Commercial Opportunities

The Facts & Figures Speak For Themselves

Catchment

• 147,000 people living within 20 minutes' drive
  Comparison - 167,000
  Convenience - 94,000
• In the top 15% of towns in the country for population growth
• Higher than national average proportion of affluent people (ACORN Thriving and Rising categories)

Spending Potential

• Retail spending potential of £270 million from local catchment area
• 3.2 million tourists a year contributing £150 million to the local economy and an estimated £14 million spend in town centre retail outlets
• £20 million spend annually in local economy by foreign language students

Access

The town is served by the A259 coast road and the A21 trunk road from London. Both routes are subject to review by the government, as are the three rail links to the town: Connex South Central operates from London Victoria via Gatwick, and from Ashford International; and Connex SouthEast serves London Charing Cross. There is easy town centre access via bus and rail services. St. Leonards town centre is well served by the recently modernised Warrior Square Station, and Hastings Station is set to be the focus of a major re-development.

• 64 miles to London
• 45 miles to Gatwick Airport
• Regular direct rail services to both
• 38 miles to Dover (ferries every hour to Calais)
• 30 miles to Newhaven (twice daily ferries to Normandy)
• Regular direct rail service to Ashford International Rail Terminal

Facilities

• Plentiful on and off-street parking
• New and attractive pedestrian areas
• Baby changing and disabled facilities
• Shopmobility
• CCTV, Shopwatch, Bar Watch, Exclusion scheme and dedicated Town Centre Street Wardens
• Hastings Town Centre recently awarded prestigious Home Office Safer Shopping Award. The first in East Sussex
• All main town centre car parks have been awarded Secure Car Park designation
• Seafront and family-oriented attractions within one minute's walk from central shopping area

In Addition

• In excess of £60 million already spent on town centre improvements, with a further £400 million investment in economic development over the next few years.
• The campus of the new University in Hastings is set to open in Hastings Town Centre in late 2003.
• The town has recently been designated a Millennium Community under one of the government's key Urban White Paper initiatives. The resulting development project will link six key sites, including the town centres, via a Metro.
• A new Media Centre is being established in the heart of Hastings town centre, providing serviced incubation space for media, creative and digital technology companies.
• Comprehensive commercial business support programme, including grants, dedicated professional consultants and advisors.
• Year on year growth in pedestrian footfall since the opening of Priory Meadow Shopping Centre in 1997.
• 93,000 sq/m/1,000,000 sq.ft gross floor space.

Some national names who have invested in Hastings in the last few years

Accessorize · Allsport · Bhs · Bay Trading · Birthdays · Body Shop · Bon Marche · Boots · Burton Group · Clinton Cards · Debenhams · Dixons Hush Puppies · JJB Sports · KFC · Littlewoods · Marks & Spencer · Milletts · Ottakers · Peacocks · Safeway · W H Smith · Specsavers · Superdrug Thorntons · Toni & Guy · Virgin · Wetherspoons · Yates's Bros Wine Lodge