[Brighton] i360 filing for administration

Official Old Man · Nov 30, 2024

Eeyore said:
I don't believe it can. It has poor positioning and, if you did fancy it, you would only go up there once. I used to work in Tower Point, so I enjoyed great views across town for 16 years.

I'm in the 'yes it could work' camp, but in the right hands. I looked up some figures and saw that the Pier took £25 million in 2022 but only £15 million in 2023. Proof alone that the town is dying. But when you look at those figures you have to also look at the fact they have 10 million visitors a year and loads of things for the visitors to spend money on. Be it a stick of £1 rock or a £25 wristband. And people come back year after year and spend that money.
Look also at the work being done at Madeira Drive. The zip wire has a huge presence with the Zip Deck. Packed daily although very few go on the wire. In a few years the length of Brighton Beach will be near on two miles of things to see and do. So the i360 needs something other than a tall lump of concrete. It needs a reason to go to that area, laugh and have fun, and spend a few £'s.

Not Andy Naylor · Nov 30, 2024

If they get new operators, they have to cut prices and maybe make it part of a ticket that also gives you admission to, perhaps, the zip wire and the upside-down house. It's poorly located because even if you're a local who would be interested in seeing Brighton from high up, you can't see the Pavilion or much at all (although I can see my house). Any talk of someone buying it and doing something else with the site (eg by Argus reporters) forgets that the land is owned by the West Pier Trust and the i360 pay them rent.

Sid and the Sharknados · Nov 30, 2024

Lyndhurst 14 said:
An earlier scheme which never got off the drawing board - Skydeck 1965

https://archives.parliament.uk/collections/getrecord/GB61_HC_CL_PB_6_plan1964_1965_3

View attachment 193127

I'm not sure that increasing the portion of the view occupied by empty sea would have helped the situation. :lolol:

Tom Hark Preston Park · Nov 30, 2024

Not Andy Naylor said:
If they get new operators, they have to cut prices and maybe make it part of a ticket that also gives you admission to, perhaps, the zip wire and the upside-down house. It's poorly located because even if you're a local who would be interested in seeing Brighton from high up, you can't see the Pavilion or much at all (although I can see my house). Any talk of someone buying it and doing something else with the site (eg by Argus reporters) forgets that the land is owned by the West Pier Trust and the i360 pay them rent.

I wouldn't trust the West Pier Trust as far as I could throw them. Self-serving ****s

Westdene Seagull · Nov 30, 2024

Herr Tubthumper said:
Some right miserable ****s on here. I like it and in the right hands it can be a success.

I suspect you're missing the point (purposely). A vast amount of those of us that objected to the i360 - and still do - do so more because of the risk to the taxpayer than the idea itself. It should have been privately funded without the council taking a gamble with OUR money. The original figures couldn't even pass even basic scrutiny but councillors were blinded by the idea itself and the shed loads of money they thought would roll into council coffers.

It's a great engineering feat but in the wrong part of the city. I didn't want it to fail - why would I as a local taxpayer ?

As an aside, and maybe this makes me a miserable ****, I went up it once - for free - and really couldn't see the great attraction. Would never have paid to ride it.

Westdene Seagull · Nov 30, 2024

Tom Hark Preston Park said:
I wouldn't trust the West Pier Trust as far as I could throw them. Self-serving ****s

Indeed. Rachel Clark the WPT CEO has made a tidy living of £70k a year for decades.

Herr Tubthumper · Nov 30, 2024

Westdene Seagull said:
I suspect you're missing the point (purposely). A vast amount of those of us that objected to the i360 - and still do - do so more because of the risk to the taxpayer than the idea itself. It should have been privately funded without the council taking a gamble with OUR money. The original figures couldn't even pass even basic scrutiny but councillors were blinded by the idea itself and the shed loads of money they thought would roll into council coffers.

It's a great engineering feat but in the wrong part of the city. I didn't want it to fail - why would I as a local taxpayer ?

As an aside, and maybe this makes me a miserable ****, I went up it once - for free - and really couldn't see the great attraction. Would never have paid to ride it.

I'm not missing the point at all. But the 50m is sunk cost :shrug:

. By all means complain about how the attraction was originally funded, but moving forward it will not help to resolve the current situation.

