The Battles have built up a £17m-turnover Christmas world which attracts celebrities including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Idris Elba, the Beckhams, Andy Murray, and the Royal Family.

 

 

 

Christmas lasts all year for Mike and Alison Battle. The married couple start planning their festivities every January and meet Father Christmas “hundreds of times” throughout December. Christmas shopping never ends: they buy festive props at antique fairs and antiquarian book sales year-round for their annual immersive experience, Lapland UK.

 

It’s not to be mistaken for the so-bad-they’re-funny winter wonderlands, with expensive tickets to view limply-strung fairy lights and plastic polar bears in a muddy field triggering complaints. The Battles’ £60-plus-per-head extravaganza has been running for 15 years, with attendees including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, the Beckhams, Andy Murray, and “most of the British royalty, including the Duke and Duchess of Wales – who insisted on a standard tour with other families just like them.”

 

The LaplandUK business hit a £17.2 million turnover this year, selling out of all 160,000 tickets for its six-week run in one day in March.

 

 

“Christmas was always a seminal moment in the calendar,” says Mike, who like Alison is 57. “When our four boys [now aged between 25 and 30] were little, they’d write to Father Christmas, and Alison would write back, telling them of his magical world.” At the time, Alison was working as a primary school teacher, whilst Mike was a hedge fund manager.

 

The family went Santa-hunting each year. “But we could not find an experience that reflected how important this moment was to us. All the grottos, shopping malls, garden centres and ‘Santa’ experiences we visited lacked scale, storytelling and frankly, believability. Father Christmas wouldn’t even know our boys’ names. Even a trip to Lapland in Finland itself left us wanting. As parents we started thinking that if we could create something truly special that we would have loved for our own sons here in the UK, hopefully other families would love it too.”ove it too.”

The Battles have built up a £17m-turnover Christmas world which attracts celebrities including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Idris Elba, the Beckhams, Andy Murray, and the Royal Family.

 

Christmas lasts all year for Mike and Alison Battle. The married couple start planning their festivities every January and meet Father Christmas “hundreds of times” throughout December. Christmas shopping never ends: they buy festive props at antique fairs and antiquarian book sales year-round for their annual immersive experience, Lapland UK.

It’s not to be mistaken for the so-bad-they’re-funny winter wonderlands, with expensive tickets to view limply-strung fairy lights and plastic polar bears in a muddy field triggering complaints. The Battles’ £60-plus-per-head extravaganza has been running for 15 years, with attendees including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, the Beckhams, Andy Murray, and “most of the British royalty, including the Duke and Duchess of Wales – who insisted on a standard tour with other families just like them.”

The LaplandUK business hit a £17.2 million turnover this year, selling out of all 160,000 tickets for its six-week run in one day in March.

“Christmas was always a seminal moment in the calendar,” says Mike, who like Alison is 57. “When our four boys [now aged between 25 and 30] were little, they’d write to Father Christmas, and Alison would write back, telling them of his magical world.” At the time, Alison was working as a primary school teacher, whilst Mike was a hedge fund manager.

The family went Santa-hunting each year. “But we could not find an experience that reflected how important this moment was to us. All the grottos, shopping malls, garden centres and ‘Santa’ experiences we visited lacked scale, storytelling and frankly, believability. Father Christmas wouldn’t even know our boys’ names. Even a trip to Lapland in Finland itself left us wanting. As parents we started thinking that if we could create something truly special that we would have loved for our own sons here in the UK, hopefully other families would love it too.”