i360 Board Member Profiles

The British Airways i360 is owned and operated by Brighton i360 Limited. The directors are:

Julia Barfield, an architect who with her husband David Marks formed the Marks Barfield architectural practice in 1989. Together they conceived and designed the London Eye, Julia serving as a director of the London Eye Company Limited from its formation and for six years after it became operational.  She has been involved in the i360 since the beginning. David died in 2017 but since then Julia has been chairman of the Board with special responsibility for design issues.

Ben Barfield Marks, the son of David and Julia who became a director following David’s death and is also a prize winning architect.

Eleanor Harris, formerly Commercial Director of the London Eye who was the chief executive of the Brighton i360 during the construction and early operating period. She left to become Commercial, Visitor Experience and Marketing at Royal Museums, Greenwich.  She is now MD of i-Xperience, a consultancy providing income generating and marketing advice to the attractions sector. Eleanor liaises closely with the Brighton i360 team on marketing and new business ideas.

John Roberts is Senior Director of Structural Engineering at Jacobs and Visiting Professor of Engineering at Manchester University.  He has special expertise in the visitor attractions sector and was principal checking engineer for the construction of the London Eye. He led the engineering design team at Jacobs on the i360 project and continues to provide technical advice, liaising closely with the technical team at the attraction.

Dick Russell practised as a corporate and commercial partner in a major City firm of solicitors for thirty years, ultimately as department head and managing partner. He advised on the creation, corporate structure and financing of the London Eye and has been the legal adviser to the i360 from its beginnings in which he led the contractual negotiations on the financing of the project and on the company’s property and commercial operations. Since the opening in 2016 he has continued to have oversight of legal and financial matters.

David Sharpe was formerly general manager of the London Eye, subsequently assuming overall responsibility for all of Merlin’s attractions in London. He provides invaluable guidance to the business from his long experience in the visitor attractions sector.

Each member of the board liaises as required with CEO Ian Hart and the senior management team in their areas of special responsibility. They meet as a board each month to review finances and operations.