See inside new St Leonards shop

Springfield Convenience Store, in Springfield Road, is run by Kandasamy Anusha and Kugatheeswaran Kugamoorthy.

An opening ceremony was held on Friday where Hastings and Rye MP, Sally-Ann Hart and Silverhill ward councillor Lucian Fernando were invited to officially open the business.

Kandasamy Anusha said: “Our celebration started with welcoming Sally-Ann and Lucian with flower bouquets. After that she cut the ribbon. We also had a beautiful cake made, with the shop name ‘Springfield Convenience Store’ spelt out on it.

“Sally-Ann cut the cake and all our guests had a slice and tried the variety of foods on offer. It was an amazing day for us.”

The shop is an off-licence and also sells groceries, as well as newspapers and magazines.

Kandasamy added: “We are planning to support Hastings foodbank, providing food donations with our support and encouraging our customers to donate food.”