The new owner of the i360 has set the date for reopening the seafront viewing tower and announced a big cut in the price for people living in Brighton and Hove.
Hospitality group 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 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.
I would like tickets for i360 I live in BN1 7GS postcode
The last paragraph says you can just turn up as long as you have proof you live in Brighton.
Never thought the day would come, but I just booked tickets for the i360, and on relaunch day no less! I sincerely hope that this is the start of a road to success for the attraction. Let’s make the most of the situation 🙂
Wil it finally have a toilet?
Why would it? If you can’t manage bodily functions appropriately for a period of 25 minutes, or are incapable of ensuring your children visit the loo prior to the ride, perhaps its not for you.
…and yes I’m well aware that some people genuinely can’t for medical reasons, however my comment still stands….
So inconsiderate.
Your comment is objectively wholly unreasonable.
On the tower platform in the air no, in the main building yes (always has been)
For starters there isn’t an ocean to view. It’s a sea. And few locals went on it because few locals wanted this monstrosity in the first place when so much of the city’s iconic locations have gone to rack and ruin. Now a minted Dragon off the telly is trying to convince us locals to cough up a small bit of cash to make her richer whilst the city goes down the tubes thanks to the £50 million the council have wiped from their future budget due to this whole Green/Tory debacle. Jog on.
Hear, hear Danny!!
It’s a great piece of engineering, but in the wrong location & was badly managed by the owners hence the huge debt acquired!
This all actually sounds good news
Good luck to them.
Great start , look forward to seeing it back in action.
They can cut the prices as they aren’t burdened with the debt unlike us ratepayers. We are stuck with this white elephant at £2m a year extra on the council budget forever! What a waste of money and the West Pier sits there forlornly having been torched to stop it being rebuilt yet another own goal by the council.
I give it a year before they realise that this will never be profitable.
Any failure to redevelop the West Pier is down to the West Pier Trust.
They have owned it since 1983 (the council never owned it).
As you say the new owners won’t have such a heavy debt to service so they’ll likely be able to make a profit even with reduced entry fees and other activities.
And there’s a revenue share as far as I’m aware as well.
³bloody hell, can’t people have a positive, if advertised properly you can have a major attraction on your hands, I live in southend and am excited to visit this tower when I visit Brighton in April even if its just for the experience
Well said Dave. To many moaning Minnie’s in this city.
Always wondered where the money went into the black hole known as the West Pier Distrust.
The West Pier Trust is the one that should be investigated in rspect of its complete and utter failure to do anything with the West Pier despite a grant of £14.5m from the Lottery…………
Which was withdrawn 20 years ago.
But yes the trust has done nothing to restore the pier!
Biggest expense is the salary of the Chief Executive who in the last accounts – publicly available as per link below – cost just £ 69k in salary, national insurance ans pension contributions.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01399732/filing-history
“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.”
I do not recall being recruited to join ‘this exciting journey’ but I do recognise PR fluff intended to blow smoke over this shabby – if not criminal – extraction of public money without any meaningful legal resolution. An old word for this was ‘Danegeld’ – bribing a nascent enemy. More pertinently, if a ride priced at 15 quid was insufficient to make the thing economically viable then how will a fiver – locals being key to all attractions during the off season and in poor weather – produce enough operating capital to ensure the lift’s longevity?
At least it will not be left to rot, and will be maintained. It will also draw tourists to the surrounding restaurants etc
Why would you want to go up in it if you live in Brighton? Theres nothing special to see . Half the view is the sea and the other half is a grotty old town. Go up to the downs for free its a nicer view.
There’s no ocean to see from Brighton:)
If you’re going to be anally retentive, the English Channel is classified as an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
I sea what you did there, Tony.
Are they employing the old staff
They could make it free, I still wouldn’t be interested
What about the people that purchased tickets prior to the old ownership going under? I’m still working with the administration company to get the nearly £200 back I spent on “i360 drop” tickets purchased last November.
Old ownership were happy to take my money shortly before they went into administration. Will the new owner honour my tickets, even though the 1st Feb booking date has passed? Or issue a refund?
Not the responsibility of the new owners.
If you paid by credit card contact the credit card company as they have some responsibility under various pieces of consumer credit legislation.
So if you’re not local, you’re not welcome?
Don’t be silly.
Of course you’d be welcome just not eligible for the cheap residents rate.
So how much will it cost for those who live just up the road
If only there was a website you could look on!
Jacob Taylor has written off 100% of the debt and the council will receive 1% of gross ticket revenue.
Jacob Taylor described on the radio how this was better than a profit share, but he didn’t mention the expected or minimum revenue, the extent to which Nightcap would be responsible for maintenance of the structure or how long the deal was for.
The real story … what rent will the council receive for the 22,000 square feet of hospitality space underneath the attraction?
That is prime real estate and with reliable footfall would be worth about £45 per square metre £990,000 per year.
Accounting for the natural seasonality of footfall on the seafront you might be able to justify a reduction to £30 per square metre or £660,000 per year.
The turnover on £22,000 of space will be in the region of £8-10 million per year on an average 15% net profit. That is £1.2-1.5 million net profit every year. It could hit £2 million depending on the deal Jacob Taylor has struck.
The £5 tickets will cover the operating costs of the i360 and net a minimal fee for the city.
Nightcap will walk away with £1-2 million profit, annually.
What will BHCC get?
Think the English Channel to all intents and purposes is the same as an ocean, it is a branch of the Atlantic. Anyway, yes perhaps the West Pier Trust does need looking into. Or perhaps the new owners could take it over and build a new West Pier. That will be the day!