The Wheel of Liverpool is back in business just weeks after its parent company went into administration, as the former owner of Portsmouth Football Club, Balram Chainrai, has stepped in with a rescue package.
Earlier this month we reported how owners Great City Attractions Global Ltd became insolvent, but Chainrai has formed a new company, Wheel Operations Limited, and Liverpool’s Ferris wheel is turning again.
The big wheel first appeared in Liverpool’s historic skyline in the autumn of 2009 in Chavasse Park at Liverpool One, before moving to its current location outside the Echo Arena in February 2010.
The 60 metre-high wheel, with 42 capsules, came to symbolise Liverpool’s rebirth as a tourist destination following the European Capital of Culture year in 2008, offering bird’s eye views of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site waterfront.
A spokesman for the operator told the Liverpool Echo: “Mr Chainrai is pleased that he has been able to help secure the future of what has now become a landmark tourist attraction.”
[nggallery id=27]
Pictures by Vegard Grott