Voice Of The Region: West & East Sussex – State of independents

The commercial property market in Sussex has proved remarkably resilient and this has been helped by Brighton’s unique offering as a haven for independent retail - something other markets could perhaps learn from. We spoke to Flude Property Consultants director and head of Brighton agency Andrew Halfacree as well as director and head of retail & leisure Will Thomas to learn more.

Flude sits comfortably ahead of the rest of the Radius market in the On Demand Rankings in both West and East Sussex, with retail providing the backbone of this success. Most towns, argues Thomas, offer the same shops selling the same things and this is perhaps why many of the larger chains are struggling. Brighton, however, has a vibrant independent offering and the city is now buzzing as the sun shines.

Halfacree says the office market is also performing strongly with some major deals expected to cross the line shortly. One of the factors driving this is the emergence of satellite offices as employees are reluctant to go back to the old normal of commuting into London every day, and this is having wider spin off benefits for other property types as more money is kept in the local economy.