Peel bought the airport because it was losing over £400k a year, with a £2 million overdraft and with no more money to fund operations. No-one else came in with a better offer, so £1 is not necessarily an unreasonable price for a business losing money, unsustainable debts and with just one offer on the table.
You've got a big chunk of history and data missing. I'll dredge some up from memory, so you will have to excuse me if I get any details wrong.
Way back in the late 80's there was a huge opencast mine. It was being mined by RJ Budge Mining. Restitution involved backfilling, landscaping and building an airport in accordance with the wishes of the landholder.
AF Budge Construction (Owned by RJ Budge's brother and the owner/operator of the very successful Gamston) was employed to develop the airport and the associated business park that would pay for it. The property was one whole. The airport was a part of the grand plan, not an adjunct to offices and warehouses. Without the airport there was no business park.
AF Budge Construction went bust in the recession.
The Sheffield Development Corporation sorted things out and a new developer was found.
The airport was built, the business park went ahead and annual profits of £2-4m (from memory) were enjoyed from the project.
Anyway, as things rumbled on the airport property was put into an SPV owned by the developer. Then an operating company was set up that was part owned by the developer. The OpCo paid rent to the SPV which sent rent profits up to the Developer.
Can you see where this is going?
OpCo shows a loss, but can't make money like the rest of the site by developing the land because that is owned by the SPV, which is owned by the Developer, who has a foot in all camps.
From memory, the last years accounts showed a loss in the OpCo of about £400k, but the ultimate landlord turned a multi million profit.
The multi-million pound profit wouldn't be there without the airport, but through smart division of financial responsibility the clause for getting the rest of the land for a quid kicked in.
There's no blame on the developer, landlord, or even the OpCo team. They did what they do in a commercial marketplace - I'd do the same.
The issues lie with the people who allowed it to happen in the first place. That is why an enquiry is being called for so that the public can understand and that any wrongs found are righted.
Anyone who thinks that CAT pax loads are the point of this saga is missing the point by a country mile.
Sheffield had a fully functioning airport / airfield that served GA very well indeed, and brought lots of business to Sheffield. We want that back.