Latest news with #BrightonPalacePier
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Tourists fume as they're charged 'rip off' price to walk along pier at iconic seaside town
Visitors have been left raging over a £2 charge to visit a popular pier in a busy seaside resort. Opened in 1899, Brighton Palace Pier is an iconic Brighton landmark and has fairground rides, arcade games and restaurants. It was free to enter until last year, when tourists started being charged £1 entry between the months of March and September. But now the price has doubled. And, although the £2 entry charge includes a £1 voucher to spend on the pier, some visitors are far from happy with the new price, with one even insisting they won't 'go back'. A reviewer on Tripadvisor described the pier's 'admission charge as a joke'. 'Rajb_UK' wrote: 'What a rip of people turning around and leaving. 'No wonder the number of visitors on a Bank Holiday Monday was go back again.' Another visitor 'HalyconDays' wrote: 'It is some time since we had been on the Palace Pier. We [were] absolutely flabbergasted to find out they were charging £2 a person to get on.' Visitor 'JJ L' , who left a one star review, said: 'What a scam! What a disappointment that is has become paid!' 'Gregory P' said: 'Absolutely disgusting that they are now charging a fee to walk down the pier! 'You should be ashamed of yourselves. I refuse to come back to the pier until it's free again!' However, local residents can still access the pier for free all year round, as long as they apply for a special card. Brighton Palace Pier told the Mirror that people with a BN postcode just need to collect a resident's card from the team at the pier entrance or apply on the website for free entry. And not everyone was upset by the £2 entry fee. 'KateLondon_9' said: 'First time paying to enter the pier but you do get money off the rides. There's plenty to do - arcade games, rides, food and drinks.' 'Michael B' wrote: 'This is a piece of history that should and has been preserved for many more years of enjoyment. 'Great to spend some time in the old penny arcade playing the vintage games. Great outlook over the ocean.' The pier team told The Mirror: 'The pier is a substantial structure and in recent years maintenance cards have risen by more than a third. 'The admission fee is critical in helping to meet the unique challenges and costs of preserving the pier's structural integrity as well as continuing to remain as an all-year-round attraction.' Brighton Palace Pier is currently the city's fourth-best rated attraction on Tripadvisor with four out of five stars.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brighton Pier reveals plans to quit London stock market
The leisure group behind the 126-year-old Brighton Palace Pier has seen its shares slump as it became the latest firm to announce plans to delist and return to private hands. Brighton Pier Group – which also owns a number of bars and mini-golf venues – said it is planning to cancel its listing on London's junior Aim market, sending shares slumping by nearly 60% in Wednesday morning trading. The firm, which is chaired by former Pizza Express boss Luke Johnson, said the decision follows a 'careful review of the benefits and drawbacks' of its stock market listing. It said it believes delisting at the 'earliest opportunity' would be in the 'best interests of the company and the shareholders as a whole'. Investors will vote on the plans at a meeting on April 22 and if approved, delisting is expected on May 2. It marks the latest blow to the Aim market, which has been hit by a raft of firms delisting in recent years, with 92 firms leaving the market last year. Mike Ashley-backed Scalextric and model train firm Hornby last month revealed plans to go private, blaming regulatory hurdles and costs involved with a stock market listing. Brighton Pier Group said reasons for its plans to delist include 'disproportionate' annual costs of between £250,000 and £300,000 to maintain a listing, lack of liquidity in the shares, volatility in the share price, as well as changes in the small cap market since the company's flotation in 2013. It added that it would have more flexibility and be more nimble on decisions as a private company. Brighton Pier Group also said the move comes in light of increasingly tough trading and higher costs. It said: 'Over the past several years, the company has faced persistent challenging trading conditions, impacted by, inter alia, Covid-19, repeat bad weather during peak summer trading periods, recent significant Budget increases in National Insurance to commence from 6 April 2025, pressures on consumer discretionary spending and a change in consumer behaviours.' It has therefore been focusing efforts on 'cost savings, disposals of underperforming assets and health of the balance sheet, limiting its ability to invest in growing the business'. The group said results for the year to December 29 2024 where in line with expectations, while it added that recent trading had been boosted by last month's warm weather. It said March's better weather, combined with the introduction of the higher £2 admissions charge for non-residents, helped drive total sales at the Pier up £100,000 to £1.8 million so far this year. Trading in the bars and golf divisions has seen a slow start to the year, with total sales of £1 million and £1.4 million respectively, each down £100,000 year-on-year.
The Independent
02-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Brighton Pier reveals plans to quit London stock market
The leisure group behind the 126-year-old Brighton Palace Pier has seen its shares slump as it became the latest firm to announce plans to delist and return to private hands. Brighton Pier Group – which also owns a number of bars and mini-golf venues – said it is planning to cancel its listing on London's junior Aim market, sending shares slumping by nearly 60% in Wednesday morning trading. The firm, which is chaired by former Pizza Express boss Luke Johnson, said the decision follows a 'careful review of the benefits and drawbacks' of its stock market listing. It said it believes delisting at the 'earliest opportunity' would be in the 'best interests of the company and the shareholders as a whole'. Investors will vote on the plans at a meeting on April 22 and if approved, delisting is expected on May 2. It marks the latest blow to the Aim market, which has been hit by a raft of firms delisting in recent years, with 92 firms leaving the market last year. Mike Ashley-backed Scalextric and model train firm Hornby last month revealed plans to go private, blaming regulatory hurdles and costs involved with a stock market listing. Brighton Pier Group said reasons for its plans to delist include 'disproportionate' annual costs of between £250,000 and £300,000 to maintain a listing, lack of liquidity in the shares, volatility in the share price, as well as changes in the small cap market since the company's flotation in 2013. It added that it would have more flexibility and be more nimble on decisions as a private company. Brighton Pier Group also said the move comes in light of increasingly tough trading and higher costs. It said: 'Over the past several years, the company has faced persistent challenging trading conditions, impacted by, inter alia, Covid-19, repeat bad weather during peak summer trading periods, recent significant Budget increases in National Insurance to commence from 6 April 2025, pressures on consumer discretionary spending and a change in consumer behaviours.' It has therefore been focusing efforts on 'cost savings, disposals of underperforming assets and health of the balance sheet, limiting its ability to invest in growing the business'. The group said results for the year to December 29 2024 where in line with expectations, while it added that recent trading had been boosted by last month's warm weather. It said March's better weather, combined with the introduction of the higher £2 admissions charge for non-residents, helped drive total sales at the Pier up £100,000 to £1.8 million so far this year. Trading in the bars and golf divisions has seen a slow start to the year, with total sales of £1 million and £1.4 million respectively, each down £100,000 year-on-year.