As an aside, and maybe this makes me a positive outlooking person, I went up it once - paid - and loved it although felt a bit giddy after a few too many of the Nyetimber they were selling.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Nov 30, 2024

Westdene Seagull said:
Indeed. Rachel Clark the WPT CEO has made a tidy living of £70k a year for decades.

Saw her once on a Brighton edition of Salvage Hunters flogging off the West Pier's heritage by the pound. And that other one, the guy in the anorak? Every time another bit of the pier fell into the sea he'd be interviewed on the beach, smugly chortling about how they had all the bits in storage and how they could rebuild it. That went about as well as you'd expect. Abhorrent leeches

Han Solo · Nov 30, 2024

Sid and the Sharknados said:
I'm not sure that increasing the portion of the view occupied by empty sea would have helped the situation.

Maybe not a thrilling ride for those expecting water in the sea but for everyone else it should be value for money.

jcdenton08 · Nov 30, 2024

It was just so frivolous when the money could’ve been put to such better use.

Paulie Gualtieri · Nov 30, 2024

Han Solo said:
Tear it down so I don't have to pretend to want to ride it when I come and visit. Monuments that scream "you're a tourist, give me all your money" are rarely as successful as cities and countries hope.

Agree, the ferris wheel in Dam square isn’t even in the top 10 of attractions ridden.

OzMike · Dec 1, 2024

Half the entry fee and double the profits.
Too expensive.

GingerBeerMan · Dec 1, 2024

OzMike said:
Half the entry fee and double the profits.
Too expensive.

Assuming demand is perfectly price elastic, which I imagine it isn't.

AK74 · Friday at 10:05 AM

Closed.

Brighton i360 closes

The Brighton i360 has closed, with staff called to a meeting today (Friday 20 December) to her the news. They

www.brightonandhovenews.org

birthofanorange · Friday at 10:08 AM

AK74 said:
Closed.

Brighton i360 closes

The Brighton i360 has closed, with staff called to a meeting today (Friday 20 December) to her the news. They

www.brightonandhovenews.org

Nice for the staff, just days before Christmas.

zeetha · Friday at 10:28 AM

Feel sorry for the staff as they aren't going to get paid. So many of us said from the very beginning it was never going to work. An expensive folly that we'll all be paying for for years!

jackalbion · Friday at 10:45 AM

I worked the opening day, and it was quite clear then the business plan was incredibly flawed. Paid me quite well mind, but it was a bit of a car crash opening. Doesn't surprise me that this has happened, fun place to work down there, made lots of friends (who I think have all now left), and there was always some entertaining nut job hanging around that part of the beach. I used to take the piss a lot there really, and probably did about 60% of my shifts hungover, and in the world's worst name drop, I served Conor Coady in there once. Shame for the workers that they have such uncertainty before Christmas. Only Greggs to go under now and it'll be a clean sweep of my former employers, having been in administration.

Tom Hark Preston Park · Friday at 10:55 AM

Meanwhile the West Pier Trust just flogged off some more of the town's heritage:

'Visit Brighton’s West Pier Centre on Saturday 14th December between 10-2pm for a sale of special key artefacts from the original West Pier. These are beautiful and unique cast iron pieces with some minor damage. There is a limited selection available. This is a chance to own unique elements of Brighton’s most beloved and iconic seaside structure.'

Utterly shameful :nono:

Sale of special key artefacts from the West Pier - 14th December 2024 - West Pier Trust

Visit Brighton's West Pier Centre on Saturday 14th December between 10-2pm for a sale of special key artefacts from the original West Pier. These are

www.westpier.co.uk

Official Old Man · Friday at 10:56 AM

Sums up the entire operation that they close down with a days notice and no 'staff' get paid. Bet all those above the workers get their Christmas bonus.

Pevenseagull · Friday at 11:11 AM

In fairness to The West Pier Trust they do arrange some absolutely fascinating events.

Socks and Sandals: Fashion faux-pas or political statement? - 18th September 2025 - West Pier Trust

This talk examines a much-ridiculed aspect of British seaside dress. More than an unfashionable solution to the vagaries of the weather, however, wearing

www.westpier.co.uk

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[Brighton] i360 filing for administration

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