use of and due to the NEC being a central venue it receives many many visitors. Central England NEEDS a venue like this for exactly what it provides now, what it doesn't need is to be turned into an attraction. If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Hi just wondering if you think Merlin could buy Drayton Manor in the future? I think it would be good for the park as it's now on its last legs and has lost its charm. I know the family said they would be desperate if they were to sell but what do you think?

It would be a good investment and would pay back soon. It's not too close to towers and has a great lineup. If Merlin rented it for free for a day and sent 10000 painters in, I'd be happy

Yeah I hope they do. It'd be a much better park if they bought it!

I want them too purely so it's on the MAP. Ever since having one, Ive always begrudged paying to get into theme parks.

No. They won't.

Drayon Manor is no way on its last legs. In 2012 the park had its second best season ever with around 1,120,000 people visiting and plans for the future are looking great with the addition of a new hotel, a zamperla air race and rumours of a new coaster in the mix. Yes, merlin would be able to afford lots of investment but why would Drayton sell up if they are making a profit and doing well themselves?

Anyway it's nice to have some family owned theme parks in this country, rather than the market being dominated by Merlin

I'd quite like it to be owned by merlin, for similar reasons to stealthsmiler, I want it on my MAP. I've never gone due to it being a 2 hour drive, but if I could get in on my Merlin pass, I'd definitely consider it.

Unfortunately, it won't. Even though I've never been, Drayton Manor has some really good and unique rides, and doesn't need to sell to Merlin.

If Merlin do buy it (and I'm talking way in the future here), I would like to see it kept the same, but with some nice Merlin investments for all the family.

It wont for one very simple reason.

They wouldn't be allowed. The competition commission would almost certainly block it and any other theme park acquisitions in the UK by Merlin.

What does that mean Adz?

And after visiting for my first time last week I can now join in this discussion!
I'd hate AT to buy Drayton, they have a lovely little park and some very unique rides. They focus more on the younger children market which I like, however I would have thought if AT bought it, that would change very quickly. They focus on great experiences rather than 'world first's' nonsense. It's nice that they are a family owned park and they are building up the park, just not as quick as AT which is fine by me

To answer you question DannyG - the competition commission are the body responsible for basically checking any proposed mergers or take-overs to ensure that no one company takes over an entire market. In this case Merlin would not be allowed to buy another UK theme park as they already own so many UK parks.

ladyofthelake wrote:

To answer you question DannyG - the competition commission are the body responsible for basically checking any proposed mergers or take-overs to ensure that no one company takes over an entire market. In this case Merlin would not be allowed to buy another UK theme park as they already own so many UK parks.

A recent example of this would be the Lloyds TSB split into Lloyds Bank and TSB

ladyofthelake wrote:

To answer you question DannyG - the competition commission are the body responsible for basically checking any proposed mergers or take-overs to ensure that no one company takes over an entire market. In this case Merlin would not be allowed to buy another UK theme park as they already own so many UK parks.

Out of curiosity,
Would this prevent Merlin from opening a whole new theme park up then or not? And if there were to be an increase in the number of theme parks would they allow Merlin to buy more? I imagine parks like Camelot shutting down won't exactly help with this.

I hope Duel has its guns removed, it is much better without it.