Latest news with #revamp
The Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Sun
One of the UK's oldest holiday parks reveals £6million upgrade plans with new glamping pods and sky terrace
A HOLIDAY park group in the UK has revealed some of the exciting new additions coming to the resorts as part of a multi-million revamp. Allens Caravans - which is one of the oldest family-run residential and holiday park groups in the UK - has already begun upgrades at it's sites. 3 3 For example, in Worcestershire, the Abbots Salford park has new lodge accommodation and refreshed the onsite facilities. The main clubhouse has also had a mini refurbishment, with the introduction of a new food and drinks offering, the creation of a new Owners' Lounge for holiday homeowners, an improved fishing lake, a new children's outdoor play area and new pool tables. The park also has a new entertainment programme. Over at the Bredon View site, in the Cotswolds - which has a golf course and a back-to-nature vibe - there will be new activities such as croquet and bike hire. Coastal spots such as Sunbeach and Aber Bay in Wales, both have new glamping pods with boutique-style living and sleeping spaces for up to six people as well as hot tubs. At Sunbeach, the clubhouse has also undergone refurbishment and there is a new adventure golf course. At Aber Bay, there will soon be a new sky terrace, food truck on the beach and a camping fielding in time for August breaks. Both parks will also have an improved entertainment programme for the summer holidays. Over in Northamptonshire, at the Overstone Lakes Holiday Park, there will be a new holiday home development made up of 21 luxury homes. The park will also see an improved clubhouse and an outdoor container bar and stag e with live performances and visiting entertainment acts. Award-winning holiday park in St Ives Prices for the new properties start at £260,000 for the two-bedroom Willerby Forest. Overstone Lakes will also gain a new enclosed dog walking area and improvements to the swimming pool area, changing room and pool bar. Allens Caravans CEO James Allen said: "Our parks offer a mixture of coast, countryside and lake-side locations, and a wide range of facilities and activities – so there is something for everyone. "We have made it a priority that all of the new developments, however sizeable, blend harmoniously with the surrounding countryside, staying true to the natural charm of the parks. "We've always been committed to creating a welcoming and comfortable environment for our residents, and this latest investment is a reflection of that commitment." A three bedroom, pet-friendly caravan at Sunbeach Holiday Park costs from £199 for seven nights through Hoseasons. Alternatively, you could book into a Nautical Pod for seven nights, with up to six guests and have a private hot tub for £405. Over at Aber Bay, you could stay for seven nights for as little as £265. In addition, Hoseasons is currently offering up to £350 off summer breaks booked before July 2, for stays between June 17 and September 20, 2025. There is also an affordable UK holiday park that mums say is like Center Parcs without the price tag. Plus, the award-winning UK holiday park that you probably don't know about – with huge outdoor pool and nearby world-famous beach. 3
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Residents Clash With Sao Paulo Plan to Transform Favela
A major plan to revamp Campos Eliseos in central Sao Paulo has led to clashes between the government and residents who say they're being forcibly removed from the neighborhood's Favela do Moinho, where many have lived for decades. The $970 million initiative includes consolidating government buildings in the neighborhood and removing the notorious drug-use area known as Cracolandia in an effort to spur new investment. While the government housing company claims residents agreed to voluntarily relocate and that it is offering them financial aid to find new homes in and around the area, tensions remain. Many locals are skeptical about whether this latest attempt to transform the neighborhood will succeed where previous efforts have failed, or just displace existing inhabitants, Carolina Pulice reports. Today on CityLab:
The Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
‘Dead' English ghost town that lost its Wetherspoons & McDonald's is turning its fortunes around with £15million revamp
A 'DEAD' English ghost town which lost its Wetherspoons and McDonald's has turned around its fortunes with a huge £15m revamp. Some of the 64,000 locals living in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, have previously slammed their town for having "gone downhill rapidly" - but new investment aims to reverse this decline. 3 3 3 Kirklees Council has committed millions of pounds to update Dewsbury's market and to create a new park for residents. Officials say the updated market would have a "more varied, day-to-night offering" with more spaces for eating, drinking, socialising and events. On top of this, a new park would be constructed next to the market - offering the largest green space in the town with its own play area and seating. Councillor Graham Turner said: "Once we unveiled our updated plans for Dewsbury Market, the adjoining park was very much the missing piece. "These are both aspects of the town we know local people greatly care about, and they have a huge part to play in Dewsbury's future." The Sun had reported in 2023 how locals in the town felt it had been ruined by drunks and people smoking cannabis - adding that it had lost several shops and pubs. This included Dewbury's Wetherspoons, McDonald's, and Mecca Bingo hall. But now, residents will likely feel hopeful that this new £15m investment could give the town a new lease of life. Kirklees Council said the new park is intended to 'transition smoothly into the market's outdoor offering' before eventually merging with the indoor market. Other improvement works can be found in the town, with the Dewsbury Arcade - which lies adjacent to the market - set to reopen next year, around the same time work on