Century-old UK theme park battling to survive as 'no one doing anything to help' after Rachel Reeves's 'sledgehammer'

The theme park’s revenue may have fallen by as much as £30,000 due to Ms Reeves' Autumn Budget increases to minimum wage and National Insurance, The Express revealed.

The Government has been warned that Wicksteed and other beloved British theme parks could face closure unless their concerns are addressed.

The great-grandson of the park's founder, Oliver Wicksteed, said the increased costs over the past year have felt like a "sledgehammer" for the business.

Mr Wicksteed, who also chairs the Wicksteed Charitable Trust that owns the park, said: “Greater understanding rather than what feels like a sledgehammer would be very much appreciated and some more communication and feeling that people like us would like to have a voice.

“Because we want to be listened to and that voice doesn’t feel like it’s being heard at all, despite my efforts in contacting all sorts of people in various positions.

“Everybody’s sympathetic, nobody’s doing anything, and that doesn’t help.

“We need somebody that’s actually going to do something constructive to support the people of this country and the businesses in this country and the charities which are finding it really, really hard at the moment.

“Otherwise, you’re going to lose organisations that you will never get back and that would be a shame.”

The theme park was founded over a century ago by Charles Wicksteed, who made entry free as he was passionate about providing local families with a safe, green space to exercise and play.

Today, Wicksteed Park still does not charge for entry, however it has said that funds will need to be raised for this measure to continue.

Mr Wicksteed said introducing an entry fee would go “against what my great-grandfather wanted” and deal a blow to local residents in Kettering.

Head of fundraising Allison Waterhouse said the park has proposed a new scheme encouraging supporters to make monthly donations to help keep entry free.

She told The Express: “We’re reviewing what we’re asking at the moment and it’s really important to us to make it doable for everybody so that everybody can help and support us.

“Ideally, for us, we’d just love people to be able to donate anything they can but we will be looking at different amounts."

Managing director Kelly Richardson said the hikes to minimum wage have had a "huge" impact on the business.

She told the newspaper: “Sixteen to 17 year olds, the wage rate went up 18% in a year and in the last three years, it's over 60%.

“We cannot, as a business, charge our customers 60% more than we did a couple of years ago, and yet staff costs make up 50% of our cost base.

“Of course, we want to ensure everybody who works here has a fair wage, and that's massively important to us that our staff are supported and fairly remunerated for the work that they do, but the knock-on impact to us from a business perspective is it's an enormous cost.”

Addressing the challenges faced by Wicksteed Park, a Treasury spokesman said: “We are a pro-business government that has capped Corporation Tax at 25%, the lowest rate in the G7, we’re reforming business rates, have secured trade deals with the US, EU and India and have seen interest rates cut five times since the election, benefiting businesses in every part of Britain.

“The tax decisions we took at the Budget last year mean that we have been able to deliver on the priorities of the British people, from investing in the NHS to cutting waiting lists and putting more money in their pockets with a wage boost for millions.”

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