Great City Attractions Limited, also known as Great City Attractions Global, was a company engaged in the operation of large transportable
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
s. Based in Sutton Coldfield, UK, it was incorporated in 2008.
[Company Overview of Great City Attractions Ltd.]
/ref> It went into administration in July 2012 and ceased trading the following month.
Formation
In 2009, Great Wheel Corporation
Great Wheel Corporation was a company engaged in the development, building, financing, and operation of Ferris wheels, which they often termed "observation wheels" or "observation platforms".
Great Wheel Corporation, registered in Singapore as GW ...
merged with World Tourist Attractions, to operate as Great City Attractions, claiming at that time to be "the world's largest operator of Observation Wheels."
On 23 December 2010, the holding company WTA Global Holdings, which traded as World Tourist Attractions, went into administration. The company collapsed owing £16.4 million, including £8.9 million to unsecured creditors, who were expected to get nothing.[Big wheel business debts revealed]
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Early in 2011 the assets of WTA Global Holdings were bought out of administration for £230,000 by Great City Attractions.[Big wheel operator enters administration]
/ref> At that time, Great City Attractions was operating as a subsidiary of Elliot Hall Ltd, a company set up by WTA Global Holdings director Elliot Hall. WTA Global Holdings was the holding company for World Tourist Attractions.
Collapse
On 20 July 2012, Great City Attractions Global Limited also went into administration. It ceased trading the following month, owing £6 million.
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Shortly before its collapse, Great City Attractions was operating several large transportable wheels in the UK, including installations at Glasgow, Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, Plymouth, and York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,[The Hoe's big wheel will stay in Plymouth until at least 2014]
/ref> as well as the Wheel of Brisbane
The Wheel of Brisbane (also Brisbane Eye) is an Observation Wheel in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is tall.
It was erected in 2008 at the northern entrance to South Bank Parklands, the transformed World Expo 88 site by the Brisbane Ri ...
in Australia.[ A further wheel in ]Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
had been dismantled in April 2012 and transported to Edinburgh, only to prove too large to gain access to its new site.
The Liverpool wheel stopped operating, but a new operator, The Hall Organisation Ltd., with the same director (Elliot Hall) as Great City Attractions, took over the running of the Plymouth and York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
installations. Both wheels were owned by Shipley Investments Ltd. of Dudley, who had rented them to Great City Attractions, and who had then repossessed them prior to the administrators being called in.[
In January 2013 it was reported that the British-based Ferris wheels previously operated by Great City Attractions Global, which included the Glasgow, Liverpool, ]Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Plymouth, and York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
wheels,[ had been purchased for an undisclosed sum by Dubai-based Freij Entertainment International, and would be operated by its Staffordshire-based UK operations arm ]Wheels Entertainments Wheels Entertainments, sometimes referred to by the press as Wheels Entertainment, is a company engaged in the operation of large transportable Ferris wheels. Based at Shenstone, in Lichfield, Staffordshire, it is the UK operations arm of Dubai-ba ...
Ltd.News from the north
/ref>
References
External links
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{{Ferris wheel
Entertainment companies of the United Kingdom