Disaster for UK seaside town as huge attraction faces closure over £51m debt

A major attraction in one of the UK’s favourite seaside town faces closure due to the staggering amount of debt it has accrued since its 2016 opening.

The i360 in Brighton has filed for administration over its £51 million in debt, plunging it into a highly uncertain future.

Brighton and Hove City Council revealed Brighton i360 Ltd racked up the eye-watering sum, which the company’s chair, Julia Barfield puts down to a bad summer and the cost-of-living crisis.

She said: “We are working closely with the prospective administrators at Interpath to ensure the continued operation of the business during this period and to explore all potential avenues for restructuring.”

The 162m high viewing deck will remain open while it enters the financial process and reviews options including for administrators to try to find a buyer to rescue the tourist attraction.

Charlie Carter, from Interpath, who is leading the sales process, said: “The Brighton i360 has become an iconic visitor attraction, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, but unfortunately is now at real risk of closure unless a buyer can be found.”

Administrators need to reviews their options, which include determining whether there is still a financially viable and sufficient demand for the i360 to keep it open while they attempt to find a buyer.

The council lent Brighton i360 Ltd £36.2 million from the government’s Public Works Loan Board in 2014 to fund the tower. The council explained that the £51 million debt is made up of the council loan at a commerically agreed interest rate and a £4 million Coast to Capital loan.

In December 2023, council leader Bella Sankey revealed the company had only paid £250,000 of the expected £1.49 million towards paying off their debt that year.

By January of this year, it had repaid £5.8 million, but this was still significantly behind schedule, as they should have repaid almost £18 million by September 2023. The last payment to the council was made in June 2023.

Sankey blasted the development as a “day of shame” for the Green Party, which led the authority at the time, and a “sad day” for the city.

She said: “Their calamitous decision to loan a vast sum of public money to this failed business venture has left the residents of Brighton and Hove £51 million out of pocket.

“Our council must now repay their folly amounting to over £2 million each year for the foreseeable future – money that could’ve been spent on nurseries, play areas, public toilets, preventing homelessness, road repairs, transitioning to net zero and dozens of other vital local services.”

Deputy council leader Jacob Taylor said: “This leaves a large unpaid amount to the city council, which will have an impact on the overall budget.

“I think it is important that the council and the city reflects on the decisions that have led us to this point – and learn lessons for the future.”

The council said: “The actual loss to the council relates to the underlying loan debt and interest repayable to government which stands at c. £32m.”