Smith & Williamson defended their decision......

......., which they said was taken in consultation with the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Mr Gulzar’s offer had been ‘carefully reviewed’, they told the Mail, and his ability to transact quickly at a time when the pier was making huge losses — together with his ‘proven track record’ — had counted in his favour. [No mention of due diligence then!}

This article from the Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6605009/After-self-styled-Sheik-bought-famous-pier-just-60-000-left-locals-fuming.html has many innacuracies, bad spelling and poor grammar included  - but there are some true gems worth the read.

• "Mr Wheeler says the main reason staff left was because the new owner declined to pay for vital maintenance to protect the pier’s cast-iron ‘legs’ – which have withstood the tide since the 1870s — from corrosion.
  
  Up to £70,000 a year should have been set aside for maintenance, he said, but in four months, Mr Gulzar forked out just £395.  ‘Everyone gave him a chance after he got control, but we loved the pier so much that what he was doing was just disheartening,’ Mr Wheeler said.  ‘Everything that was aspirational about the project was suddenly washed away.’
  
• Mr Gulzar strenuously denies all these claims."

[Peter Wheeler, the Pier Engineer, initially during reconstruction, and then ongoing, spent much of his own time and money expressing his love for the Pier.  He was a joy to work with, and always helpful and responsive.]

• "Then, in November, a fire broke out in the pavilion restaurant — fortunately it was quickly extinguished. Mr Gulzar is convinced it was arson although Sussex Police say it was caused by an ‘electrical fault’ which was not ‘suspicious’."

• ‘Lord’ Brett McLean, [says] it will re-open on Valentine’s Day.  There would be new huts selling traditional seaside fare, a dome for concerts and a jetty for boat trips to Eastbourne Pier.
  But he had to make a profit, so, yes, there might be a slot machine arcade, too. 
• I put my money where my mouth is,’ he [Mr. Gulzar] says. 

And so did many of us, in some cases, a widow's mite!