Brighton Pier Group receives £5m business insurance pay-out

The Brighton Pier Group has received a £5m business interruption pay-out from its insurers to cover losses related to the pandemic.

The company, which operates Brighton's Palace Pier, eight bars, eight mini golf courses and acquired the Lightwater Valley Theme Park in North Yorkshire in June, said the amount covered the period until June 2021.

Payments of £4.1m have been received to date and the remaining £0.9m was received on 7 October.

Last year, Brighton Pier Group revealed it was covered by the ‘Marsh resilience' insurance policy wording, which the High Court ruled in September 2020 should pay out in response to Covid-19 claims. This decision was unaffected by the later Supreme Court ruling.

The company said its revenue and earnings for the year to June 2022 were likely to be "significantly ahead of market expectations" off the back of the insurance pay-out and a strong summer's trading.

Net sales for the 13 weeks between 29 June and 26 September this year were £15.9m, 145% above the same period last year and 44% higher than in 2019.

Like-for-like sales at the Pier were up 47% on 2020 and 14% on 2019, across golf sites they were up 119% on 2020 and 30% on 2019, while the bars division was up 36% on 2019 and was mostly closed in 2020.

Anne Ackord, chief executive officer at Brighton Pier Group, said: "The sales over this important 13-week trading period have been very strong across all divisions.

"It is also good to be able to report a new record, with the final bank holiday week of this summer being the first time in the Pier's history that it has achieved gross sales in excess of £1m over a single week."

Numerous hospitality businesses are still yet to receive any insurance pay-out relating to coronavirus, with many pursuing their own legal cases.

Image: Shutterstock / Vittorio Caramazza