Yet another ‘are you listening Chancellor Reeves’ message has been despatched warning, once again, that hospitality is in a precarious state. This time it’s been sounded by the iconic theme park Drayton Manor where profits have fallen … in fact, they’ve slid every year since Covid. So, what is the ‘Government of Growth’ going to do about this – other than hiking up the taxes? Surely it’s time for Reset Reeves?

Drayton Manor has reported that pre-tax profit for the year to 30 September was down 40 percent on the prior year period, hitting just £1.2m, as turnover dropped from £29.3m to £28.1m.

The Staffordhire theme park has continued to decline in profitability since it was rescued from administration in 2020 by the Looping Group, with operating costs eating into the attraction’s income.

“Challenges such as very high energy prices from the prior year lessened but our customers were still feeling the effect of the high cost of living,” said a statement from the board.

“The weather continued to be another challenge to the business with summer 2024 being the coolest since 2015 and any heatwaves were short lived. The summer was largely overcast, wet
and cool.”

The revenue figure was divided into park and hospitality, with the theme park itself delivering £22.3m, down from £23m in 2023, and hotel and events sales contributing £5.8m, down from £6.2m the prior year.

The only figure to increase was the average number of people employed by the park, which rose from 486 to 535.

Despite the downturn across the estate, Drayton Manor issued its entire £1.2m profit figure as a dividend to Looping Group.