What’s next for Hastings Debenhams building? More plans revealed

The plans come after separate proposals for a three-floor family ‘fun factory’ games arcade were unveiled.

The latest scheme would use the top three floors of the building. The ‘fun factory’ would take the lower floors

Jon Trigg, founder and managing director of Freedom Works, said his company is creating 15,000 sq ft of flexible workspace and co-working space in the Debenhams building, over three floors.

Hastings: Three-floor ‘family fun factory’ set to open in former Debenhams store

He said: “We will be creating 24 offices for two-desk to 30-desk businesses, 12 dedicated desks for freelancers, a hot desking zone for those wishing to ‘dip in’ and ‘dip out’, and three meeting rooms for teams to book, whether based in the office or not.

“We’re really proud to be part of an initiative which is repurposing an iconic town centre building to create offices and workspace local businesses will be proud to call home.

“Our ambition is to create a home for 100+ businesses and freelancers in Hastings, creating a community where peer support enhances the ability for a business to succeed and grow. We will work with local networking groups and agencies to support local business, and have made contact with Hastings Chamber of Commerce already.

Your views on Hastings ‘family fun factory’ plan for Debenhams site

“Having set up a number of workspace in other Sussex coastal communities, we’re extremely excited about creating this much-needed employment space. But, to do so in such an iconic building which will add huge value to the town centre of Hastings makes this project even more special. Our focus now is to recruit businesses and ensure we can make this commercially sustainable as quickly as we can.

“Our investment into Hastings is very much based on our experience within other coastal communities and the growth in demand we have witnessed in flexible workspaces in Sussex towns, since the pandemic.

“We have high hopes for Hastings and its potential, and having been here on the ground starting the project, the levels of interest already indicate the need for such workspace.”

He said the new office space is scheduled to open in late summer 2022.

Freedom Works is an independent co-working and flexible office provider which has set up eight workspaces across the south in commuter or coastal towns in the last five years.