Merlin Entertainments: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Merlin Attractions Operations Limited's person with significant control on the Companies House register is Charcoal Midco 1 Limited. It holds 75% or more of the company. In the year to December 2024 Merlin Attractions Operations Limited reported turnover of £583m.
- Registered name
- MERLIN ATTRACTIONS OPERATIONS LIMITED
- Company number
- 06272935
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 7 June 2007
- Registered office area
- Bournemouth
- Industry code on the register
- 70100: Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
- Accounts
- Single company accounts, this company only
- Accounts type
- Full accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2024, filed 3 October 2025
What does Merlin Entertainments do?
Merlin Entertainments runs visitor attractions, including LEGOLAND parks, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE aquariums, the London Eye, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures. It earns money from admission tickets and annual passes, plus spending on food, drink, merchandise and short breaks at its themed hotels. The business is based in Poole, Dorset, and is privately owned, with KIRKBI, the Lego family's investment company, among its shareholders.
In brief: visitor attractions · theme parks and aquariums · tickets and hotels · privately owned
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: merlinentertainments.biz.
Who owns Merlin Entertainments?
The Companies House register records Charcoal Midco 1 Limited as the person with significant control of Merlin Attractions Operations Limited, company number 06272935. Charcoal Midco 1 Limited is itself company number 06125930. It holds 75% or more of the shares or voting rights. The control was notified on 6 April 2016.
That places Merlin Attractions Operations Limited inside a larger group. The accounts on this page are the company's own, not the wider group's.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Merlin Entertainments?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for Merlin Attractions Operations Limited.
All 5 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Matthew Paul Jowett | 26 February 2016 |
| Amy Bailey | 14 January 2025 |
| Amy Bailey | 14 January 2025 |
| Kevin Rock | 4 November 2025 |
| Eric Michael Vallis | 7 August 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Merlin Entertainments file?
Merlin Attractions Operations Limited reported turnover of £583m in the year to December 2024. That was down 0.5% on £586m the year before.
It reported 6,959 employees. The year before it reported 6,701.
It filed a pre-tax loss of £33m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £47m the year before.
Staff costs came to £207m. That is an average of £30,000 a head.
| Measure | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £583m | £586m |
| Pre-tax profit | -£33m (filed) | £47m (filed) |
| Employees | 6,959 | 6,701 |
| Staff costs | £207m | £184m |
| Average staff cost per head | £30,000 | £27,000 |
| Net assets | £324m | £384m |
| Interest paid | £80m | |
| Interest received | £1.1m | |
| Directors' pay | £2m |
Read the accounts to December 2024 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Merlin Entertainments?
Merlin Attractions Operations Limited has registered 6 charges at Companies House, and all of them have since been satisfied. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
Merlin Entertainments files as Merlin Attractions Operations Limited, whose person with significant control is Charcoal Midco 1 Limited, with turnover of £583m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Merlin Entertainments
What does Merlin Entertainments do?
Merlin Entertainments runs visitor attractions, including LEGOLAND parks, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE aquariums, the London Eye, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures. It earns money from admission tickets and annual passes, plus spending on food, drink, merchandise and short breaks at its themed hotels. The business is based in Poole, Dorset, and is privately owned, with KIRKBI, the Lego family's investment company, among its shareholders.
Who owns Merlin Entertainments?
The Companies House register records Charcoal Midco 1 Limited as the person with significant control of Merlin Attractions Operations Limited. It holds 75% or more of the shares or voting rights.
How much does Merlin Entertainments make?
Merlin Attractions Operations Limited reported turnover of £583m in the year to December 2024. It filed a pre-tax loss of £33m.
How many people work at Merlin Entertainments?
Merlin Attractions Operations Limited reported 6,959 employees in the year to December 2024.
Who runs Merlin Entertainments?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for Merlin Attractions Operations Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Merlin Attractions Operations Limited's filings at Companies House, company number 06272935, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are single company accounts: they cover this company alone, not any wider group.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Merlin Entertainments: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/merlin-entertainments/. Figures from Companies House filings for MERLIN ATTRACTIONS OPERATIONS LIMITED (06272935).
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