TOWN CENTRE INTELLIGENCE R E P O R T S E P T E M B E R

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1 TOWN CENTRE INTELLIGENCE 3

2 Welcome to the third Business Intelligence Report from Royal Tunbridge Wells Together. These reports are designed to provide businesses with information on the health and vitality of Tunbridge Wells Town Centre and when viewed together, build up a picture of business life here. We report regularly on vacant units, premises type, startup figures and also aim to build the report s relevance by studying some subjects in greater detail. In our last report, we included car parking occupancy and costs and public transport figures from Network Rail and Arriva buses. Where this data is available, these figures are updated in this report. If the data has been unavailable for this report, updates will be provided subsequently. For this, our third report, we want to start identifying the impact that events have in Tunbridge Wells. If events are proven to deliver benefits, Royal Tunbridge Wells Together can facilitate and encourage a busier and more varied calendar of events throughout the year Information in this report collected: 22 September PREMISES TYPE We monitor the types of businesses operating from retail space in the town centre. A thriving town centre needs a vibrant mix of businesses to attract visitors. Food and Drink remains dominant with a strong showing in Health and Beauty and Fashion categories. These findings are expected given the affluent local demographic. Charity Technology and Gaming Supermarkets and Convenience Store Food and Drink Health and Beauty Home and furnishing Department Store Jewellers Fashion Stationary and Cards Speciality & Other Eastate Agents Professional and Financial Services Travel and Toursim

3 INDEPENDENTS vs CHAINS The Independent retailers and businesses that operate here in Tunbridge Wells are one of the town s Unique Selling Points. We have stores that can t be found on every high street or in large shopping malls. We are fortunate that the town s built environment, with small units in the High Street, Pantiles and Camden Road, acts as a suitable location for new business start ups. 3 NEW OPENINGS Morgan Hodges Man a new barbers on The Pantiles Cath Kidston Quirky chain retailer offering bright, vintage-style homewares, bags, clothing and more in RVP. Yankee Candle Retail chain specializing in a wide array of scented candles & related accessories in RVP. Leicht - Kitchen shop located on The High Street. D Occasion Designer second hand designer clothes shop on Camden Road. Camden Butchers a traditional old fashioned butcher shop on Camden Road. Sharps bedroom furniture shop located on Calverley Road. G&C Art Gallery and Tea Salon a completely new concept, oriental art and China tea located on Camden Road. COMING SOON The Ivy long-standing celebrity haunt originating from Covent Garden opening on The High Street. Krsipy Kreme popular doughnut company and coffeehouse chain opening in RVP. Simply Float mindful and mediation in flotation tanks opening on Monson Road.

4 VACANCIES The table below is included in each of our Business Intelligence Reports. It clearly shows, by location, the number of vacant units in the town centre. We have seen an increase in vacant units in this quarter to 12.5%, but a proportion of these vacant units are due to redevelopment plans in Royal Victoria Place and elsewhere. Road Open Vacant Calverley Road 55 6 Camden Road Castle Street 9 2 Chapel Place 14 3 Ely Court 4 8 Grosvenor Road 47 8 Grove Hill Road 8 2 High Street 69 3 London Road 16 2 Monson Road 29 2 Mount Pleasant Road 58 5 RVP The Pantiles 35 2 Vale Road 20 1 Total We have a slight reduction in the total number of units in the town centre this quarter due to a number of units having multiple entrances e.g. Next have entrance/exit points into Royal Victoria Place and Camden Road. We aim for accuracy in our reporting so have amended the total figure.. NATIONAL AVERAGES The following information has been collected by Springboard Rupert Farrant, Durlings - Summer months are usually quieter months for retail lettings, we always expect to see an upturn in enquiries as we head into Autumn. We consider retail in Tunbridge Wells to be very resilient. Indeed, it is a sought-after destination with hot spots in The Pantiles, The High Street, Monson Road and Mount Pleasant Road. 4 The data collected shown on this map is from July 2017 UK RESULTS NATIONAL AVERAGE The National Town Centre Vacancy Rate was 9.6 per cent in July 2017, up from 9.3 per cent in January This marks the first Quarter that the Vacancy Rate has risen since the same quarter last year.

