RE: Assets4 Apr 2025 12:08
Ha Ha thanks! Yes is true, 2reincarnated.
I owned the Beach Cafe on the Lower Promenade to the East side of the Pier from 2002 to 2013. Before that I owned the stretch to the West from 1982 up till 1992. About 75 metres of leased beachfront from Brighton Council. It consisted of fast food, fish and chips, gift shop and an arcade with 100 machines, shell fish, you name it I sold it or through my sublets. The Beach Cafe was where they shot Quadrophenia Film. The early Eighties was the real hey day with the arcade games Space Invaders and Defender. Brighton has been a bit deteriorating since then. Every year is prices up but less and less customers. It's the parking restrictions, competition the likes of Alton Towers. Plus everyone plays video games online now. Brighton tried to ditch the weekend holiday theme and become a conference town. But other towns Eastbourne and Portsmouth got on that bandwagon. It used to be free parking on Sundays and on single yellow ok.
It still is and can be a great business The Pier, but you really need to know about seasonal businesses to run them profitably. The previous owners the Nobles were a fairground family and had a pretty good idea. I met them when they first moved in. Its a pity they demolished the theatre at the end of the Pier, it was a real feature. The oval dome they have now is just an eyesore. They removed the entry fee to get more customers on the Pier.
My best years running these seasonal places was when I rented 70% of my space to others. They bought in their family and friends to help them. No wage bills! )) And they had lots of micro entrepreneur ideas that you yourself could never come up, with or dismiss as too staff intensive.
They've started charging now £2 entry fee. Its a slippery slope. The idea is to get people on the Pier and spend. Charging is a barrier in my opinion.
Trevor