A tool from the BBC, using data from the Ordnance Survey, has revealed how the high street and shopping areas of Eastbourne have changed since the pandemic (comparing March 2020-March 2022).
Data looks at nine areas of Eastbourne - Commercial Road / Seaside / Cavendish Place / Courtlands Road / Langney Road / Pevensey Road / Seaside Road / The Beacon / Terminus Road
The biggest surprises are that there’s been a 46.2 per cent increase in the number of tattoo and piercing studios. Looking at Britain overall, this was the biggest increase at 8.2 per cent - so Eastbourne is above the national trend there.
Michelle Bernard-Hillier is a tattoo artist in Eastbourne. She is about to open her own studio in Polegate. She said: “It’s been a massive increase. I think tattoos are not being seen as a ‘bad’ thing. Now it’s seen as an art expression.
“And particularly after the pandemic I think it became more popular because we want to live ‘today’ and do the things we always wanted. It was a moment to see that no one knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. So life is too short to stop doing what we always wanted.”
Another surprise was that there’s been a 13 per cent increase in fish and chip shops according to the data. The increase for Britain was 2.6 per cent.
Katerina Tutt, owner of Qualisea Fish Restaurant, was surprised by this data. She said: “It’s one of the hardest industries to be in at the moment due to fish being hit with a price increase. I know everything has gone up but fish has gone up 35 per cent in price, it’s very expensive.
“What with the cost of living crisis and rising fuel prices, it’s a lot at the moment. I’ve been in the business for 40 years and wouldn’t want to expand now.”
Despite what the data says, when you look up the fish and chip shops in Eastbourne, there aren’t any new ones showing up. However, other eateries selling fish and chips do appear which is why Ordnance Survey could have found that increase – more places serving fish and chips. To this, Katerina said: “It’s a national meal, more places are doing it now.”
The data also revealed:
Banks - 6.2 per cent decrease in Eastbourne (8.1 per cent decrease in Britain)
Beauty services - 2.9 per cent increase in Eastbourne (5.9 per cent increase in Britain)
Eating and drinking - six per cent decrease in Eastbourne (four per cent increase in Britain)
Retail - 11 per cent decrease in Eastbourne (three per cent decrease in Britain)
Public toilets - no change in Eastbourne (2.3 per cent decrease in Britain)
Supermarkets - no change in Eastbourne (2.5 per cent increase in Britain)
In 2020-2021 Eastbourne lost several shops including Debenhams, Topshop, and Dorothy Perkins. Take a look at the last eight years of our high street here.
Looking closer at the ‘eating and drinking’ category, there was an increase in the number of pubs and bars, but a decrease in cafes, fast food outlets, and restaurants - resulting in an overall six per cent decrease.
Lucy Hancock, from The Art House cafe, said: “I think people generally have less money so are looking at how they spend it more carefully. Rather than pop into cafes/fast food outlets they are planning their week/month for evenings out and quality time with family and friends rather than quick small fixes like coffee/popping in somewhere for lunch. They are going out/spending less but when they go out they have a higher expectation of spending time socialising .
“In hospitality the bigger margin is in alcohol so this may explain why cafes are the first to fail as there is a lot less margin in food, making it harder to make a profit. Hospitality is also suffering a labour shortage due to Brexit and Europeans unable to travel and work here in the UK making it harder to open consistently due to staff shortages.”
Ben Nicholson, from Nelson Coffee, said: “The high street has been on a gradual decline for a long time, which was exacerbated by the pandemic. Post pandemic there is significantly less footfall in the town centre. Coupled with less footfall, the industry (and the general public) has seen a huge increase in the cost of ingredients and utility prices. A cafe will either need to have significant savings to weather the current conditions or remain sufficiently busy to maintain a level of profitability. At Nelson Coffee our passion for coffee and great hospitality means that we are currently very busy, but we do not take that for granted during these tough times.
“We are not surprised by this data. Despite public perception that new cafes are always opening, there will be plenty closing this year too due to the harsh trading conditions.”
Marina Stone moved to Eastbourne recently to open Journeys, a wine bar and restaurant, with her wife Amy. Marina said: “We are absolutely not surprised about the statistics, we have only been living in Eastbourne since November but when we were coming to Eastbourne to sort out the sale we realised that a lot of businesses were shut and some premises looked empty.
“We are quite sad about it especially because we hear a lot of our guests telling us that they have to travel to Brighton to increase their choices of restaurant options which is really sad to hear that the people from Eastbourne have to travel a lot to enjoy a meal. We think that decrease is caused by the very uncertain current climate plus Covid did not help and scared people away!”
Despite this, Marina pointed out there are still restaurants opening in the town like Taj.
A spokesperson for Eastbourne Cocktail Club said: “Cost of living crisis! People may be having to choose nowadays on what they are spending their discretionary income on. People may see going out for drinks more of a treat than spending their money on going out for food? Especially nowadays people are wanting to eat in to spend less money then go out for drinks afterwards to enjoy their weekend off after being at work all week? I guess drinks can be cheaper than going out for food sometimes leaving people spending more of their leftover income in pubs and bars. Plus, to actually run your own venue nowadays is extortionate pricing for bills.”
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “The data that there are more pubs and bars in Eastbourne now than before the pandemic is very pleasing. Pubs and bars are the heart and soul of communities and we welcome the fact that there are now more in Eastbourne.”
1. Tattoo artist Michelle Bernard-Hillier said: “It’s been a massive increase. I think tattoos are not being seen as a ‘bad’ thing. Now it’s seen as an art expression."
- Photo: -
2. Nelson Coffee
Ben Nicholson said: “We are not surprised by this data. Despite public perception that new cafes are always opening, there will be plenty closing this year too due to the harsh trading conditions.” Photo: -
3. The Art House
Owner Lucy Hancock said: “I think people generally have less money so are looking at how they spend it more carefully." Photo: -
4. Wetherspoon
Eddie Gershon said: “The data that there are more pubs and bars in Eastbourne now than before the pandemic is very pleasing. Pubs and bars are the heart and soul of communities and we welcome the fact that there are now more in Eastbourne.” Photo: -