Memorandum submitted by Dome Europe
1. INTRODUCTION
Dome Europe is backed by Nomura International
plc's Principal Finance Group and is not part of any consortium.
Dome Europe's proposals have been drawn up in conjunction with
over 30 professional advisers, many of whom will continue to work
on the project.
Should we win the Dome Legacy Competition, Dome
Europe will manage and operate the Dome with a long-term, specially
recruited management team, which will work together with the Dome's
existing staff. Nomura's Principal Finance Group has a wealth
of experience and expertise in acquiring consumer facing businesses
and raising finance. Companies acquired and financed by the Principal
Finance Group employ more than 25,000 people and have an aggregate
annual turnover of more than £10 billion.
2. WHY BID
FOR THE
DOME?
Dome Europe believes in the Government's original
vision for the Dome and that its continuance as a leisure attraction
will offer the best way forward not only for the site and its
employees but also for the people of Greenwich and the Thames
Gateway. We are excited by the opportunities and challenges posed
by operating the Dome.
3. WHAT ARE
DOME EUROPE'S
CORE OBJECTIVES?
Dome Europe is committed to providing an enduring
legacy for the Millennium celebrations by taking the Dome forward
and offering the people of Britain a great leisure attraction.
We believe that Dome Europe will:
(i) Deliver fun, leisure and learning opportunities
to the greatest possible number of people.
(ii) Improve cultural appreciation in the
UK and enhance the quality of cultural experience on offer.
(iii) Positively contribute to our economic
life by promoting physical and economic regeneration.
(iv) Address the fundamental causes of social
exclusion through the provision of quality jobs and a commitment
to equal opportunities.
4. WHAT CAN
VISITORS EXPECT
FROM DOME
EUROPE?
Dome Europe will create a world-class urban
entertainment resort that celebrates the richness of European
culture. Visitors to Dome Europe will enjoy an electrifying entertainment
experience that they will want to visit again and again. Through
showmanship and groundbreaking interactive technology, Dome Europe
will engage the mind and senses in a breathtaking tour of the
fashions, innovations, food, traditions and arts of Europe past,
present and future.
5. HOW WILL
DOME EUROPE
MEET THE
NEEDS OF
A CULTURALLY
DIVERSE SOCIETY?
Dome Europe will create a spectrum of experiences
to suit all ages and interests. It will offer a fun day out for
children, exciting events throughout the year, a great place to
meet and relax, opportunities to learn and a resource for community
life—at a local, national and international level. Dome
Europe will offer competitively priced day tickets and season
tickets that will enable people to visit as often as they wish
and get the most out of the variety of attractions that Dome Europe
has to offer.
6. WHAT WILL
BE INSIDE
THE DOME?
Dome Europe will dramatically revitalise the
Dome, introducing compelling new attractions and revamping existing
successful features. Visitors will be welcomed into Dome Europe
through a bustling entrance with hosts and street performers who
will build anticipation and excitement. They will then enter the
three content areas that have been developed by Dome Europe's
partner HyperEntertainment—a company that has already delivered
successful leisure attractions in San Francisco, Tokyo and Berlin.
These areas comprise:
(i) "Tapestry of Life", a showcase
for all that Europe offers today. This will add to the existing
attractions by including a Hawkers' Market. Play Europe—a
one-acre indoor adventure garden—and a 2,500-seat amphitheatre
equipped to stage cultural events all year round.
(ii) "Celebrate Europe", Europe's
past seen through its art, literature, history and culture. This
will build on the existing attractions through the inclusion of
Music Box, a feature that will trace the history of European Rock
& Roll; The Beatles' Yellow Submarine Adventure—an interactive
attraction based on the classic '60s animated movie; Art Dome
a "virtual gallery" of digital art exhibits and Grimms'
Cottage—an exciting children's adventure ride.
(iii) The innovations, gadgets and science
of tomorrow will feature in the areas within "Imagine the
Future", in which the existing Home Planet attraction will
be enhanced with new special effects and extra informative elements,
Edge will contain a constantly updated showcase of the latest
in European technology and Airtight Garage will be a futuristic
playspace that includes the latest in multi-player interactive
games.
7. WILL DOME
EUROPE USE
THE ADDITIONAL
SPACE AROUND
THE DOME?
Dome Europe plans to develop a mix of leisure
and retail opportunities outside the Dome and to utilise land
up to the boundaries of the existing coach site. We are committed
to working in partnership with the London Borough of Greenwich
to achieve these objectives. Our plans are designed to complement
the masterplan for the Peninsula and offer full access to the
Dome's riverside views and walkway. They include:
(i) The development of three hotels.
(ii) A Greenwich Beach complex of themed
restaurants, music venues, performance spaces and specialist non-High
Street shopping outlets that are all open to non-Dome Europe pass
holders.
