Brighton councillors back new i360 debt recovery plan

The i360 tower in Brighton missed a number of minimum repayments and now owes more than £47 million

Councillors have backed a new plan to help Brighton's i360 tower repay its debts.

The seafront attraction in East Sussex missed numerous repayments of the £36m it borrowed from the government and now owes more than £47m.

Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) will now carry out a "cash sweep" every six months, taking all spare cash from the business.

A first sweep last month saw £700,000 repaid.

The new terms were agreed by a BHCC committee at a meeting on Thursday, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Tom Druitt, who chairs BHCC's i360 working group, described loan talks as "challenging" but said: "This is all about giving the i360 the maximum chance of success and therefore giving the council the maximum chance of recouping its loan."

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Director of the i360 Julia Barfield told the committee that the board took their responsibility to pay back the loan seriously.

Ms Barfield said: "That area of the seafront was derelict and has been transformed over those years. Our commitment is total - 100 per cent to Brighton - through the i360."

Second loan

The attraction originally borrowed £36m from the government's Public Works Loan Board, through BHCC, but missed payments mean the loan amount is now £43m.

It must also repay a second loan of £4m.

The committee heard minimum payments had been reduced to reflect expected seasonal fluctuations and the pandemic.

The next amount due is £900,000 in December followed by £600,000 at the end of June 2023, the repayments are set to increase and continue until 2046.

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