Brighton Pier’s owner has blamed train strikes, stormy weather and a fire nearby for a sharp downturn in performance over the past ten days.
The Royal Albion Hotel – a 219-bedroom regency-style hotel that overlooks Brighton Pier – caught fire on July 15, disrupting access to the tourist attraction.
The pier’s busiest months are July and August and normally contribute 30 per cent of annual sales to Brighton Pier Group.
The pier’s busiest months are July and August and normally contribute 30% of annual sales
The company said it was still aiming to capitalise on the school holiday period, which runs from this week until September.
Chief executive Anne Ackord said: ‘While we still have many of the key summer weeks to come, recent trading in July has been impacted by a number of events outside of our control namely weekend train strikes, stormy weather and the hotel fire across the road from the pier which has disrupted sales.
‘We will still attempt to capitalise on the forthcoming school holiday period of August, traditionally the busiest and most profitable period in our year.’
In a further setback, Brighton Pier Group – which also owns the Lightwater Valley theme park in North Yorkshire – also cut its half-year sales forecast by 7 per cent to £16.2million.
The company – which is chaired by serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson – warned that its performance in the six months to the end of June had been hit by the cost of living crisis.
Shares in Brighton Pier Group slumped 25.4 per cent.
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