In this episode of Skip the Queue, Andy Povey is joined by Lawrence Roots, founder of the Theme Park Network — a dedicated B2B platform connecting theme parks, suppliers and industry professionals across the sector. Lawrence joins to explore the UK Theme Park Awards and why they’ve become such an important part of the industry, from recognising excellence to shaping what great experiences look like today.
Andy Povey is joined by Lawrence Roots to explore the growing importance of the UK Theme Park Awards and why they matter to operators across the visitor attraction industry. Lawrence shares how the awards recognise excellence across parks of all sizes, combine expert judging with public voting, and help raise standards across the sector. They also talk about the emerging trends in the UK theme park industry, the value of consistency and creativity, and practical advice for operators looking to create award-winning guest experiences.
Topics Discussed
Show references:
Lawrence Roots, Founder of UK Theme Park Awards
Nominations for the UK Theme Park Awards 2026 are now open. Register to make nominations and vote in the UK Theme Park Awards.
Skip the Queue is brought to you by Merac. We provide attractions with the tools and expertise to create world-class digital interactions. Very simply, we're here to rehumanise commerce. Your guest host is Andy Povey.
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on LinkedIn.
Credits:
Written by Emily Burrows (Plaster)
Edited by Steve Folland
Produced by Emily Burrows and Sami Entwistle (Plaster)
Lawrence Roots: I think it's a really interesting year for the UK theme park industry because there's a whole variety of different projects. People are doing great work at different scales.
Andy Povey: In this week's episode of Skip the Queue, I'm joined by Lawrence Riggs, the founder of theme Park Network, a dedicated B2B platform connecting theme parks suppliers and industry professionals across the sector. Lawrence joins us to explore the UK Theme Park Awards and why they've become such an important part of the industry.
Lawrence Roots: The strength in a number of attractions in the awards is their commitment to quality day in, day out
Andy Povey: From recognising excellence to shaping what great experiences look like today.
Lawrence Roots: There's an energy, there's a level of excitement, there's anticipation for kind of what's to come next.
Andy Povey: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast by and for people working in the visitor attraction industry. Brought to you by MERAC. I'm your host, Andy Podey.
Lawrence Roots: So the UK Theme Park Awards are there to celebrate all of the hard work and creativity that goes into creating the experience that people benefit from at our theme parks and attractions across the UK. We started the awards in amongst Covid times. We had a couple of years as a virtual only awards ceremony. So there was a ceremony, but it was entirely digital. And then in 2022 were able to go out with the first in person awards event. So we took the awards to Drayton Manor in that first year and since then we've taken the awards to Justin, to modern adventures. We've been to Thorpe Park. Last year we were at Wicksteed park and this year we're off to Blackpool's Pleasure Beach Resort.
Andy Povey: So what is it that makes a Theme park Awards different to every other award ceremony and bunch of awards that are in the industry right now?
Lawrence Roots: So the UK Theme Park Awards are the only award scheme specifically for theme parks in the uk. We're also the only award scheme in Europe where the public get to have a voice and get to influence those final results. So we use a really interesting methodology, a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest, if you're familiar with that or any of your listeners are.
Andy Povey: I am, yes.
Lawrence Roots: Good. So we essentially bring together the votes from members of the public who vote in the awards and the scores from a judging panel of experts. And it's the combination of those two things which helps decide the winners in the awards and that gives us a really interesting set of results. It's the public who are spending their hard earned cash all year supporting their parks. They're paying for their Annual passes, they're paying for their admissions and all of the other kind of costs associated with a day at a theme park. And their voice deserves to be heard. So it's the magic formula, it's combining the two things together, but it's also about selecting who's on that judging panel.
Lawrence Roots: We think really carefully about making sure that we've got fair representation so all elements of the market are covered. We've got some fantastic people on that judging panel. We've got people like Paul Kelly, who's the chief executive of BALPPA. We've got Dawn Foote, who's the president of the Themed Entertainment Association for the Europe and Middle East region. We've got some industry journalists, some industry writers. We've also got representatives from some theme park communities. So people like Andy Hein from the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain. We brought together a kind of a crack team of people who, between them, know everything about the UK theme park industry. So, yeah, it's about bringing together their scores. They also participate in the shortlisting process together with those public votes.
