The big numbers behind the UK's newest theme park

The government approved plans in December for Comcast NBCUniversal to build its first theme park in the UK.

Six months later, the resort has an official name, a logo and a growing workforce.

Construction has now started on the multi-billion-pound Universal United Kingdom Resort, which will bring themed "lands", rides, restaurants and a new hotel to the heart of Bedfordshire.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the project creates "opportunity and long‑term prosperity for Britain", bringing jobs and "joy" to the region, while Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says it "puts rocket boosters under our entertainment industry".

Once open, it is predicted to become the biggest tourist attraction in the UK. There are already some big statistics behind it, so what can we tell from the numbers released so far?

• 476 acres (193 hectares) of land in Kempston Hardwick have already been purchased for the park, with an option to acquire additional land up to a total of 700 acres (283 hectares). For comparison, Alton Towers in Staffordshire has around 550 acres (223 hectares) of rides, gardens and visitor space. Universal Orlando Resort's main campus is approximately 541 acres (219 hectares), covering four parks.

• 115m (377ft) is the tallest ride that Universal UK could build, according to their planning consents. That would be roughly equivalent to a 35-storey apartment block. The UK's tallest ride is currently Hyperia at Thorpe Park in Surrey at 72m (236ft). The tallest rollercoaster in Europe is Red Force in Spain at 112m (367ft) and the tallest overall ride is believed to be a drop tower at Hansa-Park in Germany at 120m (394ft).

• 8.5 million people are initially expected to visit the resort each year, growing to 12 million in time. According to the Themed Entertainment Association, Alton Towers had the most visitors of any UK theme park in 2024 at about 2.5 million, with Legoland Windsor a close second. The most visited tourist attraction in the UK is the Natural History Museum with more than seven million annual visitors.

• 500 rooms will be provided in the resort hotel.

• 2031 is the year the park is due to open to visitors.

• Every seven minutes a shuttle bus will leave from Milton Keynes Central to Universal UK, according to MP Emily Darlington.

• Four trains per hour are expected to stop at Stewartby station, a few minutes' walk from the resort, once East West Rail opens in the early 2030s. Visitors will also be able to use a new station being built on the Midland Mainline at Wixams, connecting passengers from Leeds to London.

• 20,000 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase of the theme park, including engineering and technical positions.

• 8,000more are promised once the park opens, including in "hospitality, technology and creative".

• 4,200 businesses have expressed an interest in being involved in the park, according to the chancellor. The company asks those registering to specify where most of their recommended workforce for the project live, with "local to Bedford" and "within the region" as the first two options, ahead of UK, Europe and finally worldwide.

• 100-plus people from the UK have already been employed to work on the project.

• 33,000 people have expressed an interest in employment opportunities.

• 80% of the overall workforce at the theme park is expected to come from Bedfordshire and neighbouring counties, with Universal stating "local focus is important."

Comcast NBCUniversal said: "For Bedford, this is not just about a theme park arriving nearby. It could mean new career paths for school leavers, college students, apprentices, tradespeople, hospitality workers, performers, engineers, project managers, security professionals and people already working in tourism or leisure."

The UK government said: "Universal had committed to world-class training opportunities for the next generation of its workforce, including through a range of apprenticeships and internships.

"This aligns with the government's work to unleash the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and lay the foundations for Bedford to become an innovation hub."

• £50bn is how much the resort is expected to contribute to the UK economy between now and 2055.

• £5bn is what Comcast NBCUniversal will spend on constructing the resort, with a further £1bn over the first decade of operation.

• £1.3bn from the UK government will be spent on "regional and local community infrastructure to ensure the park can operate successfully, with improved transport links for local residents and visitors from across the UK and abroad".

As part of its £1.3bn investment, the government will provide a grant of £400m through the exceptional Regional Growth Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will provide a grant of £438m to invest in new community infrastructure.

It said "these grants will only be paid once Universal has completed the community infrastructure (in the case of the DCMS grant) and officially opened the theme park and resort".

The remaining investment will come from the Department for Transport and be used to upgrade the A421 and Wixams station, which it said "will provide wider resilience and improved connectivity within the region at an expected cost of £474m".

A Conservative councillor for Central Bedfordshire has raised concerns that the government investment in infrastructure is not sufficient to ensure local communities are not negatively affected.

Sue Clarke said: "In this one small area, we have Universal theme park, East West Rail and another 5,000 homes approved, and nobody is looking at joining these together and what the cumulative impact is of all these major projects in one place.

"Universal means East West Rail needs to run more trains than we were expecting, and it'll close more roads than we were expecting and there'll be a big knock-on-effect for us."

In Oxfordshire, where there are plans for a new theme park and rail freight interchange, concerns have also been raised about the impact.

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