THE story so far. Spikey-haired Frenchman wins over cynical Brits with his valiant efforts to save the Dome. Embarks on new career developing UK chain of ski slope and leisure centres. Meets demure English television presenter. After long courtship, pops the question.

And today PY Gerbeau ties the knot with Kate Sanderson, the Five news reader. Guests at the civil service in Westminster (it is Gerbeau’s second time round) include Philippe Bourguignon, his former boss at Euro Disney, and Bob Ayling, the former Dome chairman.

The happy couple then fly to Mauritius for their honeymoon. But even as Gerbeau is saying “oui”, his fellow countrymen will almost certainly be delivering a resounding “non”. Or so the polls suggest.

Gerbeau, 40 in October, still cuts the same likeable, crumple-suited figure. He bounds into the reception of his office near Buckingham Palace like an excited labrador. He scampers into his office, dislodging the wedding suit hanging behind the door.

The badge on his jacket reads: X-Leisure. He sips from a mug marked P-Y-G. “It was love at first sight,” he says, recalling his first meeting with Sanderson, 36, at a seminar in Paris.

“We dated for two and a half years.”

We meet halfway through the week, with his stag weekend behind him — golf (PY is a scratch golfer) and a relaxed meal in Chelsea — and the nuptials looming. The thought of being away from the office for so long terrifies him. “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve taken more than ten days’ holiday,” he says. “But Kate’s allowing me to take my BlackBerry.”

But if romance has helped to moderate the Frenchman’s workaholic streak, it has done little to temper his outspoken views. He has misgivings about the European referendum and its implications for business in Europe.

Gerbeau wants no part in a federal Europe. Of tomorrow’s French vote on the European constitution, he says: “I’m going to say ‘no’ big time. A federal Europe frightens me beyond belief.”

He cites the worst practices in France, where unions, taxation and the 35-hour week have, he says, crippled business. “The only way to run Europe is to make it more liberal and more attractive to external investment and to entrepreneurs. Ninety per cent of my friends who are in the same kind of corporate rescue/entrepreneur line of work are moving to this country or to the US.

“In France, you start a business, you try to turn it around, and by the time you pay tax, you’re bust. There’s no encouragement for you to create your own business.”

He favours a Europe united on issues of business and defence but retaining individual cultural identities. “I think the federal Europe will fail because it will never be the United States of Europe.

“You’re never going to say to a Spaniard that he has to behave like a Frenchman, or an Italian like a German.”

Suffice to say that Gerbeau will not be returning to live in France in a hurry. After wrapping up his work at the Dome (“our lovely tent”, as he calls it) he contemplated moving to America, but wanted to stay within reach of his daughter, now aged 9. She lives with her mother near Disneyland Paris, where Gerbeau worked before taking the Dome job.

He hints that politicians made it difficult for him to land another high-profile job in the UK. With his association with the Dome, he was “a constant reminder of their nightmare”. Yet he eventually took a call from Capital & Regional, a leisure and property group.

Capital & Regional wanted Gerbeau to sort out one of its less-successful assets — the Snow Dome artificial ski slope in Milton Keynes. He almost hung up when he heard the “D” word — “I told them I don’t do ‘dome’ anymore” — but was persuaded to take a crack at turning the venture round.

Gerbeau became chief executive of X-Leisure, a subsidiary of Capital & Regional, with Xscape as its flagship brand.

Five years on, Xscape in Milton Keynes combines snow, climbing walls, bowling lanes, multi-screen cinema and restaurants. It attracted 6 million visitors last year — the same number who visited the Dome in Greenwich.

A second Xscape opened in Leeds last autumn and is already Yorkshire’s biggest visitor attraction. “We’ve taken a bit of Disney, a bit of Dome, things we’ve learnt along the way. We humbly believe we could have seven or eight Xscapes around the country.”

Despite dismissing himself as a “short, fat and ugly” Frenchman, Gerbeau is no fool when it comes to leisure developments. He has learnt from the mistakes made at Euro Disney and the Dome.

Theme park attractions age quickly and need to be refreshed at huge expense. X-Leisure gets around this by acting as landlord and finding operators to run the attractions.

It is all pretty much what Gerbeau would have done with the Dome, had the politicians not blocked him. “Our concept for the Dome was a 20,000-seat multi-sport, multi-entertainment theatre with retail and leisure around it,” he says. “Instead of the theatre we have the snow slope and cinema complex. Each attracts a million visitors a year, which is a good solid base for attracting the right operators.”

As his 40th birthday draws near, Gerbeau no longer feels compelled to work every hour of the day. “I’ve always thought that the more you worked, the more successful you would be,” he says. “I’ve learnt that it is more important to be focused and fresh. You don’t have to work 15 hours a day to be a proper leader.”

But old habits die hard. Especially for a Frenchman.

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