Brighton’s Palace Pier goes up on the market – as iconic seaside attraction struggles with falling guests after introducing an entry price
Brighton‘s iconic Palace Pier has been put up for sale after months of speculation over its future – as it grapples with declining visitors and falling profits.
The seaside attraction, which opened in 1899, has been owned by Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson’s Brighton Pier Group for the last decade after it bought the jetty for £18million.
Home to food stalls, 19 amusement rides and two sprawling, noisy arcades boasting more than 300 machines, it welcomes around four million visitors a year, according to official figures from VisitEngland.
But after 10 years of difficult trade, compounded by wage and national insurance hikes and a reduction in relief from Rachel Reeves‘ first brutal Budget, Mr Johnson’s firm is throwing in the towel.
Its most recent accounts saw the Grade II* listed pier’s value written down from £17.3m to £13.7m amid poor trading in 2024, blamed on bad weather in the summer.
The accounts had hinted that the attraction could be put up for sale alongside other assets owned by the group. It has also owned the Lightwater Valley amusement park in Ripon, North Yorkshire, which was put on the market for £3million in November.
Confirmed today, Brighton Palace Pier will be marketed by estate agents Knight Frank for an unspecified guide price, with a goal of having a new owner in place in time for the crucial peak summer trading period.
Anne Ackord, chief executive officer of The Brighton Pier Group, said in a statement that the pier is a ‘profitable, standalone business with significant potential’.
Serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson (pictured) is selling Brighton Palace Pier after a decade at the reins, citing difficult trading conditions and rising costs linked to the Budget
The Pier opened in 1899 and has gradually changed from an entertainment complex to a seaside amusements attraction (pictured in 1969)
The book value of the Pier was slashed from £17.3million to £13.7m in its most recent accounts. A guide price for the sale is yet to be announced
She further told the BBC that any potential buyer would need ‘many millions’ to secure it for themselves – and had previously warned that the pier faced a ‘very difficult future’ if it did not bring in more visitors.
Accounts show revenue at the Pier in 2024 fell four percent to £14.9m, down from £15.6m, and that total earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation was £0.3m, down from £1.7m.
The group blamed its ‘subdued trading performance’ on ‘significant increases’ in the National Living Wage and National Insurance, as introduced by Labour in the 2024 Budget; it delisted itself from the Aim junior stock exchange to help cut costs.
Sales also fell three per cent from from 2022 to 2023, blamed on ‘exceptionally poor weather’, train strikes and a major fire at the Royal Albion Hotel, which sits directly opposite the pier’s entrance.
Management has sought to offset the drop in visitors, falling revenues and the £1million-plus annual cost of with maintaining the 126-year-old Victorian attraction with a summertime admission fee for non-residents.
This was introduced at £1, since raised to £2 for adults, £1 for children, or £5 for a family of six, and raised £0.7million in 2024.
CEO Ms Ackord added: ‘This is more than just the sale of an asset: it is an opportunity to become part of the next chapter in a remarkable story and shape the future of this national treasure.
‘We expect interest from buyers both within the UK and internationally and have therefore appointed Knight Frank to lead the sale and leverage their global network.’
Dr Anya Chapman, an expert on British seaside piers and principal academic in tourism management at Bournemouth University, told the Daily Mail the new buyer needed to act as a ‘custodian’ to protect the pier for future generations.
She added that piers are seeing less custom because of a drop in disposable income and the post-pandemic surge of ‘revenge tourism’, when people resumed travelling abroad after travel restrictions were lifted.
‘Most of these piers are approaching 150 to 200 years old and the maintenance costs are just going up and up and up,’ she said.
‘The piers are still valued and still a key part of these resorts – but any owner who is going to buy one needs to agree with the fact that they aren’t doing it to get rich. You buy one because you’re invested in it.
‘A lot of owners will say they are custodians of the pier and I believe Anne [Ackord] sees herself as a custodian. Anybody who goes in, as long as they have that attitude, that’s going to be a winning attitude to start with.
‘It’s the most successful pier in the UK, the most Instagrammed pier in the country: all piers are iconic but Brighton is another level. It’s not going anywhere: it just needs a lot of money to keep it running.’
Poor weather conditions have been blamed for a drop in trade (pictured: the Pier on a rainy day last year)
The pier was renamed Brighton Pier in the year 2000 – but had its original name restored when Mr Johnson’s firm took over
Brighton Palace Pier was home to a theatre (pictured) until the 1970s. The theatre then closed and was demolished in the 1980s
John Rushby, partner and head of specialist leisure, Knight Frank, said: ‘Brighton and Hove continues to grow in popularity as one of the UK’s leading destinations.
‘Positioned at the heart of the city, Brighton Palace Pier stands out as one of the country’s most significant heritage landmarks, offering a rare opportunity for a new owner to build on its strong foundations and further enhance its position as a premier leisure and hospitality destination.’
Built on the remnants of a chain pier once used by ferries travelling from Brighton to France, the 1,722ft Brighton Palace Pier opened in 1899 and remains one of Britain’s best known seaside attractions.
It has operated primarily as an amusement attraction since the 1980s, when its theatre was demolished to make way for more rides. It was renamed Brighton Pier in 2000 – with the original name restored when Mr Johnson took the reins.
Made an icon by Brighton Rock, Carry On at Your Convenience, The Who’s Quadrophenia and grime artist Stormzy’s 2025 film Big Man, it was Brighton’s second – and now only – pier after the West Pier, which closed in 1975.
The West Pier is now but a charred husk after a series of storms and fires destroyed most of the structure; plans to renovate it have come to naught.
Britain was once home to 100 seaside piers that drew in millions of visitors every summer before cheap international travel became a possibility for everyday Brits.
The National Piers Society, which campaigns to preserve the remaining attractions, says only half of those are still standing.
Brighton Palace Pier is one of several now up for sale, alongside others including Blackpool North Pier and Totland Pier on the Isle of Wight.
Last year, Rachel Reeves announced that she would allocate £20million to the restoration of Southport Pier in order to help boost the local economy.
