Brighton i360 unable to make six-monthly loan repayment

It will be the second year in a row the Brighton seafront tourist attraction’s owner has missed the payment.

The revelation comes days after Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey said public money should never have been used to support the project.

She said Brighton i360 Ltd now owes the council £44 million including interest on the £36 million loan brokered by the council from the Public Works Loan Board.

The company has paid £250,000 towards its debt this year but the annual total should be £1.49 million, with payments due each June and December.

The company owes £44 million to the council

So far, the i360 has repaid £5.8 million but, under its original repayment schedule, had been due to stump up almost £18 million by September this year.

In a statement issued to the BBC, Julia Barfield, who chairs Brighton i360 Ltd, said inflation, poor weather, the cost of living crisis and national train strikes had affected visitor numbers.

She said: “City spending and visitor numbers are still lower than before the pandemic. Nationally, visitor numbers are down across UK attractions by 24 per cent, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

“At Brighton i360, there is still a 16 per cent drop in visitor attendance compared with pre-pandemic times.

“Paying the loan back to the council has always been a top priority and we are sorry we are unable to make December’s instalment."

She said the company had worked on improving the business. In the past year, it has introduced the Sixes cricket experience and a roller rink, with more attractions due next year.

Labour councillor Jacob Taylor

Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, who leads on finance, said the council was setting aside £2 million a year to service a loan that was agreed by Greens and Conservatives in 2014.

Councillor Taylor said: “Every politician likes to blame their predecessors but, on this one, I’m afraid I can’t let the Greens get away with it.

“As of today (Wednesday, December 20), on the Green Party’s website in Brighton they’ve still got a story from 2014 celebrating the project and saying it’s a ‘landmark deal we’ve brokered, an exciting job-creating tourist attraction for the city that won’t draw on local budgets. The project will provide much-needed income to support local services’.

“Unfortunately, the exact opposite has been true, in which they (the i360) have not been able to pay back the loan as quickly as originally planned.”

Even though the i360 made an operating profit, Cllr Taylor cited comments by former Labour councillor Les Hamilton from the 2014 meeting when the loan was agreed. Cllr Hamilton said the original finance and business case did not add up.

Cllr Taylor said the £2 million the council was putting aside to service the loan was adding to the pressures on the council’s finances.

He said the local government settlement announced on Monday meant the budget gap had grown from £31 million to £33 million. Money had been shaved from unitary councils such as Brighton and Hove in favour of districts and boroughs.

He said: “The i360 loan not being repaid only adds to that (pressure) so residents will be rightly angry and annoyed with the Green council that put that through and the Conservative councillors that voted for it.

“We’re left to deal with it and are left to set viable budgets which as a result are more difficult.”

Cllr Taylor said that, despite residents’ calls, if the council tried to sell or scrap the i360, the loss to council taxpayers would be greater because the council would still be liable for the loan.

Council leader Bella Sankey said: “Our number one priority with the i360 is protecting the public purse and ensuring the council gets back all or as much of its money as possible.

“We continue to explore all options and have been encouraging the i360 to diversify their business model and widen their appeal to both residents and visitors.

“We are aware that they have taken some immediate measures and are now looking at longer-term ways to improve their business.

“We have stressed that the new longer-term business plan they are preparing must be realistic and deliverable. We will consider their plan before reviewing our next steps."