Tussauds finds new chief as rival firm lures Varney

Tussauds Group head of corporate marketing Nick Varney has resigned to become managing director of leisure company competitor Vardon Attractions.

Varney will be replaced by Jill Britton, divisional director of marketing at Tussaud’s-owned Alton Towers.

Britton will remain in her role at the theme park until next January to see through the first stages of the Alton Towers Hotel, due to open next spring.

The 175-bedroom hotel, in which the group has invested 12m, will make the theme park the first in the UK to offer its own overnight facilities.

“This is a flagship aiming to attract people who think we are too far away,” says Britton.

The group is also planning to develop further attractions in the Far East and in the US. It is believed to be looking at property on 42nd Street in New York.

Vardon Attractions includes Sea Life Centres, and London and York Dungeons.