[Brighton] i360 filing for administration

[knocky1]

It will be interesting to be reminded of the safeguards regarding the loan and where the money actually came from. I seem to recall the money was actually borrowed from the government.

Borrowed from the Government's PWLB (Public Works Loan Board?). The debt remains Brighton Council's. Not big enough for bankruptcy.

 

[A1X]

I don’t really understand how this has failed when the likes off the Spinnaker Tower haven’t (it can’t be the views, Brighton is much nicer to look at than Portsmouth)

Surely it could be made to work somehow?

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

I don’t really understand how this has failed when the likes off the Spinnaker Tower haven’t (it can’t be the views, Brighton is much nicer to look at than Portsmouth)

Surely it could be made to work somehow?

Operating costs and visitor numbers must be the two main factors?

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Should move it to Falmer and make it a retractable north upper tier?

Could market it as the “no ceiling” experience?

...and it would be a good base to create a zipline back into the city to reduce the train queues

The Jack Stephenson Kiss of Death falls itself upon another one of my former workplaces.

When do Southern lose their franchise?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

It's a sad day for our city. Rightly or wrongly, we hitched ourselves to this project working. We should all be wishing it well, even if you were far sighted enough to predict this in advance. In my mind the people behind the project had a credible track record and I understand the reasons why the council at the time decided the risk was worth taking

And it's all very well saying we should rebuilt the west pier. Who should rebuild the west pier? Is there a private funding source lining up to do this? Or are we saying the tax payer should be doing this? Not every option is always on the table

As someone with businesses on Brighton seafront and knowing most who have the shops along the prom, we knew when we saw the paperwork years before it was built that it would never work.
They based their figures on 10 million visitors to Brighton every year - correct
But they then said a percentage would want to go on the i360 - correct
What they didn't realise is that of the 10 million, 6 million come every year. Therefor by year 4 the % of new visitors who had not been on the i360 was low.
Next is the 'exit through the gift shop' and this is my expert department. They sold nothing that showed Brighton. Everything was British Airways i360 when tourists want Brighton Rock and Gifts. Look at the Cafe/Restaurant, it was never used. Again there are bars along the prom with standing room only and they have high prices, but the prices at the cafe were beyond expensive.
Next are the small arches along the prom. i360 had a deal with the council that these shops could not sell any items sold at the i360, no gifts or bars or cafes.
We all knew it was doomed from day one.
But now the West Pier. There were plans to rebuild it but the council said it must not be a fun fair style pier similar to the Brighton Pier. So nothing that makes money!
Whilst I'm in the mood, the town as a tourist attraction is dying. Unreliable and expensive trains, £35 a day car park if you can even get into town, roads congested all the time and so expensive once you're here. Hotels charging £200+ a night mean people aren't staying the week as they used to.
But would I want the i360, oh yes. In the correct hands, people who know the seafront tourist business, it can make a lot of money. Sadly though, not the £millions it cost to build and is still oweing. If it sold freehold debt free for £20 million it would be a good business. Remember the Brighton Pier sold for £50 million a few years ago and they make money but have a lot more to offer.

*** cough *** It's the PALACE Pier !!!!!!!

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Stick an engine on the bottom and sell it to Musk.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

It needs re-purposing somehow and god knows into what. As with the Millennium Dome that started with some arty farty purpose and then found its feet as the concert venue.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Space for a new Stadium there?

 

[MattBackHome]

Turn it into a vape shop or Turkish barbers, job done

 

[Triggaaar]

More than the stupidity of the i360 idea I was more pissed off that one of the conditions was they had to close the big wheel by the Palace pier. Now that we went on several times.

What about the wheel made you want to keep returning?

 

[kevo]

But now the West Pier. There were plans to rebuild it but the council said it must not be a fun fair style pier similar to the Brighton Pier. So nothing that makes money!

To be (fun)fair, what would be the point of making it a rival to the Palace Pier? The West Pier could really work if it was a location for chic and hip bars and restaurants, with views of the sunset etc. It could be fantastic.

 

[Easy 10]

Borrowed from the Government's PWLB (Public Works Loan Board?). The debt remains Brighton Council's. Not big enough for bankruptcy.

But big enough for the maximum permitted hike in council tax rates, no doubt.

 

[Pevenseagull]

I don’t really understand how this has failed when the likes off the Spinnaker Tower haven’t (it can’t be the views, Brighton is much nicer to look at than Portsmouth)

Surely it could be made to work somehow?

The views are much more interesting at the Spinnaker.

You can spend a couple of hours there, spending money.

It's also the best thing for tourists to do in the area.

 

[stewart12]

You mean the tower from which you can see, on a good day, an expanse of water and the tops of buildings isn't a massive money spinner?

I always felt that a major problem with it was that very, very few people would ever go on it a second time

Once people have seen the top of the Metropole and the vague outline of the Isle of Wight they're unlikely to want to do it again. So in essence the audience is quite limited

 

[The Fifth Column]

Before it was built I don't recall a single local person I know suggesting it was going to be anything other than a financial failure and huge white elephant and here we are all proven correct. Imagine, we could have had a fully restored Marine Parade arches and total regeneration of the seafront for the money wasted on a completely pointless tourist attraction that failed to attract anywhere near the numbers of tourists required, the view from the top is boring, uninspiring and a total letdown. Pull the stupid thing down as it will never make enough money to maintain itself.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Textbook sunk cost fallacy.

 

[pigmanovich]

Stick an engine on the bottom and sell it to Musk.

Or forget the engine and he'll just turn it into this:

 

[dejavuatbtn]

To be (fun)fair, what would be the point of making it a rival to the Palace Pier? The West Pier could really work if it was a location for chic and hip bars and restaurants, with views of the sunset etc. It could be fantastic.

The two piers worked well together for decades and kept each other on their toes. When there was talk of public funding to help the West pier out the owners of the palace pier got the arse over it. Oh how Brighton and its infrastructure have been mismanaged in the past 40+ years.
The i360 is probably worth more as scrap but will cost millions more to pull down now Fred Dibnah’s gone.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

In my mind the people behind the project had a credible track record and I understand the reasons why the council at the time decided the risk was worth taking

And it's all very well saying we should rebuilt the west pier. Who should rebuild the west pier? Is there a private funding source lining up to do this? Or are we saying the tax payer should be doing this? Not every option is always on the table

A credible track record ? Putting aside the council, Barfields Architects were the main organisation involved in Brighton i360 Ltd ( in partnership with the West Pier Trust ). Neither organisation had ever run a tourist attraction. Barfields were close to bankrupt when they were awarded the contract by the council. Suddenly they earn millions.

This debacle shows :

1. Councillors and council employees should never tread where private enterprise should be - they are not skilled enough to run this type of thing. Equally, private enterprise refused to fund it .... errrr ..... RED FLAG !

2. The business case was a complete bunch of fairy tales yet idiots fell for it. I'd direct you to some posts by @The Large One but it appears he's had his account deleted so finding the posts is difficult ( or possibly impossible if he also asked for his posts to be deleted as well ).

3. Councillors should be personally financially liable for agreeing these sort of projects. I'm sure Theobald hasn't lost his mansion on Dyke Road and that Kitcat is doing well for himself after he ran away from the mess he created

 

[Brovion]

What about the wheel made you want to keep returning?

We treated it as part of the pier. Go to the seafront, go on the wheel, go on the pier, go on the amusements, go on the ghost train, have fish and chips, etc. Part of a family day out.