Taxpayers will fund £1.3bn for Hollywood studio giant Universal to build its first European theme park, the government has confirmed, in a deal that will anchor the attraction on a former brickworks site near Bedford.
The package — disclosed in full on Wednesday — is intended to cover the transport and community infrastructure needed to support the Universal United Kingdom Resort, a project that Comcast, the US media company behind NBC Universal and Sky, has valued at more than £5bn over its five-year construction period. Universal Destinations & Experiences, the unit that owns the park, first acquired the 476-acre site at Kempston Hardwick in August 2023, and planning permission was granted via a Special Development Order from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in December 2025. Construction began on 12 January 2026.
How the £1.3bn government package is broken down
The government’s total contribution of £1.3bn is split between three separate pots, each tied to different conditions and government departments. The largest single element is an estimated £474m from the Department for Transport, earmarked for what officials describe as “strategic road and rail” projects in the Bedfordshire region. That money will help fund the expansion of Wixams railway station, the development of a new station on the East-West rail line to replace the existing Kempston Hardwick stop, and upgrades to the local road network including dedicated slip roads from the A421.
A further £438m is being provided as a grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This sum is earmarked for “investment in new community infrastructure to maximise the benefits of the development and support growth across the region”. The grant will be paid to Universal only once the company completes the specified infrastructure.
The third component is £400m from the Regional Growth Fund, a pot of money controlled by the government that will be released once the theme park opens for business. The overall package was first trailed last June when around £500m of public investment in rail and road was announced, but the final total of £1.3bn was only revealed on Wednesday as the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, visited the construction site. Comcast itself is investing more than £5bn during the build phase, and has committed an additional £1bn in capital expenditure over the first decade of the resort’s operation.
Economic benefits and job creation
Official projections estimate the development will create nearly 20,000 jobs during the construction phase and a further 8,000 permanent roles once the park opens in 2031. By the twentieth year of operation, that operational workforce could rise to 10,000. Around 80% of employees are expected to be drawn from the local area, including Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes and surrounding regions. The government has also calculated that for every job supported within the theme park, an additional 1.5 jobs could be supported across the wider economy.
The resort is forecast to attract about 8.5 million visitors in its first year, with a conservative projection of 12 million by 2051. More than one million of those visitors each year are expected to come from overseas. The wider economic benefit to the UK is estimated at nearly £50bn by 2055, with the project described by the Treasury as one of the biggest single investments in the country’s tourism sector. The park itself will include multiple themed lands, a 500-room hotel (with potential to expand to 6,070 rooms by 2051), and an integrated retail, dining and entertainment complex modelled on Universal CityWalk. By comparison, Universal Orlando Resort currently operates 8,737 hotel rooms.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the investment — located in what she calls the Oxford-to-Cambridge growth corridor — would “unlock nearly £50bn of economic growth and create tens of thousands of jobs across Bedfordshire in construction, hospitality, creative and technology sectors”. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, described the park as “a huge vote of confidence in the UK”, adding that the government was “backing British industry, investing in local talent and partnering with powerhouses like Universal”. Mark Woodbury, chair and chief executive of Universal Destinations & Experiences, said the park would create “so many new opportunities for the people of Bedford and beyond”.
The project is the company’s third attempt to establish a European park. A planned development at Sénart in France was cancelled, and Universal Mediterranea in Salou, Spain, was sold in 2004 after being acquired by NBCUniversal.
Future growth plans along the Oxford-Cambridge corridor
The Universal announcement came alongside a series of related developments announced by Chancellor Reeves at a conference in Westminster on Wednesday. She confirmed the creation of a powerful new development corporation covering Greater Cambridge, described as “a delivery vehicle with the powers, the governance, and the mandate to unlock strategic sites and to accelerate growth”. The Greater Cambridge Development Corporation is a joint national and local body that has already faced criticism for centralising decision-making power, but is intended to drive infrastructure-first development in the region.
Reeves also revealed that Homes England is buying a former airfield east of Cambridge — Cambridge City Airport — with the aim of delivering more than 10,000 homes and supporting around 9,000 jobs. That site is expected to benefit from a proposed Cambridge East station on the East-West rail line. In addition, government funding was confirmed for a new exit at Bletchley station on the same line, which will connect Oxford and Cambridge via Bletchley and Bedford. The East-West rail project’s second stage aims to run an hourly Oxford-to-Bedford service by 2030, with the full link to Cambridge planned as stage three. The Bicester to Bletchley section is currently undergoing testing, though a definitive start date for passenger services has yet to be confirmed.
The chancellor described the corridor as a potential global leader in science and innovation, backing a scheme to create a “science supercluster” across Oxford and Cambridge. “If we get this right, working together, this corridor will not just compete globally, it will lead globally,” she said. The Universal theme park is formally part of the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy to increase business investment in the creative industries, and is expected to drive significant economic growth along the entire corridor. Homes England is also working on a separate 3,500-home development at Bourn Airfield in Cambridgeshire. Brian Roberts, chair of Comcast, called the Universal deal “a historic partnership” and “a special moment for our company”, noting Comcast’s “long and proud history in the UK through Sky and NBC Universal”.
