Prison bosses to expand empire
Operators of prison tours at Shrewsbury's Dana Prison are expanding by taking on another two redundant jails.
Jailhouse tours says it is using its successful model at the Dana for two prisons in the West Country.
It has just signed a deal to take over former HMP Shepton Mallet in Somerset and former HMP Gloucester.
Both prisons will be opened to the public as temporary heritage-led tourist attractions, after a deal was reached between Jailhouse Tours and the site owners City & Country.
The company will lease both sites on a temporary basis from next month while City & Country continue plans to convert the prisons.
Both prisons will open to the public on April 29 and stay open throughout the summer.
Since taking over Shrewsbury prison, Jailhouse Tours has employed 12 staff and welcomed more than 55,000 visitors in its first year.
Apart from the prison tours, the operators have introduced a number of other events including live music every Friday night, heritage tours, zombie runs, overnight sleepovers and a Prison Escape event, where customers have five hours to break out of the prison.
Other events running at the prison include cell escape, prison experience, history days, outdoor cinema, corporate training days, private tours, night tours and educational visits.
Joel Campbell, owner of The Campbell Group which owns and operates Jailhouse Tours said: "I am thrilled we have been able to reach an agreement with City & Country. We have been in discussions for a number of months and are very pleased to now have a lease in place.
"Both prisons have a long history and have seen hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of prisoners pass through their gates over the last four centuries. They hide both stories and secrets behind their imposing walls.
"My team and I have been working very hard at Shrewsbury prison for the past two years and have developed it into an extremely popular tourist destination. We plan to replicate this success at both Shepton Mallet and Gloucester prisons and are very excited about getting the sites open to the public and sharing the history and heritage within their walls.
"The next stage is to recruit around eight members of staff for each site including tour guides and customer service assistants. We are currently working to an open date of April 29."
Jailhouse Tours took over the former HMP Shrewsbury, also known as the Dana, in 2015 with a view to operating it as a heritage led tourism attraction. It was an idea that was spawned from an unsuccessful bid to buy HM Shepton Mallet when it was put on the market in 2013.
