Blackpool Pleasure Beach stays in black despite poor weather

The financial results for the year ending March 2016 showed Pleasure Beach Holdings made £800,000 profits on a turnover of £32.3m.

The amount of money flowing through the Pleasure Beach group in that period which included the summer season of 2015, was down marginally from £33.5m the year before when profits hit £1.4m after a few years of being in the red.

During that period, the Smiler accident occurred at Alton Towers, temporarily put people off roller coaster style rides and that together with an early Easter meant the Pleasure Beach saw a five per cent fall in attendances.

However, the company said the Big Blue Hotel had a “successful year” with a turnover of £4.3m up from £4.1m the previous year making a pre-tax profit of £980,000 up from £793,000.

A spokesman for the Pleasure Beach said: “During this period the company faced a number of challenging trading conditions including poor weather during key holiday periods and an earlier than usual Easter.

“Blackpool Pleasure Beach is currently looking forward to a good 2017 season with the park opening for its half price WOW Weekends on Saturday, February 11.

“Blackpool Pleasure Beach is currently enjoying a strong period of investment, opening Nickelodeon Land in 2011, Wallace and Gromit’s Thrill-O- Matic in 2013 and developing a partnership with the Royal Airforce Aerobatic Team which saw the launch of Red Arrows Skyforce in May 2015.

“This will continue into 2018 with the launch of the UK’s first double launch rollercoaster, codenamed Construction 2018, which represents a £16.25m investment.”