the market and park is due to begin. Our posh village is now ghost town strewn with empty homes Once all the respective work is complete, the number of trees in the town centre would greatly increase, Kirklees Council added. Officials said that the area surrounding the connected park and market would also benefit as the nearby Foundry Street would be earmarked for greening and pedestrian-friendly plans. Previously, residents had explained how they were sickened by the town's state. Speaking in 2023, Matthew, 43, told YorkshireLive: "It's a bit grim. People tapping and drunks bothering people. "And cannabis raids. It stinks and turns my stomach." Domesday English town is transforming its seafront with splash park, pop-up markets & new walkways in £7.2m makeover A DOMESDAY English town is transforming its seafront with a splash park, pop-up markets and new walkways in a £7.2m makeover. It is hoped the improvements will attract more visitors to boost the town's economy. Improvements to Littlehampton's seafront between East Beach, South Terrace and Windmill Road got underway in the autumn. The town, seaside resort and civil parish sits in the Arun District of West Sussex. The work is being funded by a £7 million levelling up fund from the government and it is hoped the improvements will attract more visitors to boost the town's economy. The revamp includes new toilets and beach showers, improvements to the car park, including electric vehicle charging points, walkways and new sustainable planting. A new water play area and a pop-up marketplace off Banjo Road with four fixed stalls will also come to the beach. An activity hub is also planned to include a bouldering wall, beach volleyball, petanque and basketball courts. Waterfalls, rock pools and water jets will be installed for the water play area. There will also be social spaces throughout the development to include pergolas, picnic tables and benches, that will be shaded by new trees and plants. Chris Butterworth, 60, added that the closure of his favourite local pubs and shops had left him " depressed", saying the town had "gone downhill rapidly". Jo, 49, added: " It is run down and the shops are closed, with undesirable people. "I would not walk through Dewsbury after dark. I would be too scared." Elizabeth Cleal, 21, and her mum Sarah Jones, 42, both agreed the town was "dead", with shops shutting left, right, and centre.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
How historic Ealing Studios is hoping to regain ground with £20m revamp
The first time film-maker Barnaby Thompson visited Ealing Studios it was to shoot Victoria Beckham, who at the time was better known globally as Posh Spice, being unceremoniously plunged underwater. 'It was 1997, we were making Spice World and there was a sequence where Posh Spice got thrown into the Thames,' says Thompson, whose film credits include Wayne's World, the remake of St Trinian's and an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. 'We have a tank at Ealing so we shot Posh being thrown into the tank. It was the first time I had been on that hallowed ground.' Nearly three decades on, the film director and producer is a co-owner of the studios and is about to raise the curtain on its biggest revamp in 80 years. Thompson has something of an obsession with the west London site, which was founded in 1902, and is the world's oldest continuously working studio facility for film production. Three years after Beckham's dip, he jumped at the chance to form part of a consortium to buy the storied complex for a reported £10m. Between the late 1930s and mid-50s, the studio produced famous Ealing comedies such as the Lavender Hill Mob, and postwar hits including The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Under subsequent BBC ownership, classics including Porridge, Monty Python and Doctor Who were shot there. But by 2000, when Thompson took over in concert with the Manhattan Loft Corporation, the property group behind the Chiltern Firehouse and St Pancras Renaissance hotel, the ageing studios were struggling to compete against modern rivals. 'I grew up with the Ealing movies, it was a fabulous fantasy to own the studio,' he says. 'Then one thing after another happened and suddenly we owned it. The place was charming but somewhat dilapidated. It needed to be modernised and brought into the 21st century. No one had spent any money on it since the war.' Since then, Thompson has managed several phases of development, and productions including Downton Abbey, Darkest Hour and the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black have shot there. But to complete his dream revamp he needed more investment. In 2022, the US private equity firm Starwood Capital took a majority stake in the studios for £48.5m – and a £20m expansion plan was subsequently announced. Later this month, Thompson will receive the official handover from the construction team, a moment that will mark the realisation of a quarter-of-a-century labour of love. 'When we brought it [Ealing], what we dreamed of doing was to make a studio that had all this history, the old stages built in the 1930s and the heritage since 1902, but also have the most modern facilities,' he says. 'It needed to be absolutely fit for the 21st century. And I think that is what we are completing this month.' With the overhaul, the studio has added a new 1,300 sq metre (14,000 sq ft) stage, increasing the overall amount of sound stage space by 60% to 3,437 sq metres, as well as new production offices. Nestled in the back streets of the west London suburb, it lacks the scale of its out-of-town rivals including Pinewood and Shepperton, but has the benefits of fast links to Heathrow airport and central London. 'The Elizabeth line has made an enormous difference,' says Thompson. 'It takes 10 minutes to get to Bond Street and east London is just 25 minutes. We are so accessible, and if productions are looking at sustainability taking the tube rather than driving is such a do-able thing.' However, the official reopening comes against a vastly different TV and film production landscape than when Ealing closed its doors to outside productions. The 18-month construction project – officially Ealing was still running as it is also the home of MetFilm school, which kept its doors open – covered a period of immense change and upheaval. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The closure encompassed the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes; the end of so-called 'peak TV', the big-budget production bonanza fuelled by US streamers such as Netflix; and UK domestic broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV significantly cutting back on commissioning. The number of films produced in the UK plunged from a post-pandemic-fuelled high of 420 in 2022 to 191 last year, according to figures from the British Film Institute. The number of premium TV shows costing at least £1m an hour to make fell from 248 to 191 in the same period. Overall, the UK market for film and high-end TV production shrank by £2bn between 2022 and 2024, although most of this was in the television sector. 'In terms of timing we were fortunate to have chosen to be closed during the strikes,' says Thompson. 'I think the strikes brought on a day of reckoning. The streamers had come in and a lot of shows were being made for too much money. The strikes and subsequent slowdown have caused problems for the whole industry.' The figures from the BFI showed that last year was better than 2023, but Thompson believes the market will not return to the peaks of recent years. As for Ealing, he says the studio is booked up until at least the middle of next year. 'It is levelling out, production is picking up but I don't think it will go back to the same levels as before,' he says. 'There is enough demand but there isn't that streamer hysteria we had before, I don't think [as many] budgets will be at the same level as before.' Last year, the government announced an enhanced tax credit for independent film productions costing up to £15m, to support a sector that has produced lower-budget movies such as The King's Speech, The Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire. Thompson welcomed the move, saying: 'I have spent most of my life making very British films and it is getting harder and harder to finance them. The tax break will help fill that gap.' Ealing Studios reported a £2m pre-tax loss in its most recent public accounts for 2023, with rental income of £3m. This followed a £3.3m loss in 2022, when rental income was £5.6m. In the pre-Covid years of 2019 and 2018, the studio complex generated about £5m in rental income and made under £1m in annual profits. Thompson, who is shooting a four-part thriller for Amazon in the south of France, says he feels lucky to have been able to continue the Ealing Studios story for the next generation. 'I'm very proud of it and all we have done there,' the 65-year-old says. 'It has obviously been my life for 25 years. But I'm a film-maker first and guardian of the studio second. It is an amazing place, so much a part of the British heritage and character that it would be foolish to think it ever really belonged to me.'
Daily Mail
22-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Absolutely dotty! Government blows over half a million on 'vanity' makeover for website which involved moving a full stop
Ministers spent more than £500,000 of taxpayers' money on a 'vanity' makeover for the government website which critics say is little more than changing a colour and moving a dot. The site, used by millions for essential services such as tax returns and passport renewals, will see its traditional black masthead turned blue and its 'dot' coloured turquoise. The tweaks were commissioned as part of 'brand refresh' with contracts totalling £532,000 handed to global ad agency M&C Saatchi. The costly new logo, set to go live this month, has already met with ridicule from civil servants, with one mocking online: 'Did someone really get paid to move a dot?'. Others labelled it 'cheap', 'tacky' and 'absolutely diabolical'. Zia Yusuf, head of Reform UK's efficiency drive, last night branded the revamp a waste of public money. He said: 'The disrespect for taxpayers' money continues to be astounding. 'Spending more than £500,000 on changing a logo on a government website is a joke at the taxpayer's expense, quite literally. 'This is just the kind of thing we have been uncovering in county halls on a daily basis. It's abundantly clear that Whitehall also needs a visit from Reform's DOGE team.' Two contracts for the brand refresh were tendered by the previous Conservative government and carried on under Labour, according to publicly available papers. Communications giant M&C Saatchi secured deals potentially worth up to £750,000. A government source said the final bill came to £532,000, which the cost drawn from existing department budgets. The new logo was criticised on web forums used by civil servants. One said: 'As a government we are trying to maximise efficiency and save money. 'Why was this what we chose to spend time and resources on?' Another joked: 'Reform blue for the dot. Conservative blue for the background. Are they preparing us for 2029?' Elliot Keck, campaigns chief at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers will be baffled that hundreds of thousands have been blown on minor graphic design changes. 'At a time when public services are stretched and families are feeling the pinch, shelling out for a vanity rebrand is an insult to hardworking Brits. 'Ministers should be focusing on delivering frontline services, not petty optics.' Officials defended the cost, stressing the six-figure bill included 'refreshing and extending' the brand across web, mobile and app platforms. A government spokesman said: 'This was committed to by the previous government, with two of the three contracts signed and delivered by July 2024. 'The new government then chose to turn the rebranding and research work into consumer-friendly digital products, including our upcoming App, Chat and more.' MailOnline has contacted the government for further comment. The website was last overhauled in 2012.