Andy Povey: Do you find often that the public perception and your judges perception are very different?
Lawrence Roots: Absolutely. Sometimes they're completely in alignment, sometimes they're not. And I think it's therefore having a magic formula which brings those two things together that gives us a really good set of results and helps make sure that we're celebrating all kinds of different attractions. One of the things that I'm kind of proudest of with the awards is that they don't just recognise the biggest operators with the deepest pockets. These are awards where you can be a large theme park, very large national profile theme park with a global operator, but you can also be a very small independent park owned and run by one family. And you can come away from the awards something. It really celebrates the great work that happens across theme park industry, not just in kind of certain attractions.
Lawrence Roots: And I think that's pretty distinctive, actually. When you look at this award scheme versus any others, you might say.
Andy Povey: So why do the awards matter? What's the value of the awards to the industry other than a great afternoon out and an opportunity to meet and mingle, network with all your friends and colleagues.
Lawrence Roots: A great time out to network and mingle with your colleagues is obviously high up on the list. And lots of people really do enjoy the events from a social perspective, from that kind of professional development perspective, but they're valuable for all kinds of reasons. So the awards have a big national profile, so they raise the profile of the UK theme park industry all of the parks are nominated, those that come away with awards. Last year, the BBC, for example, came and filmed a BBC news segment at the awards which went out. We get coverage in national newspapers, so it's kind of got that big national coverage behind it. Being able to say you are a award nominated attraction or you've just won, you know, best value theme park in the UK.
Lawrence Roots: That adds a lot of weight to a theme park's marketing campaigns. So we start to see now, you know, it might be a bus stop advert, it might be a leaflet in a leaflet rack, it could be a radio advertisement. We see the UK theme park awards logo popping up all over the place now now, because that is adding considerable weight to people's marketing efforts.
Andy Povey: So you're making this sort of consumer brand in a world that is really dominated by business to business brands. I like that a lot.
Lawrence Roots: Yeah, it's like a stamp of approval for people that do come to the awards. There's other benefits as well. So we find with the awards running in September every year after a really busy summer season, that is a nice way to reward your team for doing a really hard job. You know, working in theme park industry is tough. If you've made it through the summer holidays and you've still got a smile on your face, what a fantastic opportunity to meet up with colleagues from right across the country, all doing, you know, similar roles to you and have a big celebration. People will also use it to seek inspiration. So people enjoy seeing what their competitors, what other parks around the country are doing.
Lawrence Roots: They are able to go away from that event with ideas for things that they might want to try in future.
Andy Povey: No, I must admit, and seeing the headline award winners bring their entire team onto stage. So it happened at Drayton Manor four or five years ago, it happened at Thorpe Park a couple of years ago. It's such a real positive buzz, has fantastic value. I find it motivating and it's a long time since I was operating a theme park.
Lawrence Roots: I think it means a lot to people personally. You can, as you've experienced, you can find, feel the energy in the room, you can see the level of excitement, you can see how people react when they find out that they've managed to make it into the top three. It personally makes a big difference to people in terms of having their hard work recognised. Somebody saying, actually industry professionals, the public, have noticed this. They've seen that you've gone above and beyond, you've delivered a fantastic experience and you get to go home with an award to put in your trophy cabinet.
Andy Povey: And some of those trophy cabinets need to get quite a bit bigger, don't they? There have been a couple of occasions where there's people have taken an awful lot of awards back.
Lawrence Roots: There's about 22 categories in the awards. We try to keep the awards fresh every year. So we don't keep the same categories every year. We usually try and replace maybe a third or half of those categories. So there are some awards which will probably never go away. We have a theme park of the year. We have awards for say, best theme park for families, for toddlers, for thrills, and a couple of awards which people really value. Best customer service, best value, best marketing campaign. Those are kind of staples of the awards that are fairly fixed. We also have this year a variety of new categories. So we've got some categories which are rewarding aspects of the overall theme park experience that maybe we haven't looked at before.
