Chance for Scarborough residents to have their say about the future of the town centre

The Scarborough Town Centre Strategy, produced in 2018 is being refreshed.

The Town Team is now asking businesses, residents and visitors to contribute their ideas for the future of the town.

Whilst there is a lot of negative press in the media about high streets and shops closing, Scarborough is performing well in comparison to many cities and towns across the UK, and businesses in Scarborough, despite all the challenges, remain positive about the many strengths of the town.

For example, more people visit Scarborough than almost any other place in North Yorkshire (only the city of York has more visitors) and the town centre and its beaches are one of the UK's top five visitor destinations.

With temperatures rising in Europe, many people are opting to visit and stay in locations where there is access to the sea, to national parks, to cultural facilities, heritage attractions and to vibrant town centres.

Since COVID-19, many independent businesses have established themselves in Scarborough where they are finding not only a strong seasonal market during the summer but also busy trading periods throughout the whole year.

The owner of one of these new businesses, Katie Lawson, said: “We launched Olive, our new Italian café, in May 2023, in Bar Street, a historic location in Scarborough, and have been amazed by the incredible response.

"I have now employed two new staff and we are hoping to grow even more by 2024.”

Helen Hitchens from Crafty Creations, another business that has grown successfully since the pandemic said: “We are a cafe and studio that offers pottery ,crafts and glass fusing workshops.

"Established in 2020, in the heart of Scarborough town centre, each year around 1600 people use their creativity and skills to create amazing products that they can take home.

"We love living and working in Scarborough and are passionately committed to connecting people with their creativity.”

There is also evidence that an increasing number of flexible workers, partly based at home, are using the town centre to meet up, to have on-line meetings and to work in many professional sectors from translation to computer programming to marketing and creative design services.

Scarborough is proving a great location for achieving a fanastic quality of life, yet with convenient rail and bus access to major cities such as York, Hull and Leeds.

To have your say about Scarborough Town Centre go to https://tinyurl.com/scarborough-strategy-2023