COMPANY TOWN : Universal Studios Replaces Theme Park Chief

Universal Studios Inc.’s top theme park executive was replaced Wednesday, after slightly more than two years on the job, with a 29-year company veteran who has been responsible for much of the company’s growth in Florida.

Universal said Cathy Nichols, a management consultant recruited to run the division in 1997 amid an executive shake-up, is resigning to pursue unspecified interests.

She is being replaced by Tom Williams, a respected theme park executive who was president and chief executive of Universal Studios Escape in Orlando. Williams, who will remain based in Orlando, will hold the title of chief executive of Universal Studios Recreation Group.

Sources said the move came amid tensions and personality clashes within the division, and also in part because of tensions with the British leisure company Rank Group. Rank is Universal’s partner in Florida and in a theme park being built in Japan.

But in an interview, Williams downplayed any disagreements with Rank, saying, “I don’t think there have been any tensions that would be outside the normal course of a partnership relationship.”

Past and current Universal executives were critical from the start of naming Nichols to the post because, as a longtime consultant with McKinsey & Co., she lacked operational theme park experience.

Nichols was hired when former theme park chief Ron Bension was forced out of the job shortly after Universal was acquired by Seagram Co., a move that exacerbated the bitter feelings between current and former top Universal executives.

The Nichols departure adds yet another name to the list of senior executives brought in by Seagram who left or were fired. Others include former Universal CEO Frank Biondi and such top executives as Howard Weitzman and Sandy Climan.

In a statement, Universal thanked Nichols for her contributions, including the launch of Universal Studios Escape.

The appointment of Williams drew praise from director Steven Spielberg, who, as a creative consultant, wields considerable clout with Universal’s theme park division, which has developed some of its major attractions around Spielberg films. He said he has successfully collaborated with Williams for years.