Lawrence Roots: So we've got an award for best landscaped theme park. We've got one for best theme Park Holiday Village. And we've also got some categories which just help expand the awards slightly to cover kind of adjacent areas. So we've got a water park of the year award and a Screen park of the year award. So it's always nice for people such as yourself that come to the awards every single year to see some new categories, see some new winners across the awards.
Andy Povey: Interesting. I love the Scream part of the year award. Is that just the Halloween pop up events or is it broader than that?
Lawrence Roots: Yeah. So what we've seen now we have a category for best Halloween event at a UK theme park. So we've got that category recognised as well. But what we've seen over recent years is a huge growth in dedicated screen park attractions.
Andy Povey: Yeah.
Lawrence Roots: And actually the quality of theming and the immersion and the acting, the costumes and makeup, everything in those experiences is absolutely phenomenal. And a lot of the audiences that might visit a theme park will also visit a screen park. So we felt it was a great opportunity to bring them in on the awards as well this year.
Andy Povey: Probably more of a personal question now. What are the key things that you're looking for when you're trying to identify a winner?
Lawrence Roots: I'm looking for creativity, I'm looking for consistency and quality. So for instance, you know, you could create a fantastic experience which looks and sounds and smells incredible on day one.
Andy Povey: Yeah.
Lawrence Roots: But what does that look like after a week, after a month, after a year? Is that a high quality experience that's repeatable and keeps delivering for people over and over again. So that's something that's really important to creativity is huge in our industry. I mean, it's what themed entertainment industry is built on. So, you know, in the public's eye, it's not good enough to just plonk a roller coaster down in a field. There needs to be a narrative, there needs to be storytelling, there's got to be really clear identity. And it's about how you transform what might be a fantastic piece of engineering and you actually create a fantastic experience that people can enjoy and want to go back and enjoy over and over again.
Lawrence Roots: And what I find really interesting about the UK Theme Park Awards is that scientific isn't dictated by budget. There are theme parks in the UK that are incredibly creative with a very small budget and they do wonderful work. And it's amazing in the awards to be able to celebrate the people that are creating fantastic experiences, demonstrating real kind of innovation and creativity without necessarily spending the most money.
Andy Povey: I agree completely. We spoke to Douglas from the Avon Valley Farm park probably about six months ago and just hearing some of his stories about what he was able to do with a bunch of hay bales and a bunch of pallets, very short notice, is phenomenal. So I love the fact that you're picking up on the budget isn't necessarily a barrier.
Lawrence Roots: Yeah, absolutely. I think there were some really interesting examples in last year's awards, I think in the marketing campaign category where there were, because we show those marketing campaigns on the screen during the awards ceremony and you will have a commercial which I know has been put together for less than 100 pounds using a smartphone and then you'll have something. And it's just wonderful to see those two things being shown at the same time to the same audience because it just goes to show what is possible, even if your resources are more restricted.
Andy Povey: It's a big ask because this didn't start as your full time job, did it?
Lawrence Roots: No, absolutely not. This was a little side project because it was something that I was really passionate about and wanted to make happen. And I think for anybody that's been on the journey and seen how the awards started back in 2000, maybe they've seen the first awards ceremony at Drayton Manor in 2022 and then maybe they've watched last year's awards event at Wixley park, hopefully they will have seen that massive progression. It's a big journey we've been on. The awards have been just got bigger and bigger every Year the level of public engagements got bigger. I think last year it was 330,000 votes cast.
Andy Povey: Wow.
Lawrence Roots: We had the best national media coverage we've ever had last year. So it is a huge amount of work. I'll say that A lot of work has to go on behind the scenes to make this whole thing happen. It's not just that two hour awards ceremony in September, it's a year round project now. But I'm very kind of proud to established that and taken it on this journey. And this year it's bigger again. But the whole event and taking it to Blackpool has given us opportunities to add in lots of extra elements to the overall awards experience for those attending that we've not been able to do before. So it's a really exciting time.
