Court filings from Brighton i360 Ltd confirmed that the owners of the towering seafront landmark would be filing for insolvency – still owing the council £51 million council debts with it.
Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey called the news a “sad day for Brighton and Hove” and took a swipe at the Green Party for their role in the financing of the failed attraction.
Investors will now be sought in a bid to try and buy the seafront site – and a buyer could potentially demolish the attraction in favour of a new opportunity.
The Argus understands that, if a buyer is not found, the i360 could close permanently at the end of the year.
After this point, if a buyer chooses to buy the sought-after seafront land under the i360, the decision to tear down the viewing tower and replace it could be on the table.
Brighton and Hove City Council said that the i360’s debts had now hit £51 million, equating to nearly £180 per person living in the city – which has a population of 278,000.
The council borrowed millions from the Government get the i360 off the ground. It opened in 2016. The i360 is supposed to be paying the council back but £51 million is still outstanding as it has struggled to keep up with repayments.
Most recently, accounts released in July show Brighton i360 Ltd paid £700,000 to the council in June 2022.
The company has since been able to pay just £250,000 to the council from July 2022 to July 2024.
In that period, Brighton i360 has repaid its debt at a rate of 0.25 per cent a year.
Brighton i360 next to the remains of the West Pier
At that rate the loan would have been fully repaid in full by 2424.
Following the news of the insolvency, Cllr Sankey, said: “Today is a day of shame for the Green Party and a sad day for Brighton and Hove.
“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.”
“This will be their enduring legacy to the city – a huge debt that will be left to generations of residents to repay.
“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.”