Eden Project Debts of £5million, Layoffs Threaten

PasturesNew

mystic_trev wrote: »

I believe Eden's run by the same people who run Heligan, which is far more interesting. My thoughts when I visited Eden, was that it's a bloody expensive way to show how to grow a pineapple!

Tim Smit did Heligan, then he did Eden.

He moved down, got involved with the Heligan lot and did some work there, then had his big vision ... so went off to get funding. Lot of that Euromoney grant stuff sloshing about at the time as Cornwall was one of the poorest regions of the whole of Europe (Objective One).

I think they put themselves on a pedestal and so never really tried to put on or accommodate stuff that'd bring people there. e.g. could have had Recycling Days (aka car boot sales) on quiet days in the car parks near the gate, or something. You have to get passing traffic to really do well. I bet many people on holiday drive past the end of the road and don't even realise. And I wonder how many pull in, park, see the prices and leave again.

molerat

wotsthat wrote: »

............. and the asset value ..............

Does a hole in the ground (without PP for housing) and a load of scrap material really have an "asset value" of £140M and how much of the "turnover" comes from sponsorship and grants ?

lostinrates

I have always wanted To go, watchig the building of it with huge excitment, but its too far and too expensive and i live in the sw! Just the fuel to get there is a f air bit!

I watc with great excitment every time there is a snippet on about it, but you know, here in the east of the south west, kew, wisely, and so many great gardens i will never see them all are closer in time and make more sense for a gardener like me to take inspiration from.

Still want to go though.

FTBFun

Kew Gardens is £13.90 for adults and children are free, and is in an expensive part of South London.

The cheapest Eden Project ticket is £19.55, £8 for kids, and is in Cornwall.

It couldn't possibly fail...

wotsthat

molerat wrote: »

Does a hole in the ground (without PP for housing) and a load of scrap material really have an "asset value" of £140M and how much of the "turnover" comes from sponsorship and grants ?

Personally I don't think so but that seems to be what they get away with for accounting purposes.

You'd only buy the Eden Project if you wanted to run it as, well, the Eden Project. The place is surrounded by plenty of land if you really wanted to buy countryside scarred by clay works and you wouldn't need to pay £140m for it.

It is a going concern and the losses aren't so bad but, as PN says, they need to do much more to make it visible and get other events happening. Lot's of tourists will drive past and not even know they missed it. If the economy in the south-west picks up it'll help it a lot.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

I have always wanted To go, watchig the building of it with huge excitment, but its too far and too expensive and i live in the sw! Just the fuel to get there is a f air bit!

I watc with great excitment every time there is a snippet on about it, but you know, here in the east of the south west, kew, wisely, and so many great gardens i will never see them all are closer in time and make more sense for a gardener like me to take inspiration from.

Still want to go though.

Well, take solace in the fact that 9/10 people seem to think it's rubbish

So, consider yourself a savvy gardener for not being sucked into believing it's THE place to be seen.

I think, to be fair, from memory .... there was some big/international live/televised Concert for Africa or something (about 2 years ago) - and I think Eden were the ONLY venue that actually used African bands.... although their slot was a bit of an afterthought on the telly.

vikingaero

The problem with Eden is that it is sustained by the hordes of coachtrippers on Wally Trolleys and Shearings coaches. Having tens of coaches descending on it every hour makes it a hideous experience for the average holiday maker. You park miles away, you queue in the rain to get in, and the biomes are packed to the rafters. We've been twice and don't ever feel the need to go again.

My friend who was converted from a walking Loaded man into a rambling vegan gets it. He liked sitting out amongst the sculptures and soaking up the atmosphere.

PasturesNew

FTBFun wrote: »

Kew Gardens is £13.90 for adults and children are free, and is in an expensive part of South London.

The cheapest Eden Project ticket is £19.55, £8 for kids, and is in Cornwall.

It couldn't possibly fail...

If you're just driving by, spot the sign and think "hey, let's go there", it's £23 for an adult and £9.50 for kids.

It's £19 if you walk - and I wonder how they'd know. The car park's a 5 minute walk away, how'd they know you walked there/not?

PasturesNew

vikingaero wrote: »

The problem with Eden is that it is sustained by the hordes of coachtrippers on Wally Trolleys and Shearings coaches. Having tens of coaches descending on it every hour makes it a hideous experience for the average holiday maker. You park miles away, you queue in the rain to get in, and the biomes are packed to the rafters. We've been twice and don't ever feel the need to go again.

My friend who was converted from a walking Loaded man into a rambling vegan gets it. He liked sitting out amongst the sculptures and soaking up the atmosphere.

Ah, I spot "mistake number 1", it's not a great place if it's raining as everybody has that thought .... in fact they often announce on local radio that "Due to the rain, the Eden's closed as it's already full"

Davesnave

We went last spring and enjoyed it, but it wasn't busy and we caught a good day. In fact, by 4pm, we almost had the tropical dome to ourselves and came close to doing something slightly naughty in the jungle house!

DW & I relate happily to a lot of stuff at Eden, so even if we just rubberneck, it takes all day, with a break by the car park for a picnic. Some of the landscape there has similarities with where we garden and that helps too. I don't think our opinion would be typical, though.

While I can't be arrised at this time of night to find out, I bet Eden has made smaller losses than the National Garden of Wales, which was always going to be a financial liability.

Edit: If Eden's too far west, check out Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens in Dorset. Much scope for fun & games and it has a beach......almost!