Brighton i360 address excessive pricing claims

The Brighton i360, which is scheduled to d to reach its full 530ft height next week, has been accused of excessive venue prices, after claims suggest it would cost more than central London landmarks The Shard or Gherkin.

The upcoming major tourist attraction, which is the world’s first vertical cable car, consists of giant, glass pod that can hold 200 people inside. This will the rise from street level to 450ft, giving visitors a 360-degree view of the South East coast for 26 miles.

At the base of the attraction, there will be a visiting centre, along with a 400-seat restaurant, shop, children’s play area, exhibition space, tea rooms and conference and event facilities, which will hold a maximum of 1,000 people for a reception and will also divide into four different configurations.

However, as reported in Meet Pie, the venue has come under fire due to its full-use cost of £40k for a foodless function.

This is significantly more expensive than The Shard, which charges £20k for 300 people, and the Gherkin, which costs up to £16.5k plus VAT.

Pippa Atkinson, Brighton i360 head of sales, has been forced to come forward and address the pricing controversy, stating that the £40k figure isn’t quite accurate.

She said: “The £40k quoted is to hire the entire venue exclusively for 1,000 people for an entire evening. It reflects the cost of ‘closing the venue’ since we would be shutting all of our other facilities for the public, i.e. the i360 vertical cable car, shop, sky bar, brasserie, tea rooms, shop, all of our hospitality rooms and exhibition.

“The vast majority of events at the i360 will take place in one of our hospitality rooms, which are significantly cheaper since the rooms are independent from the rest of the building meaning we do not need to shut our other facilities.

“These are priced to reflect the unique nature of the i360, offering stunning event spaces directly on the beach and the unique pod hire, and are on a par with the Royal Pavilion, which is the city’s other unique premier venue.”

Michelle Mainwaring, marketing and PR manager for Brighton agency Vivid Event Group, added: “We are extremely excited about the i360 and are looking forward to bringing our clients down from London to experience the south coast in a unique way. In terms of the venue hire costings we find them to be very competitive.

“Comparisons made to the Shard for example have actually been taken out of context and it is unrealistic to pull out figures for hospitality that are not equally reflected in numbers of guests, catering, entertainment and a whole host of factors that a package may include. We anticipate utilising not only the viewing pod but all of the flexible spaces available and are looking forward to being creative with a whole range of events we plan to host.”