Andy Povey: I agree. I'm really looking forward to the trip to Blackpool this year. Can't wait. Let's talk about the timetable quite quickly.
Lawrence Roots: Yeah. So as of time of broadcast, the nominations process, this has begun. So you're able to nominate all the way through to the 5th of June. Anybody can nominate. You could be a theme park operator, a provider, a visitor. Anybody can take part in that nominations process. Once the nominations are complete, then our expert judging panel will help whittle down those nominations into shortlists. And what we end up with is a short list for each category in the awards of usually 10 nominees. It can be different. And then over the summer holidays, from I think the 20th of July through to almost the end of August, the public will be able to vote in those awards. They'll be able to select who they would like to win from each of those shortlists.
Lawrence Roots: Additionally, this year there's a couple of categories that we are kind of recognising specific individuals who work in theme park industry. So we're dealing with those two categories slightly differently. Theme parks will be able to nominate two individuals each. They'll be able to nominate somebody for an Outstanding Achievement Award. So somebody that has absolutely given their heart and soul to their attraction. Maybe they've worked there for the best part of their professional working life. Somebody that's done something really exceptional over a long period of time. So we'll have an award for that and we've also got a Rising Star Award. So this is for somebody that actually might be really new, they might be quite early on in their kind of professional career, but they're just showing that spark.
Lawrence Roots: They're showing that, you know, this person's going to go places. So we've introduced those two additional categories this year. So It'll be a slightly different process because obviously, you know, the public won't know those individuals to be able to vote on them, but it's nice to be able to add those into the mix as well.
Andy Povey: I love that. Back to my comment earlier about the teams celebrating their awards. The recognition of the individuals who go into making the magic, I think is probably my favourite element of the award. So I love that new edition. So when does voting close? End of August.
Lawrence Roots: The main public vote ends end of August. I think the 28th. But for listeners today, the priority is getting those nominations in. So you've only got until the 5th of June to do that. So if there's a particular theme park, if there's a particular attraction, there's a show, an event that you want to recognise, you need to get those in because obviously then the judging panel are looking at those nominations and creating those shortlists. So it's really important to act fast and make sure you recognise the places you want to this year's awards.
Andy Povey: Absolutely. So that's the plug to go and make your nomination. So how do I nominate? Where do I go?
Lawrence Roots: Really easy. You go to ukthemeparkawards.com and it's all there for you.
Andy Povey: We'll make sure that we include the link to that site in the show notes. Yeah, about all the time. The last time I saw you face to face was on site at Crealy a few weeks ago. Is that the Drop Tower launch then? I heard you were at the launch of Paw Patrol at Chessington last weekend.
Lawrence Roots: I was indeed. I tried to get out and about as much as possible. It's really important to me to see the whole variety of different kind of new rides and attractions being launched across the UK theme parks. But it's not just about the new things, it's also going to see parks where they may not necessarily have a new ride or a new show, but actually they're investing a lot of money in improving the day to day guest experience. So another park I was at recently was Woodlands Park in Devon. Yep, no big ride this year, but actually they've spent a lot of money on the presentation of the park and it was looking absolutely fantastic.
Lawrence Roots: They're introducing some new holiday accommodation this year, which is really exciting for them, but I like to see that as much as I like going to see the opening of a new theme park. Land or ride.
Andy Povey: It's really telling, isn't it, when you walk in through the gates of a place and you just continually looking at the litter bins, the flower Beds, the environment within which you're existing. It's very easy to ignore that.
Lawrence Roots: Absolutely.
Andy Povey: For you personally, what separates a good experience from an award winning experience?
