Nick Varney
| Nick Varney | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Nicholas John Varney 28 November 1962 Gosport, England, UK |
| Occupation | Businessperson |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Varney |
| Children | 4 |
Nicholas "Nick" Varney (born 28 November 1962) is a British businessman who is the chief executive officer of attractions operator Merlin Entertainments. He rose to his position in 1998 after a background in marketing.
Varney attended the London School of Economics before becoming a junior marketer in the mid-1980s, later progressing to senior roles. He has over 24 years experience in the visitor attractions industry and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Merlin Entertainments in 1999. He was later appointed a Director of the Company on 20 October 2013.
Nick started his career in marketing, first with Rowntree and then with Reckitt Colman. He went on to hold senior positions within The Tussauds Group, including Marketing Director of Alton Towers and Head of Group Marketing, before becoming Managing Director of Vardon Attractions and a main board director of Vardon. In 1999, Nick led the management buyout of Vardon Attractions to form Merlin Entertainments and, in 2005, initiated the process which led to its acquisition by the Blackstone Group.
In 2011, he stated his belief that free admission to British museums and art galleries were primarily used by "foreign tourists and middle class people who can afford it." In business circles, he is widely seen as an aggressive marketer and was quoted in 2011 as saying "if you can get out of our attractions without buying tickets for the others, well, good luck."
In 2013 Nick Varney was awarded an honorary doctorate by Staffordshire University "In recognition of his considerable business success on a global scale."
Having completed a management buyout of Vardon Attractions in 1999, Varney wanted to purchase the Legoland parks when they came up for sale. Varney wanted to invest but his current financial investors were not interested, and therefore Merlin was sold to the Blackstone Group for £110 million in 2005. Blackstone negotiated to buy control of Legoland for approximately £250 million, then merged it with the Merlin Group. As part of the deal, KIRKBI AS, the investment arm of LEGO owners, took a share in Merlin Entertainments.
Under Blackstone in 2006, Varney wished to purchase an Italian theme park, namely Gardaland.
In 2007, Varney arranged for the purchase and merger of The Tussauds Group, owner of the Madame Tussauds celebrity wax attractions, for £1 billion. After the Tussauds acquisition, Dubai International Capital, the owners of the Tussauds Group, held 20% of Merlin Entertainment.
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