How millionaire nicknamed ‘Mr Goldfinger’ with fleet of three golden Teslas ‘ran UK seaside attraction into the ground’
A BLING-loving millionaire who drives a fleet of golden Teslas has been accused of failing to protect an iconic UK attraction.
Self-styled Sheikh Abid Gulzar sparked fury when his company bought fire-wrecked Hastings Pier in 2018 for £60,000.
Badly damaged by a 2010 blaze, it had been saved by a £12.4 million cash injection from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Gulzar, aka “Mr Goldfinger”, owing to a love of gold rings and watches, hoped to bring back fish & chip shops and bars to the East Sussex attraction when he took over.
He closed the 151-year-old site for repairs, vowing to restore it to its former glory, and it reopened in 2019.
But since then, the Indian-born eccentric says he has faced a litany of planning problems and slow progress in finishing the pier.
In the process, his firm, Lions Hastings Pier Ltd, which owns the pier, has gone into liquidation, owing up to £300,000.
It owes thousands to gas and electric firms, employees, a bank and other small businesses.
It is understood it also owes more than £30,000 to Hastings Borough Council for unpaid business rates.
The businessman, who also owns Eastbourne Pier, drives a garish gold Mercedes and Range Rover.
But in the last few months, bankruptcy notices have been filed against three hotels owned by the 78-year-old.
One of them, the Boship Hotel in Hallisham, East Sussex, rakes in £60,000 a month of taxpayers’ cash housing migrants.
James Chang, spokesman for the Friends of Hastings Pier (FOHP), said the community have begged Gulzar to invest in Grade II listed Hastings Pier.
He added: “Our group have been watching the steady demise of Hastings Pier over the last few years with increasing concern.”
The Sun made several attempts to conduct Mr Gulzar for comment.
He previously said: “I want to assure the people of Hastings and beyond that we will be keeping the pier open.
“We are trying to work with Hastings Borough Council planning department so that we can to continue the restoration of the pier and get the necessary permissions to rebuild what was lost in the fire in 2010.
“If we can do that then we can attract more businesses, bars, restaurants, fish and chip outlets to the pier and it will become financially viable.
“We have a long-term strategy but we need the support.”