Lawrence Roots: I think it is the little details. It's quite often the finishing touches. It's where you can see a theme park operator, a creative has really understood its audience, they really understand what the guest needs, what the expectations of those guests are and they've anticipated those needs already. It's those extra little flourishes, those details, but it's also then kind of how well they are able to maintain those things over time so that they are enduring and people can come back day in, day out and they still look as good as the first day went in. I think it's a really interesting year for the UK theme park industry because there's a whole variety of different projects and people are doing kind of great work at different scales.
Lawrence Roots: So you've got Merlin this year who are investing substantially in major IP partnerships, so World of Paw Patrol at Chessington, but also Bluey at Alton Towers. You've got parks like Paulton's park who are creating this incredible new Viking world in Valgard with kind of highly detailed theming, kind of immersive work there. But then, as you say, you've got places like Creeley who are delivering two new attractions this year on a considerably lower budget and they've done a fantastic job with those two. Lots of parks that maybe haven't had any serious investment for a number of years suddenly are this year. So Pleasurewood Hills, they've got three new rides, possibly a fourth coming along soon. Light Water Valley, they've got a new ride.
Lawrence Roots: So, you know, it's an exciting year I think, for theme park industry in this country.
Andy Povey: It isn't it? And it's been quite a tempestuous year in terms of changes of ownership. I don't think I've experienced as many parks changing hands in such a short period of time. Mentioned a couple there. Yeah, it's very interesting to see what happens and how that moves everything on. Who's really lifting the bar right now, who's really lifting things up and raising the profile of the industry, raising the standards within the industry.
Lawrence Roots: I mean, I can't have favourites. I'm part of the judging.
Andy Povey: Of course not. Of course not.
Lawrence Roots: I've got to remain impartial. But I think some of those examples that I just named there, I think, I mean, I'm very excited to see what Paulton's have created with Valgard. I've been following that closely through the process. They have done fantastic work with their themed worlds in the past. So if it's, if it's as good as the work they've done in the past and that's going to be, you know, something really special. Yeah, I'm also like, Blackpool Pleasure Beach has spent a lot of money this year on Invictus, this kind of multi million pound thrill ride that's going to completely transform the skyline of Blackpool. They're celebrating 130 years of being an amusement park, which I just think is phenomenal, and 90 years of ice shows.
Lawrence Roots: So, yeah, I think that there's a number of parks this year that have, you know, they're well and truly on the map. They're putting a lot of money in, they're putting a lot of energy in and it'll be nice to recognise those.
Andy Povey: And I mean, obviously the industry in the UK is, we're at the start, I think, of a significant period of change with the new park operators that are coming in point of view and Universal, is this the start of a hockey stick curve? Is next year going to be even better and the year after even better? As everybody lifts their standards, that is how it feels.
Lawrence Roots: There's an energy, there's a level of excitement, there's anticipation for kind of what's to come next. So, yeah, I mean, obviously Universal coming to the UK is incredible. It's a game changer for UK kind of attractions industry, for the UK economy, obviously. Puy du Fou. I've been to both Puy du Fou in France and Spain and they are just sensational attractions. So to have an attraction like that in the UK would just be phenomenal. And then there's parks like the storied lands up at Kinryn opening this year. So that'll be the UK's first taste of a live action show park that's actually really quite different to the kind of traditional theme parks and amusement parks.
Lawrence Roots: So, yeah, you know, an amazing time to be in the theme park industry with a real kind of forward momentum. Lots of things to look forward to.
Andy Povey: We've got the award ceremony in Blackpool. What's going to be different about the awards ceremony this year?
Lawrence Roots: Blackpool Pleasure Beach essentially is a large theme park resort with lots of event facilities, two beautiful hotels. So that means we can kind of expand the awards in all sorts of interesting ways. So for those lucky enough to be attending the awards this year, there will be some elements of the awards, even the day before the main awards ceremony. So there'll be some things taking place on the. On the Wednesday afternoon and evening before the main awards on Thursday. On the Thursday we've got kind of slightly longer trade show networking time. So we'll have all kinds of theme park providers and suppliers having an opportunity to showcase what they're able to offer to theme parks in the UK industry. The awards ceremony Tag Live are on board as our production partner for that awards.
