John Collins with his OBE, awarded in 2011.

Obituary: John Collins OBE

The grandson of Pat Collins, who started his career in the family business at Barry Island and went on to work with a number of leading theme parks, died last month at the age of 81.

Born in March 1943, John Collins ran Barry Island Pleasure Park together with his brother Patrick from 1966 to 1984, taking over the reins from their father John Snr. Rides from the seaside park in South Wales would also make appearances at backend fairs including Nottingham Goose Fair.

Under John’s watch, attractions such as a themed log flume and the Wacky Goldmine were developed together with John Wardley, then a budding actor and producer of special effects. The two would work together again at the Tussauds Group, transforming Chessington Zoo into Chessington World of Adventures.

Charged with developing a theme park business for Tussauds, John followed up the acquisition of Chessington with Alton Towers, where Wardley would go on to create iconic attractions including Nemesis.

Thorpe Park was later added to the group, making it an attractive purchase years later for a fledgling Merlin Entertainments on its journey from operator of the London Dungeon and Sea Life centres to becoming the world’s second largest attraction operator.

With Tussauds and Anheuser-Busch (the former operator of Busch Gardens in the USA), John was also instrumental in the creation of PortAventura in Spain, now one of Europe’s leading theme parks. Over the years, he also had interests in a number of smaller attractions, as well as serving as a non-executive director of Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

John described attending his first IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions) convention in Chicago in 1966 as a “life changing moment”. In 2002, he became global chairman of the association, having already helped establish a European office in Brussels and was later inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame.

In 2011, he was appointed president of BALPPA, the British Association of Leisure Parks Piers & Attractions. That same year he was awarded an OBE for services to leisure and tourism.

John was also the founder of Association of Welsh Tourist Attractions, as well as advisor to Leisure Development Partners, the consultancy co-founded by his son Michael Collins. Michael is the only child of John and his wife Cherie, who passed away this July.

“John Collins was an industry legend and a true gentleman,” said BALPPA chief executive Paul Kelly. “He was a great support to BALPPA for many years and actively served on our management committee. John will be greatly missed by all of us at BALPPA and indeed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.”

Cllr Anthony Harris, Mayor of Walsall, who acquired the Pat Collins Fun Fairs name with the family’s blessing in 1984, told World’s Fair he and John would refer to each other as cousins. “He was always very supportive of what we did and proud of his roots in the business”, he said. “John was a great networker and ambassador for the industry. I’m shocked that he’s gone.”

John Collins with his OBE, awarded in 2011.
John Collins with his OBE, awarded in 2011.

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