Nick Varney, the longtime CEO of Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments, announced today that he intends to retire.
Varney has headed the company since its creation in 1999 following the £47m management buyout of Vardon Entertainments. Over the next 12 months, the Merlin board will identify his successor, considering both internal and external candidates. Mark Fisher, Merlin's Chief Development Officer, also has decided to retire.
"Merlin has been my life for most of my career," Varney said. "I love the people, the attractions, the visitors and the industry and I am proud to have played my part as we built Merlin into an incredible business. I know that with our amazing attractions, as well as our committed and capable people, Merlin will go from strength to strength over the coming years."
In addition to the Legoland theme parks, Merlin also operates Madame Tussauds wax museums, Sea Life aquariums, multiple observation wheels including The London Eye, and many of Europe's top theme parks, including Gardaland, Alton Towers, and Thorpe Park. Adding up attendance at all of its attractions, Merlin is the largest attraction operator in Europe and the second-largest in the world, trailing only Disney.
"I would like to thank Nick for his outstanding leadership of Merlin Entertainments over the last 23 years. He has created one of the best leisure businesses in the world through his passion, dedication, and talent," Merlin Chairman Roland Hernandez said. "The growth has been incredible, particularly through a period of such macro change. He will leave Merlin in strong shape to continue creating and delivering memorable experiences to our millions of guests around the world.
"Nick and Mark will be in place and wholly focused for some time, and we are fortunate to have an exceptional team in place. On behalf of the Board and Shareholders, we are extremely grateful to Nick and Mark for their remarkable service to the company and wish them all the best."
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I wonder if his departure is related to Merlin's having gone private. He's only about 60, but he probably can rest on his laurels.
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It was well known the reason Merlin did not buy Sea World was because Nick Varney was against having the whales in captivity, so it wouldn't surprise me at some point in the next few years for Merlin to finally make an offer for the Sea World/Busch Gardens parks.
Varney was definitely a marketing guy and that stuck with him his whole career, he would only add rides based on their marketing potential (hence why their parks have so many gimmicky rides, and it took Alton Towers management like 15 years to convince him to finally add a wood coaster) so I think this will be a positive for Merlin.