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WTF Merlin?

Nicky Borrill said:
The biggest factor for those of us who employ people in Hospitality and Tourism is that minimum wage for youngsters is rising by a record figure this year, and putting youngsters dangerously close to fully matured (and experienced) adults.

Minimum wage is rising by over 12% for 18 - 20 year olds. Given our suppliers will also face similar issues, and be increasing their prices on top too. This is going to mean massively increased prices or huge cutbacks in hospitality, who rely on this age group for casual labour. All in all, we're looking at an increase on food and beer of up to 20%. if we don't cut expenditure (and thus the level of service we provide.)

This is a really bad move by the government in my opinion. Youngsters are cheaper for multiple reasons, lack of experience, lack of training, they're generally less reliable as they have few responsibilities and they're also less flexible, with things like college, Uni etc. The lower wage meant that it was worth taking these risks with youngsters, keeping the youth unemployment figures down. Now we're looking at the difference in terms of costs between hiring an 18 year old, and an experienced adult, for a low skilled roll, and wondering if the risks are worth it. I think youth unemployment is going to rise significantly. But then maybe that's what they want, they won't have to include them in headline statistics if they're also in education!!!!

EDIT: Minimum wage was £5.90 for an 18 year old in hospitality and tourism in 2019.... This year that figure will be £10 per hour.... Anybody else been lucky enough to see a 69.5% pay rise over the last 5 or 6 years???? Madness. And people wonder why eating and drinking out is getting so expensive.
Click to expand...
So... Who's shocked by the news that youth unemployment is now skyrocketing in the UK?

Due to being able to save on insurance costs, and having fewer safeguarding responsibilities / red tape, we've stopped hiring under 18s altogether... And we're way more likely to hire an over 25 year old with experience than an 18-21 year old with little experience, as there's no benefit to taking that gamble anymore.

Would never, for one minute, have guessed that raising the cost of employment would see unemployment figures rise though... Crazy... 🫨 /sarcasm

www.theguardian.com

Wednesday briefing: Why young people are bearing the brunt of the unemployment crisis

In today’s newsletter: Almost 1.8 million people in the UK class themselves as unemployed, and it’s the youth who are driving it. What can be done to help, and will things get better (or worse)?
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Merlin are going the way of Asda. Overwhelmed by corporate debt and cutting corners which makes reliability and appearance of the park more often and issue. The more reasons not to visit the park issues more rounds of austerity, and things get worse, and people have more reasons not to visit.

They really have screwed the pooch, and no half baked IP is going to turn that corner. The issues are in the bones now.
 
Interesting, I'd already thought that Alton Towers might drop the David Walliams theme soon, given that there's quite a bit of controversy around him, and I think this latest development might be the kick they need. I wouldn't be sorry, I felt it was a weaker themed area and tbh, I just find the general idea of David Walliams quite off-putting. What I've seen of Little Britain and Come Fly with Me was disgusting and I can't believe the former was ever considered funny!
 
I said a couple of years ago that Merlin slowly turning to people as IPs could come back to bite them. Walliams, Derren Brown, that YouTuber Daz, etc. All it takes is one unsavoury claim against them and it puts Merlin in a hugely difficult (and totally preventable) situation. I'm not saying that any of those people are problematic (okay, Walliams definitely seemed dodgy, but the other two definitely not), but it was always a risk.

Obviously there's still nothing confirmed. If Towers kept Walliams World during his previous controversies, I don't see why they would get rid now. The bigger issue is, if something came out confirmed tomorrow, what would they do? They wouldn't realistically have the time or associated funds to retheme it for season start, so it'd surely be just closing the area. Or very very hastily removing all Walliams references and just keeping Gangsta Granny closed in a best case scenario.


As for Towers and cuts...As mentioned, it is again a broader Merlin thing. As dark as this is to say, I'm not surprised: ever since the Smiler incident, Merlin seem to always have a wave of redundancies every couple of years around this time of year. It felt 'due', even with restructuring that occurred earlier this year. Not saying it's right or I agree or anything, but it's not a surprise sadly.

It's interesting hearing people talk of Towers being sold. As with all rumours of this level, there's no smoke without fire, but it does still feel premature to talk of that. Merlin are showing intent to invest in parks still. Chessington is getting the most investment it's gotten ever under Merlin, and meaningfully (even if IPs aren't necessarily the right choice). Towers is still ticking on by. Legolands are still front and centre. Gardaland received a €12m investment into their indoor boat ride. Really, of all the park's out there, Heide Park is the forgotten child and the one which Merlin seem to care the least about and would be better off being sold. You could argue similar for Thorpe since it feels like they're not following up on Hyperia in a meaningful way.

I don't really have a specific point to make here. But it's clearly a very interesting time in Merlin. One has to wonder if, given their largely financial issues, they're better off narrowing their field (eg focusing on in-city attractions and Legolands) or if they really do push the boat out to fix things.
 
Regarding the comments around towers and individual sites being sold by Merlin - am I correct in thinking that they sold off all the physical sites to a real estate investment trust some years ago, and now purely act as an operator of the theme parks that pays a lease to the REIT? In that case they wouldn’t really be ‘selling’ anything would they, but rather giving up their right to operate the park.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6902797.stm

Either way, that looks to have been typically short-sighted and one might say a key factor in where they find themselves as a company at the moment….
 
Coastiesaurus said:
Regarding the comments around towers and individual sites being sold by Merlin - am I correct in thinking that they sold off all the physical sites to a real estate investment trust some years ago, and now purely act as an operator of the theme parks that pays a lease to the REIT? In that case they wouldn’t really be ‘selling’ anything would they, but rather giving up their right to operate the park.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6902797.stm

Either way, that looks to have been typically short-sighted and one might say a key factor in where they find themselves as a company at the moment….
Click to expand...
As always typically moronic decisions that have no long term vision
 
Coastiesaurus said:
Regarding the comments around towers and individual sites being sold by Merlin - am I correct in thinking that they sold off all the physical sites to a real estate investment trust some years ago, and now purely act as an operator of the theme parks that pays a lease to the REIT? In that case they wouldn’t really be ‘selling’ anything would they, but rather giving up their right to operate the park.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6902797.stm

Either way, that looks to have been typically short-sighted and one might say a key factor in where they find themselves as a company at the moment….
Click to expand...

That’s a great point.

Assuming the lease agreement remains the same without extension, Merlin only has 17 years left on that original lease agreement making the potential sale worth even less.
 
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