New business in Hailsham opened by Town Mayor

Cllr Paul Holbrook joined staff to declare Belle's Pottery Studio officially open for business and was among a small number of people to explore the new business located in Station Road.

At Belle's, customers can choose from a wide selection of pottery to paint themselves and the studio has a broad selection of 'bisque' unpainted pottery to choose from with various paints. There is also a cafe available on site selling a range of homemade cakes and refreshments and a selection of gifts available to purchase. Studio painting sessions are also available, details of which are available on their website: bellespottery.com

Belle's Pottery Studio is one of several new businesses which have opened in Hailsham town centre over the past few years, others including Hailsham Barbers and Furniture Now! (High Street), Sweet Tooth (Market Square), Raystede Charity Shop (Vicarage Field), 847847 Taxis, Monkey King Games and Sweethearts Party Boutique (George Street) and Happy Paws, Shelly's and Simply Weigh (St Mary's Walk).

Town Mayor Cllr Paul Holbrook, who cut the ribbon at the official opening said: "I am delighted to have been asked to open the new shop and it's wonderful to see enterprising people continue to set up businesses in our town. We have an increasingly vibrant town centre, and the opening of Belle's Pottery Studio is a great addition!"

"I wish the team at Belle's their business venture every success in the future."

Cllr Holbrook added: "I'd like to take this opportunity to say that what we must all remember, is that local independent businesses are an asset to our community, and it is important that we support our local economy by purchasing goods and services from them whenever possible rather than relying on just the larger out-of-town stores and service providers."

The opening of Belle's Pottery Studio is yet another boost for the town centre in terms of contributing to the reduction in the number of empty retail units, with the latest figures from retail analytic/research company Springboard showing that Hailsham town centre falls well below the current regional and national averages of vacant ground floor commercial units.

According to their recent vacancy rate survey, the percentage of vacant ground floor units in Hailsham currently stands at 6.2%, a drop from the 6.7% recorded last spring. This also compares to a current regional/Southeast average of 9.5% and national average of 10.%.

Deputy Town Clerk and Business Enterprise Manager Mickey Caira said: "The percentage of vacant commercial units in Hailsham has decreased considerably in recent years and still falls below the current regional and national averages, which is excellent news for the town. Hailsham is definitely the place to be for all shopping and other business needs."