Worthing's new shops: 34 businesses that have opened in our town since 2020

But, as we came out of lockdown and the retail sector began to recover, several new businesses have opened in Worthing.

Sharon Clarke, Worthing town centre manager, gave a picture on retail in the town centre in the past year.

She said: “There were 37 vacant units in February, 2022, and by February, 2023, it had reduced by 9 to 28; this is a vacancy rate of just 5 per cent. The national average vacancy rate is 10.2 per cent, so Worthing is performing well.

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“The old Beales store is being developed with flats above and the work is nearing completion, so hopefully the ground floor will be brought back into use now the scaffolding is down. The Debenhams building is awaiting a planning decision for flats above and ground floor commercial; however, this won’t be available to let until the development of the building is completed. The old Argos and Carphone Warehouse units are still under lease to the previous occupant but these leases expire this year, so hopefully these will come onto the market soon. There are flats being built above Mountain Warehouse/H&M, and it won’t be long until the solid brick wall along Montague Place will have windows and a mural.

“Businesses are experiencing increased costs with profit margins being squeezed, and so this year will be a challenge but shopper numbers are holding up at the moment and businesses hope this continues. The increased number of residential properties in the town centre will help to protect footfall, as people living in the town will use the town for shopping, leisure and socialising. All town centres are facing challenges, given the cost of living crisis, but Worthing is in a good place to weather the storm.”

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Here are 34 of the new names to join our town since 2020.