Lawrence Roots: We brought them on last year and they will be putting together another fantastic on stage and live stream experience for those either in the room or watching back at work or maybe at home. We will also have an after party, so there'll be a live dj, there'll be an opportunity to have drinks in theme park after theme park is closed to the public, some exclusive ride time and even a performance of Hot Ice, which is, if you've not seen it before, a sensational show that will be running in the evening as well. So, yeah, people are getting a lot from the awards this year in Blackpool and it's a huge thanks to the team at Pleasure Beach Resort for doing that for us.
Andy Povey: One thing I try and ask every one of our guests on Skip the Queue is really try and give our listeners some advice on how to improve their attractions, to develop their businesses without access to the massive budgets, the real headline-grabbing stories. So, Lawrence, if you. If I was a small theme park operator somewhere in the middle of the UK and I've got a couple of pounds to spend on a new attraction or some investment to make into my facility, what's your advice? Where should I go first? What's going to win me that award?
Lawrence Roots: So I've worked in experience development for over 20 years. I offer myself up as a consultant to work with attractions, to do exactly as you're describing and develop their experience. So I always start with audience. You've got to understand who your guests are, the ones that are coming already, your loyal customers, but also those potential customers, those people who maybe you're not quite on their radar yet. You need to get a strong understanding of exactly what they need from you. What's your usp? What's your place in the market? What are you able to offer them that maybe nobody else is?
Lawrence Roots: And focusing on those things, don't make assumptions, talk to your guests, talk to potential customers about what they want from you, what they would like to see, run a focus group, do a survey, ask on social media, all of those things to really kind of understand what they want. I would say the strength in a number of attractions in the awards is their commitment to quality day in, day out. It's fantastic to have, you know, a flagship attraction that you've maybe spent a lot of money on and is a real kind of highlight of your attraction. But that is not going to give you that repeat business of guests coming back regularly throughout the year signing up as annual passholders.
Lawrence Roots: People need a consistently good experience all year round, whether it's a busy day in the summer holidays or it's a quiet off peak day in September, it's about delivering that same quality of experience consistently throughout the year. So put your money into that, make sure your park is not looking in top tip condition, make sure things are clean, make sure things are painted, take down old tatty signs. I think what's interesting when I go and speak to attractions is quite often there are things they can do that don't cost any money. Taking down old tattoo signage is free. It's quite often things that aren't necessarily large capital expenditure and investment that can really make a difference to your visitors days. I think you probably asked for one thing and I've given you a list of things. Things.
Lawrence Roots: But I have to say, you know, people, your team, who are interacting with your guests on a day to day basis, whether they're in the ticket booth or the food and beverage outlet, the retail outlet, the ride operators, they are the face of your brand. They are the ones embodying your attraction and interacting with your guests. So investing in your teams, making sure that they are well inducted, well trained, you give them reward and recognition for the work that they do and you celebrate their successes, means that you're going to have a team that is absolutely, you know, living and breathing your brand and delivering that guest experience every day. So invest in your people, not just the stuff.
Andy Povey: I love that line. A great way to invest in your team would be actually to nominate them for an award in the UK Theme Park Awards.
Lawrence Roots: Absolutely.
Andy Povey: So on that note, I'm going to draw this to a close. Lawrence, thank you so much for your time, listeners. Get over to ukthemeparkawards.com and get nominating. You've only got till the 5th of June.
Lawrence Roots: Thank you, Andy. It's been great to be on. Thank you for having me.
Andy Povey: So you heard it from the horse's mouth. Nominations are now open for this year's UK Theme Park Awards. If you work in a park, get yourself nominated, find the those rising stars in your team and give them a boost. Thank you, Lawrence, for joining me. And I look forward to seeing much more about the awards as the year goes on.
Today's episode has been carefully edited by Steve Folland, produced by Emily and Sami at Plaster, and promoted by Wenalyn. I've been your host, Andy Povey. And until next time, thank you for listening.