Water park sale options explored as owner enters administration

Benchmark Leisure Limited, the owner of the Alpamare waterpark in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, has fallen into administration. A potential sale of the waterpark is reportedly being considered, but administrators have said the process remains in its early stages.

Alpamare, located in Scarborough’s North Bay, reportedly became the UK’s largest waterpark when it opened in 2016. The project cost approximately £14 million and was partly funded through a £9 million loan from Scarborough Council.

North Yorkshire Council took over responsibility for this loan from Scarborough Council in April 2023. Benchmark is reported to still owe £7.8 million of the loan to North Yorkshire Council and concerns have been raised by local authorities over the debt.

Alpamare has been heavily impacted by rising costs, with Benchmark announcing in October 2023 that the park would temporarily close until spring 2024 in order to “carry out essential maintenance and improve energy efficiency.”

Benchmark said that the park was “unable to continue trading through the winter due to the ongoing high costs associated with our business (including the very high cost of energy needed to heat our facilities and pools in the winter).”

Reports have claimed that energy bills for the park, which has both outdoor and indoor pools, had roughly trebled amid widespread rising energy costs across the UK. The park features two outdoor pools overlooking the North Sea, a large wave pool and several long water slides, all of which were heated to 34 degrees.

James Snowden and Liam Short of Macintyre Hudson have been appointed as joint administrators to the company. The joint administrators have said that the company’s situation is “complex” and that a number of options, including a possible sale of the park, are under consideration, but added that the process is still in its “early days”.

The joint administrators said that they would hold talks with the council over the situation and, regarding a potential sale, said: “It’s possible that the position can be resolved, but there are quite a few things that need to happen that are not necessarily under our direct control at the minute.”

Alpamare has a capacity of around 3,000 people per day and was designed to complement other attractions in Scarborough, with hopes that it could attract around 500,000 people per year. The park said it registered a record attendance of more than 145,000 people in 2019 and had turnover of around £2.4 million.

In Benchmark Leisure’s accounts for the year to June 30 2022, its non-current assets were valued at close to £9.7 million and current assets at £1.2 million. However, the firm’s current liabilities at the time amounted to £15.8 million, with net liabilities of £5.3 million.


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