Pleasurewood Hills sold by The Looping Group

In my blog about the Cannonball Express a little while back I mentioned that I didn’t think Pleasurewood Hills had many years left before it closed but its fortune might have changed with today’s news.

It has been announced that The Looping Group who have owned the park since 2011 have sold the park to Premier Attractions Ltd who largely operate on the travelling ride scene but are based in Manchester. Premier Attractions Ltd are registered in Manchester and have 3 directors, all of whom are part of the Stokes family. The firm have been listed with companies house since 2017.

Looping Group Investments

Whilst nothing noticeable has come to Pleasurewood Hills for a long time The Looping Group has refurbished the parks main roller coasters and invested in updating the decor of a number of rides throughout the park. It was however, noted by Theme Park Worldwide during their summer 2025 visit that a lot of landscaping and weeding had been ignored and the park wasn’t looking its tidiest.

The park also reported losses of £340,000 in 2024 meaning that Premier Attractions are going to have their work cut-out to make Pleasurewood Hills a profitable park during a tricky time for the industry.

What does Pleasurewood Hills need?

I grew up coming to Pleasurewood Hills and a number of their classic rides such as the dark Fairytale ride and Aladdin boat ride have long gone. In addition to that, the Castle Theatre which once held a Noel’s House Party show starring Mr Blobby has been looking tired for a long time.

Whilst The Looping Group have done a good job at refurbishing the rides in the park such as the new Wipeout Trains and the full refurbishments of Eggspress (always The Rattlesnake to me) and Marble Madness the park is in desperate need of a new major investment.

This is in stark contrast to Drayton Manor which The Looping Group have heavily invested in with new rides and is in a fantastic state at the moment…for this reason the sale of Pleasurewood Hills isn’t surprising and, if I’m being honest, I was expecting a permanent closure!

But…

Is a company with experience in fairs and seasonal attractions best placed for a theme park?

I guess the answer to that remains to be seen but if Pleasurewood Hills is going to survive and thrive it needs to be a ‘themed park’ and not a fair. I remember during the early 2000’s when it would have a number of very temporary looking rides and it just wasn’t a good look.

The park have teased that changes are coming on their social media and I hope it’ll be some major investment, a GCI family wooden coaster would be perfect for the park and wouldn’t look temporary.

It’s also worth noting that the parks major coaster The Cannonball Express is old, down to one train and probably on borrowed time.

What next?

We wait. I doubt Premier Attractions would take on the park unless they had plans to try and grow and develop the park and I really hope they can do great things with it. I wish them luck with whatever they do and hope it’ll be enough to persuade me to visit in the future…especially as technically it’s my closest park!