The new battle of Hastings: Locals fight to save historic pier after self-styled sheikh puts it up for sale
IIt’s been through fires, bankruptcies and scandals, not to mention 153 years of England’s severe weather, but now Hastings’ “unique pier”, which was hailed at its grand opening, faces a new twist in its turbulent story as it hits the market.
We face £150,000 fraud caseThe council has moved to return the Victorian structure to public ownership, saying the pier’s current controversial owner, Sheikh Abid Gulzar, plans to “dispose” the landmark.
Hastings Borough Council confirmed it had received formal notice from Mr Gulzar that he intended to sell the pier and had notified the group who nominated it as an asset of community value to see if they were interested in making a bid.
The Friends of Hastings Pier group said: Independent He is “optimistic” that he can manage to bring the pier back under community control.
“It’s early days right now,” Friends of Hastings Pier spokesman James Chang said this week. “I only received the email from the council on Friday afternoon.”
Mr Chang acknowledged that the pier in its current form “could have a debt of several million dollars”, adding: “We are optimistic at the moment, because before, [Mr Gulzar] I had it and that was it.”
He added: “He said he wanted to pass it on, so it should belong to the community. It shouldn’t be one person just continuing to run it until they get tired.”
Gulzar, nicknamed “Gold Finger” due to his passion for jewelery and gold, owns many hotels in Sussex and currently owns the Eastbourne pier. he will do face trial He was indicted by a grand jury at Lewes Crown Court in September 2026 on ten charges of fraud. He and his business partner Manasdeep Singh are alleged to have defrauded a water company of a total of £150,000. The two defendants denied all the accusations.
Mr Gulzar took possession of the Hastings pier in 2018 under highly controversial circumstances; This comes two years after the pier was overhauled with £12.4 million Lottery funding and when the charity that ran it at the time collapsed into administration.
The anticipated bid for the pier by the Friends of Hastings Pier will be the group’s second effort to bring the landmark under community control after losing out to Mr Gulzar, who bought the pier from administrators for £50,000 in 2018, despite the community group raising more than £477,000 to buy the pier and keep it open to the public for free.
At the time, frustrated locals gathered at the pier to offer to buy it back immediately for £65,000 – but he rejected the offer.
Sources told Independent it is currently asking £3.5 million for the pier. Accordingly a new one Times articleMr Gulzar’s estimated net worth is estimated to be around £5 million.
Hastings MP Helena Dollimore said Independent Growing anger over the sale of the pier in 2018 remains a major consideration.
“Our town is still deeply angry about what happened in 2018. I urge Mr Gulzar to now work with the people of Hastings. The pier belongs to Hastings and as the local MP I will support efforts to bring it back under community control and preserve the pier.”
He commended the ongoing work of the Friends of Hastings Pier Group to highlight maintenance issues and other concerns about the condition of the pier.
“Hastings pier is an integral part of our identity and heritage as a town. Everyone in Hastings wants to see it preserved and developed. As well as being a Labor MP, I am a Co-operative MP, which means I support the principle that communities should have control over the things that are important to them,” he said.
“Many people in Hastings are unhappy with the way the pier has operated in recent years. They feel it has not reached its full potential and now we have the opportunity to change that.”
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Built in 1872 and opened on the UK’s first bank holiday weekend, the pier not only fascinated traveling Victorians, but also survived the first serious fire in 1917 and became Britain’s leading music venue in the 1960s, hosting acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, Suzy Quattro and Jimi Hendrix. Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett is said to have stolen his own song last concert The group was there and It was reported that he was captured Throwing yourself over the bars into the sea.
Long past its Victorian heyday and brief role in rock and roll history, Hastings Pier nevertheless endured for decades; its slow cycles of wear and restoration often reflect the changing fortunes of the town to which it is attached.
The pier’s low point came in 2010, four years after its dismal closure, when a massive fire destroyed the structure, destroying the ballroom and 95 percent of the rest of the structure. Two men were arrested on suspicion of arson but were never charged due to the CPS’ lack of evidence.
For several years all that remained was a distorted skeleton of charred metal lying out on the sea, but behind the scenes a huge push was being made by the community for reconstruction.
In 2012 £12.4 million of Lottery money was secured and work gradually began to rebuild the pier. It was officially completed in March 2016, when Suggs, Madness’ Hastings-born frontman, officially finished the restoration by screwing in the last plank of the nearly 50-mile-long deck that forms the revamped scaffolding.
The following year the pier won the Stirling Prize for the best building in the UK and was heralded as “a phoenix rising from the ashes”. But despite the huge success in revitalizing the landmark, the sleek, modernized, minimalist pier almost immediately faced headwinds.
Nicknamed “Plank” for the largely uninterrupted expanse of slab extending over the waves, owners struggled to make it profitable. Two small enclosed spaces mean there is little shelter when the weather is bad, while significant overhead costs from the constant pounding of the sea, or rather underfoot maintenance costs, mean margins are tight.
The first thing Mr. Gulzar did when he received the keys in 2018 was to close the building for several months, citing significant maintenance on the structure. Meanwhile, locals have noticed a growing menagerie of golden animals and objects accumulating behind locked gates. Fiberglass golden lions were followed by a large golden hippo and a golden bull on a marble plinth. An old rusty pier pillar was painted gold and placed at the entrance of the pier.
When the pier eventually reopened, apart from new flourishes at the entrance – including the occasional Mr. Gulzar’s own gold-painted Mercedes – little was done to make the pier a destination in its own right.
Since then, a number of events and attractions have come and gone with little fanfare, including concerts, DJ sets, a pop-up bar billed as the UK’s largest beer garden, football screenings and various initiatives to overhaul the restaurant and open the upper deck hatch.
Reports submitted to Companies House to show It said the liquidation of the company that operated Hastings Pier, of which Mr Gulzar was the sole director, was due to outstanding debts of more than £300,000, including more than £74,000 owed to suppliers and £77,000 from employment tribunal judgments. Although the company has been liquidated, Mr Gulzar still retains personal ownership of the pier.
according to Sussex ExpressMr Gulzar in question: “I did my best, invested all my love and money into the scaffolding, and at the age of 81, I decided to pass this business on to someone else.”
Former “scaffolder” and Mr Gulzar’s partner, Lord Brett McLean (who, although not Lord, named himself after himself, similar to Sheikh Abid Gulzar), said: IndependentThe impending fraud trial has nothing to do with Mr. Gulzar’s desire to sell Hastings Pier.
McLean, who said he ran the pier for two years after Mr Gulzar bought it, added: “The reason he wants to reduce his property portfolio is so he can start to enjoy a more comfortable life and at 81 he needs to reduce some of his working hours like other older people who spend their time on social and leisure activities.”
But he suggested Mr Gulzar would not be willing to sell the pier to the Friends of Hastings Pier community group.
It has not yet been proven whether the pier represents a viable business opportunity. This wouldn’t be the first to land on “end of the pier show” style headlines.
John Bownas, area business development manager for local organization Love Hastings, said: Independent He was concerned that there could be a gap between the millions the pier was supposedly worth and what it could actually be worth for an organization when repairs and maintenance were factored in.
“Valuations for things like piers are complex and often very subjective. On the one hand they have great social value, but on the other hand they are money pits in terms of ongoing maintenance,” he said.
“Cash values are ultimately what someone is willing to pay. So, with foundation repairs potentially running into the millions, my concern is that unless a sale is somehow forced to happen at an affordable price, there will be a stalemate between the current owner’s expectations and what anyone with a realistic business plan would be willing to offer in terms of realizing a return on investment.”
Independent He contacted Mr. Gulzar’s representatives for comment.
