The i360 is due to reopen today (Saturday 8 March) with the seafront viewing tower’s new owner offering a big cut in the price for people living in Brighton and Hove.
Hospitality group Nightcap said that the reopening would be phased, starting with the tower, bar and gift shop, followed by a beachfront café.
Nightcap said: “The wait is almost over! The iconic seafront attraction Brighton i360 is set to open its doors to everyone in a phased launch from 11.30am Saturday 8 March.”
The new team look likely to enjoy reasonable weather on their first weekend in business, with warm temperatures for the time of year and little to no low cloud cover.
The cost of a ticket will be £5 for local residents and £2.50 for children after the new operator said that it had listened carefully to the feedback about pricing.
Chief executive Sarah Willingham said: “The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. The tower is now commissioned and ready to operate and we want to start getting her up and running as soon as we can.
“It is the tallest moving viewing platform in Europe. The experience is great. The views are sensational. I’ll never tire of it.
“It’s so sad to hear how few locals have actually been up in the pod and we want to change that.
“It’s here, it’s iconic and we should all take the opportunity to enjoy it along with the hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.
“We’ve listened carefully to feedback about pricing and want to put this behind us so today we’re thrilled to announce an exclusive price for locals of just £5 for adults and £2.50 for children.
“This is our way of saying thank you to the community for coming with us on this exciting journey and ensuring that everyone can experience the magic of this unique location. Please come, enjoy it and say hi.”
Nightcap said: “The phased opening will begin with our iconic tower, the bar, the gift shop and soon to be a lovely beach front café.
“It’s all before we’ve started our proper refurbishment but will offer our guests the chance to soak up the coastal views while enjoying delicious, locally sourced coffee and treats.
“This is just the beginning. Soon we’ll start transforming these spaces – the terraces, the coffee shops, the lounges.
“We will reopen the substantial space for weddings and corporate events and later this year, we’ll unveil a stunning rooftop, home to one of the most beautiful terraces on the seafront, boasting uninterrupted panoramic views of the ocean with a delicious food and drink offering.
“And as we get into the summer, we’ll take things to the next level with the grand opening of our beach bar, the newest social spot for both the local community and visitors to Brighton alike. Bear with us as we progress.
“There’s a limit to what we can achieve in such a short period of time but, as the summer arrives, we will see the improvements set in week by week.
“The i360 is a place for our community to come together, for families to celebrate and make memories and for everyone to experience the beauty of the coastline with top-notch hospitality like never before.
“Pre-book is advised although we will also welcome walk-ins. Postcodes where price for locals apply are BN1, BN2, BN3 and BN41.”
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£5 it’s our way of saying thank you to the suckers who got stuffed with a £52,000,000.00 debt
Eh, it’s a lot more nuanced than that; but I get the sentiment.
How much for none B&H residents?? Expect its at least doube the price and reckon the waiting times & costs of drinsk & food to be even higher than the tower!!! So, will not be using it as the views of B&H from up on the downs is so much better & easier to enjoy & use, plus the pubs within Brighton offer much better value & offers re drinks & food, plus a vastly more comfortable surrpoundings. Good lunch the new owners but reckong it will take a long time to get your purchase money back from those who fall into the trap for using this “white elephant”
It was built to lure tourist to that part of the seafront not for residents to go up and down
I bet my last Rolo it won’t make it to Christmas
I bet you it does. I also bet that in a few years time when it’s making decent profits residents start to question more why the council gave it away to a new owner without securing a better deal / profit share.
If it was going to make any money it would have done so in its first five years or so.
Nothing has changed, same donut on a stick.
It will survive for a few years now it has no debt to repay, but it won’t last beyond five years at best.
It didn’t make massive profits in the first few years, but it ticked over – despite the dreadful corporate marketing and lack of decent use of the outside space. That was always the problem imo – poor management (including poor contract management on the council’s part).
They didn’t give it away – they never owned it, they just had a vested interest in it as the repayments on the loan fall to them.
If you took the time to read the report on it, you’d know this was the only viable offer, so they weren’t really in a position to negotiate.
Nightcap didn’t actually have to offer any % of profits, but they did.
The alternative was to leave it empty and unused. The loan repayments would have still been due, plus the likely cost of dismantling and removal.
This was the best and only realistic option, and the lesser of two evils.
My understanding is that councillors met with the i360 regularly – I find it hard to believe that they didn’t know it was failng – so why on earth in the last 18 months or so before that happened didn’t they work up other models which may have meant that residents got a better outcome than the 1% agreed now. Just looks like lack of foresight and preparedness.
“It’s so sad to hear how few locals have actually been up in the pod and we want to change that.”
I would confidently state that a a lot of residents like me have refused to go on it on principle as we knew it was doomed from the start. We were not like the thick councillors who were too stupid to vote for ir.
Wow – so you wanted it to fail as a point of principle.
I doubt that. Rather it’s that they recognised the inevitable and refused to be dragged into it. The warning signs were there for anyone willing to look past the surface, but some people got caught up in the presentation rather than the reality.
It’ isn’t a question of ‘Wanting it to fail’ it was a question that we ‘Knew’ from the business plan it was never going to survive. Many of us stated the flaws in the plan long before the thing was put up.
It wasnt built for locals, its tourist ride
it’s seems to me the original i360 set up never had anything going for it – except presenting the tower itself as the attraction. And when visitor numbers were poor their solution was to put up the prices, as if the ride itself was still worth it but for richer people.
The problem with that was that you paid a lot of money for very little, and then, when back at ground level, you quickly went elsewhere.
What’s actually needed is a well run restaurant and bar, serving affordable food and beer, and the view at ground level should then be enough to draw in the crowds.
If the ride is cheap enough you can then go up with your visiting friends, as an extra bit of fun, and as part of your seafront visit. The cost per person needs to be the same as the price of a pint of beer. But the i360 is not really why you’ve gone there in the first place, it’s just an extra.
Was the original intention to pen another restaurant and bar on Brighton seafront? No it wasn’t. But that’s the only way forwards now. We wish the new owners every success – even though I personally loathe the look of that ‘stick’ on our seafront.
I’d only go up if it had a toilet and themed nights for adults.
I do like the idea of an area dedicated to the history of Brighton and bringing back a much missed tourist information hub
It wasnt built for locals, its tourist ride
The problem with it is that there is nothing to see from up there apart from how dirty all the roofs are, they should have called it the dirty roof ride. The only way you could possibly make it interesting is to build loads of incredible structures for miles around it so that there is actually something to look at.
I’m not convinced that the council have ensured best value for the residents with this deal and strikes me somewhat of an insider job. Was the travel and tourism industry really tested to make the sale/lease competetive? I understand the challenges of such venues having worked in the industry for 25 years and it looks to me to have been a closed deal with no other operator being asked to bid which is why the deal appears so poor for the council. Someone needs to be upfront and honest as to what the true relationship is with the council and the operator but on the face of it looks very much like a Covid PPE deal cover up!