(iii) A residential development and office
space with the technological infrastructure for a variety of business
uses.
8. DOES DOME
EUROPE HAVE
AN E-COMMERCE
STRATEGY?
Dome Europe has developed an "online"
strategy that will open up the Dome to a worldwide audience. Using
Dome Europe's website, visitors will be able to pre-plan their
trips to the Dome, experience what is taking place at the Dome
and receive information on forthcoming events. The website will
also offer:
(i) A focus for e-learning, with links to
National Curriculum-approved content and a wide range of educational
materials for a European audience.
(ii) A focal point for Dome Europe's sponsors,
enabling them to engage and interact with an international audience
and gain feedback of new product ideas.
(iii) A great opportunity for web surfers
to play computer games based on Dome Europe's content with people
at the Dome and fellow surfers around the world.
(iv) A safe and secure way for people to
buy the products showcased at the Dome.
(v) An international chat room that enables
people to share their impressions of Dome Europe and voice their
ideas and opinions on European and community issues.
9. IS DOME
EUROPE'S
VISION ECONOMICALLY
SUSTAINABLE?
Dome Europe is backed by the successful track
record of Nomura International plc's Principal Finance Group.
Nomura International plc, the European entity of one of the world's
five largest global securities firms, will provide Dome Europe
with the financial stability and commitment to make its vision
a reality. Dome Europe is committed to investing at least £200
million over the next three years on content enhancements in order
to achieve:
(i) 5.7 million visits (including repeats)
per annum within three years.
(ii) Substantial sponsorship revenues from
a select group of global brands.
(iii) The development of successful commercial
ventures on the land immediately adjacent to the Dome.
Dome Europe believes that its clear vision,
talented management team and strong financial backing will ensure
that its plans are economically sustainable. In addition, it will
employ a strong marketing strategy designed to develop the Dome
Europe brand and to make it familiar throughout the world.
10. HOW WILL
DOME EUROPE
MEET THE
NEEDS AND
ASPIRATIONS OF
THE LOCAL
COMMUNITY?
Dome Europe believes in the concept of partnership
between business and the wider community in which it operates
and that this is a key factor in developing lasting and meaningful
initiatives and countering social exclusion.
To meet this requirement Dome Europe has invested
in an independent Community Audit (conducted by experts from the
University of Teesside) and held numerous meetings with community
groups in the area. In addition to sharing the findings of this
Audit with the Government's Social Exclusion Unit and relevantboroughs,
Dome Europe will fund and establish a Community Outreach Unit
(COU). This new unit will work with local stakeholders on strategies
to encourage:
(ii) The use and understanding of new technology.
(iv) Arts and leisure activities.
(v) Sustainable development and environmental
initiatives.
Dome Europe believes that the COU will make
a positive contribution to community life and give the Dome a
sustainable role in the lives of people in Greenwich and the Thames
Gateway.
11. HOW WILL
DOME EUROPE
ASSIST WITH
REGENERATION?
Dome Europe will sustain and enhance the momentum
of regeneration that has been built up over the past three years
because it will protect the existing jobs at the Dome and create
thousands of local job opportunities as it evolves over the coming
years. These jobs will fall in a variety of areas including management,
design, construction, software programming and the service sector.
Dome Europe is committed to sourcing many of these skills from
Greenwich and neighbouring boroughs and has agreed to continue
the Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB) initiative that
has already ensured jobs for over a thousand local people. Dome
Europe will not just provide jobs for an "elite group of
knowledge workers". Dome Europe will instead offer jobs covering
the widest possible range of skills and is committed to today's
equal opportunities agenda. We envisage that many jobs will also
be created in local businesses as a result of partnerships with
Dome Europe. This is a further example of how Dome Europe will
assist in countering social exclusion and the challenges faced
by local boroughs suffering from economic deprivation.
12. ARE DOME
EUROPE'S
PROPOSALS ENVIRONMENTALLY
SUSTAINABLE?
Dome Europe appreciates the great achievement
involved in taking a derelict, contaminated gasworks site and
from it creating a development that is now recognised across the
world as a model for the regeneration of brownfield sites. It
also applauds the integration of the new Jubilee Line extension
into the infrastructure of the Millennium Dome. Dome Europe is
pledged to maintain these and the other environmental initiatives
at the Dome and to expand upon them as it develops the site. It
will also continue with the existing emphasis on public transport
and work closely with the London Borough of Greenwich and Transport
for London to develop links to and from the Dome. Dome Europe
appreciates the pollution and traffic issues that are of concern
to the people of Greenwich and the Thames Gateway and will seek
to ensure that these problems are not exacerbated by its development
of the Millennium Dome site.
June 2000
| 