5 Passenger numbers OFFICE AND NON-RETAIL COMERCIAL SPACE The allowing of Permitted Development Rights where developers can change the use of commercial premises to residential without any planning permission - has had a serious impact on the availability of office space for businesses in Tunbridge Wells. This has been repeatedly highlighted in local press and is a problem across the South East of the UK, where residential values are high and property is in huge demand. Royal Tunbridge Wells Together is lobbying Greg Clark, our local MP, and meeting with planning staff locally at TWBC to explore ways of protecting core space in the Town Centre. BUS SERVICES Arriva run the majority of bus services into Tunbridge Wells Town Centre, this graph shows passenger numbers on a selection of routes. August is a quieter month due to holidays and there is a clear increase in numbers in September when people return to work. The graph below shows passenger usage on a selection of Arriva bus services in Tunbridge Wells 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10, Bus service Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep & Tonbridge to Tunbridge Wells Hospital 281- Rusthall to High Brooms Hawkenbury to Tunbridge Wells Tunbridge Wells to Dunton Green 7 - Maidstone to Tunbridge Wells 77 - Kings Hill to Tunbridge Wells 5 PARKING We established in our last report that there is an average occupancy rate of 65% across the town centre s car parks. At the time of going to print, data on the past quarter s parking occupancy was unavailable. These figures will be updated in the next quarterly report.

6 EVENTS Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town that was built and developed through leisure and tourism with many businesses in the town centre relying upon tourism today. With superb shopping, excellent restaurants, the Commons and the Spa Valley Railway, as well as cultural venues such as Trinity Theatre and the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells is a regional centre, drawing in visitors from the South East and further afield. Tourism today is not incidental, towns compete to attract visitors and Tunbridge Wells is no different. Royal Tunbridge Wells Together is working with others to maintain and build upon visitor numbers to the town. In September, we focused on Food events and promoted a number of food venues and events around the Town Centre, culminating in a Food Festival in Calverley Grounds. Visitor numbers at the Food Festival on the 23rd and 24th September were 15,000+. Many local businesses were involved in the Festival with 77% of stallholders coming from Kent and Sussex. Local businesses including Marlowe s, Fuggles Beer Café, The Warren, Hotel du Vin and Nourish Community Foodbank were all represented. Here s some feedback from participating businesses. Tracy, Basil Catering Services - Just to let you know firstly that all the spaces went very quickly and we are fully booked. Alex Greig, Fuggles Beer Café- The Food Festival itself in Calverley was a huge success, a real highlight for us. It was at capacity for its duration and showed the demand for events like that in the centre/top of town Jeremy Mather, Hoopers- The additional footfall created by the Food Festival contributed to sales growth. Royal Tunbridge Wells Together provided grant funding to the organisers of the Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival which took place on the 13th and 14th October. This is the second Puppetry Festival to take place in Tunbridge Wells and was a huge success. 6 Linda Lewis, Organiser of TW Puppetry Festival - Last Saturday brought unseasonably good weather and a fantastic day of puppetry to Tunbridge Wells There were over 2,500 people enjoying magnificent, free shows on The Pantiles and in theatre spaces around the town, and we ve had such lovely comments from people who came along. It was a great day out for everyone in town.

7 BUSINESS START-UP RATES There were 162 business start-ups in the past quarter, a reduction in the figure of 204 for the last quarter but this is to be expected over the summer months. It reflects a healthy number of new business creations. Data collected from The Information Point at Kent County Council July August September TN The Pantiles and St Marks Culverden TN1 The Pantiles and St Marks Culverden In this report and for future reports, we are taking figures drawn by both postcode and by ward so that we provide a more accurate picture of start-ups in the town centre. CONCLUSION Town Centres across the UK have spent the last decade adjusting to online shopping. Where people once researched their purchases instore, they now routinely do this online. An ever growing number of people now research and shop online - 56% of electronic and computer equipment in the UK is now purchased online. The market share of online shopping continues to grow year on year. These massive behavioural changes take time to filter through and effect change. Royal Tunbridge Wells is not immune to this change, trading conditions are challenging but our hospitality and leisure sectors are thriving and our independent sector is strong. Although the vacancy rate for retail premises for the last quarter may not make comfortable reading but as Durlings, one of the town s Commercial Agents has said The Tunbridge Wells retail market is notoriously resilient. Using figures gathered from one quarter to make long term predictions would not be wise. Royal Tunbridge Wells Together is working collaboratively with partner agencies and businesses to address and overcome any challenges that arise. We will be studying successful initiatives that have driven footfall in other towns and cities and developing events and initiatives that suit Royal Tunbridge Wells. 7 CONTACT DETAILS karen@tunbridgewellstogether.co.uk, florence@tunbridgewellstogether.co.uk EK7 Ely Court, Royal Victoria Place, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 2SP

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