Looping Group have announced the sale of Pleasurewood Hills, a family theme park in Suffolk, UK.
The Lowestoft-based park has been sold to Premier Attractions Ltd, a leading family-run operator specialising in the management of seasonal amusement rides and attractions in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asia. Premier Attractions Ltd is owned and managed by the Stokes family, who enjoy a strong reputation in the leisure industry across the United Kingdom.
Created by entrepreneur Joe Larter in 1983 as a small American-themed family attraction, Pleasurewood Hills has had a multitude of operators over this time. These include property developer RKF, caravan park operator Leisure Great Britain, the Hadden family and French leisure group Grévin & Cie, purchased by Compagnie des Alpes.
‘Best positioned’ for the future
Pleasurewood Hills was one of seven parks acquired from Compagnie des Alpes when Looping Group was created in 2011. Other Looping Group parks remaining in the UK are Drayton Manor Theme Park and West Midlands Safari Park, both unaffected by the transaction.
The park, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border and a short distance away from the seaside resort of Gret Yarmouth, is home to a portfolio of rides geared to the family market. These include a Schwarzkopf roller coaster (Cannonball Express), animal shows and two miniature trains within its 59-acre plot. The park’s headline attraction, a Vekoma boomerang (Wipeout), received the silver award for “Best Reimagined Attraction” at the UK Theme Park Awards last month.
A statement from Looping Group says: “Pleasurewood holds a special place in Looping’s history and heart.
“Given the recent development of Looping, a strong local player like Premier Attractions Ltd is best positioned to bring Pleasurewood Hills to its full potential. We would like to express our sincere thanks to [general manager] Ricky Lark and his teams for their dedication and hard work over the past years. We wish them and the Stokes family every success in this new chapter!”
