Brighton i360 Shuts Down Abruptly Amid Financial Difficulties

The Brighton i360 viewing tower has ceased operations immediately, following a period marked by various financial difficulties over recent years. All 109 employees of the tourist attraction were informed of their redundancy during a meeting held on Friday morning with administrators from Brighton i360 Ltd. Brighton & Hove City Council announced its intention to investigate the closure, citing that the owners of the seafront attraction owe the council £51 million. Councillor Jacob Taylor stated: “Investment in Brighton i360 has clearly been a financial disaster for the council.” The council had previously agreed to provide a loan of £36.2 million to the site’s developers for the construction of the 531ft (162m) tower, which commenced operations in August 2016. On November 27, the council was notified that Brighton i360 Ltd intended to appoint administrators. The council has since confirmed the appointment of Interpath Advisors. Mr. Taylor indicated that the council plans to investigate “further options for investment” in the wake of the unexpected closure of the attraction, which was conceived by prominent architects David Marks and Julia Barfield. Interpath Advisors, acting as administrators, stated their efforts to secure a new business to assume control of the site in the New Year. Steve Absolom, the managing director, commented: “Our thoughts are with the loyal and dedicated staff at i360 who will be devastated by this news, particularly given the time of year. Our immediate priority will be to work with all of them to provide them with the support they need to make claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.” Cerys Wilson, a part-time employee, informed the BBC that personnel were made redundant during a Friday morning meeting with the administrators. She further stated that employees were advised they would not receive payment for a period of “four to six weeks.” Her colleague, Jess Davis, remarked: “It’s really heart-breaking for everyone in there. It’s at an awful time with Christmas coming up.” Concurrently, local residents expressed the view that the attraction’s adult ticket price of £18.50 was a deterrent for the i360. One resident commented: “We never went up on it. It never occurred to me why we would.” Another added: “The view around is not particularly attractive. And it was quite expensive, so I could not understand the attraction.” Richard Pither and his partner Katharine, residents of Rottingdean, had planned to commemorate their anniversary at the attraction. Mr. Pither remarked: “It is a little disappointing, but to be honest, we have been saying for years we must go on it and we haven’t, so maybe its our own stupid fault.” Mr. Taylor further stated: “Although the attraction has provided jobs, and brought in business rates, regeneration of this site did not require such high public investment and the amount of money left unpaid to the council is money we now cannot spend on frontline service delivery. It’s important there is an investigation into how the decision at the time of agreeing the loan came to be made and learn lessons for the future.” For updates, follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Story ideas can be sent to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp at 08081 002250. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.