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Some may remember when BA sponsored the Brighton attraction, the i360 on the sea front.
Fortuitously, they backed out a few years back.
Attraction now closed, immediately..over 100 staff laid off days before Christmas.
Green Party spent over £30 million, and left it to the incoming Labour party. Brighton council now in debt to the tune of £50+ million.
At the time, locals were dead against it, waste of money and an eye sore. And did it attract the tourists ? Not enough.
Blame game now underway.Green Party spent over £30 million
Not quite correct. The original loan was £36m.
It was a complicated arrangement where the council got the loan from the Public Works Loan Board at a low interest rate to lend to the i360 at a higher rate. The council would then use the difference between the two rates to invest in improving the sea front infrastructure.
But more importantly the loan of that sum was only voted through because the Tories voted with the Greens. The Greens never had a majority on the Council and could never have pushed this through on their own.
Fair enough for the input. Regardless, Brighton council left with the problem.
That’s a shame. I enjoyed it a few times.
I was going to say how come councils can’t run anything for profit, then I read about 100 people employed there…
@Can2 the council didn’t run it.
It was owned and run by a private company headed by Julia Barfield who along with her late partner (David Marks) designed the thing (they also designed the London Eye).
So the council lent the millions to them based on what?
I understand the wishful thinking about benefiting from the difference in interest rates, but it sounds like dumb risk taking behaviour.
Its actually quite a nice attraction and well done with gift shop, food and drink and corporate events areas.
Does it work on a subsidy or self contained?Staffing costs would be a big part to play.
Brighton is such a great city. Projects like this deserve to be a success. And it would be a shame to see it lay unused and become derelict
I liked i360 too. But it didn’t feel special. It’d hardly bring back any visitor. You ride it once, that’s it.
@can2 – based on over ambitious estimates of visitor numbers then even after they were toned down were in the reality of it still over ambitious.
@londoner_the – it was owned and operated by a commercial company. No subsidy from the council (or anyone)£18.50 for a better view of an ugly offshore windfall? I can’t understand why it failed.
Perhaps it wasn’t subsidised, but according to the BBC the Council is now owed more than £50M by the owners of the “attraction”
@AlexG
As I’ve written above there was a loan from the council to the i360 company on a commercial basis.
@AlexG
As I’ve written above there was a loan from the council to the i360 company on a commercial basis.
I wonder if it was operationally loss making, or cash positive but couldn’t make the repayments? I’ve had a fun ride on it, and wouldn’t even rule out doing it again if it reopens.
How can they be owed £50m from a £36m loan? Didn’t make a single payment there accruing interest and penalties?
If they did then they didn’t pay the council the a sum against the principal plus interest over the years? I can’t believe it would be lent on interest only basis
I feel like this is one of those stories where someone is making up numbers.
How can they be owed £50m from a £36m loan? Didn’t make a single payment there accruing interest and penalties?
Missed payments and a further loan it seems:
https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2024/12/20/failed-i360-leaves-legacy-of-debt-until-2041/A further loan to an organisation that can’t make the payments on the first? that seems wildly optimistic — and I guess means finding a buyer to run it as a going concern is going to be very hard.
This shitshow summarises a lot of things that go wrong in this country’s purse.
A further loan to an organisation that can’t make the payments on the first? that seems wildly optimistic — and I guess means finding a buyer to run it as a going concern is going to be very hard.
The £4m wasn’t a further loan. The Local Enterprise Partnership also loaned £4m and that was novated over to the council a few years ago for various reasons that were supposed to be beneficial to all parties.
@TGLoyalty – unfortunatly the numbers haven’t been made up. And yes over the last couple of years the i360 hasn’t been able to pay the interest on the loan to the council.Did it once – reasonable experience but wouldn’t do it again. Not a lot to see from what I remember – compare London Eye which I’ve enjoyed numerous times.
No idea what the maintenance costs are, but they could possibly continue to operate on certain days/seasonally or hire it our for corporate stuff. Obviously once the debt has been written off…
Did it once – reasonable experience but wouldn’t do it again. Not a lot to see from what I remember – compare London Eye which I’ve enjoyed numerous times.
No idea what the maintenance costs are, but they could possibly continue to operate on certain days/seasonally or hire it our for corporate stuff. Obviously once the debt has been written off…
I did LondonEye only once, and I live in London.
It triggered my fear of heights so badly I couldn’t even stand up during the ride. On top of it the thing broke down whilst we were on top. It was a nightmare for me.
Good thing I was wearing brown trousers.i360 I could do with ease.
You can now. It won’t move 😂
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