Universal Studios Great Britain is a planned 700-acre (3 km²)

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

and resort complex in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. The park is set to be the eighth Universal Studios Resort, and the first in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History

Before the development of the UK park,

Universal Destinations & Experiences Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), formerly Universal Parks & Resorts, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme parks and resort propert ...

had twice attempted to establish a resort in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The first, a planned park in

Sénart Sénart (formerly Melun-Sénart) is a new town in southern Île-de-France, covering parts of the departments of France, departments of Seine-et-Marne and Essonne. Education * Institut catholique d'arts et métiers Communes

* Combs-la-Ville ...

, France, was cancelled due to the underperformance of Euro Disneyland. The second was the 1998 acquisition of PortAventura and later development of Universal Mediterranea in

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

, Spain, which the company sold in 2004. In August 2023,

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

acquired construction and development company Cloud Wing UK, including of land in

, approximately 45 minutes north of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In September 2023, the company registered the domain names ''UniversalStudiosGreatBritain.com'' and ''UniversalGreatBritain.com''. The plans were officially announced on 19 December 2023, and between April and May 2024 entered public consultation, receiving over 6,000 responses. On 9 April 2025, the prime minister,

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

, confirmed that the government supported the project, with construction expected to start in 2026 and Universal confirming a planned 2031 opening (subject to planning approvals) and releasing the first official concept art. It is estimated the project could generate nearly £50 billion for the economy by 2055, including an estimated 28,000 jobs, and 8.5 million visitors in the first year.

Proposal

The planned site is around south of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

town centre. It is bordered by the A421 to the west, the planned East West Main Line to the north-east, the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

to the east, and Broadmead Road to the south, and comprises up to of land, including previously purchased. The plans are split into four "zones": the "Core Zone", where the theme park and hotel(s) are to be located; the adjacent "Lake Zone" (based on existing lakes formed by diggings at the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks), located north of the "Core Zone" and intended for mixed-use purposes (likely a

Universal CityWalk Universal CityWalk is the name shared by the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Destinations & Experiences. CityWalk began as an expansion of Universal's first park, Universal Studios Hollywood, an ...

); and two transport hubs dubbed the "East Gateway Zone" and the "West Gateway Zone". The plans also include an expansion of the already under construction Wixams railway station, and a substantial new railway station on the East West line (to replace Kempston Hardwick railway station), as well as the redevelopment and expansion of roadways, for example through the addition of new slipways on the redeveloped A421 to cope with the added traffic brought by the park.

Notes

References

External links

* Planned Universal Destinations & Experiences theme parks Proposed buildings and structures in England {{England-stub