Southend is traditionally known for its strength in the leisure and tourism sector, with a large number of day visitors and an increasing focus on the attraction of visitors for overnight stays, the need to increase the number of hotel rooms available and diversifying the seafront offer available, being critical to this. There is growing private sector confidence in the town and a number of major hotel developments having been granted planning permission, or are currently in the planning process.
Southend has a rapidly expanding HE & FE education sector with the £53 million South Essex College campus building completed in 2005 and the new University of Essex, Southend campus building opened in January 2007, with additional phased expansion plans for the development of a cultural hub within the town.
The town has approximately 6000 businesses, of which a large number are recent business start-ups. There is a strong focus on the business and financial services sector and public administration. Future opportunities and key growth sectors include the expansion of London Southend Airport with anticipated growth to one million passenger movements by 2015, and the aviation related cluster which surrounds the airport. The health and medical and advanced engineering sector is another growth area, with one of the town's largest employers being internationally renowned in this field and part of the Olympus group.
The business support sector is a large employer with Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Converso, Ventrica and Thus, formerly Demon Internet, all having successful call centres in the town. Manufacturing still remains important with Ipeco and Olympus Keymed amongst the larger employers.
There is an emerging creative and cultural sector in Southend, and an aspiration to see this sector develop and become a catalyst for economic growth. Arts Council research has revealed a significant concentration of creative and cultural businesses located in the borough, particularly around Leigh-on-Sea. Arts and antiques, digital media, design, architecture, music and performing Arts are among the industries heavily represented in the area, and these industries, which have their origin in creativity, are set to become a key sector in the economic development of Southend.
Southend has a rapidly expanding HE & FE education sector with the £53 million South Essex College campus building completed in 2005 and the new University of Essex, Southend campus building opened in January 2007, with additional phased expansion plans for the development of a cultural hub within the town.
The town has approximately 6000 businesses, of which a large number are recent business start-ups. There is a strong focus on the business and financial services sector and public administration. Future opportunities and key growth sectors include the expansion of London Southend Airport with anticipated growth to one million passenger movements by 2015, and the aviation related cluster which surrounds the airport. The health and medical and advanced engineering sector is another growth area, with one of the town's largest employers being internationally renowned in this field and part of the Olympus group.
The business support sector is a large employer with Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, Converso, Ventrica and Thus, formerly Demon Internet, all having successful call centres in the town. Manufacturing still remains important with Ipeco and Olympus Keymed amongst the larger employers.
There is an emerging creative and cultural sector in Southend, and an aspiration to see this sector develop and become a catalyst for economic growth. Arts Council research has revealed a significant concentration of creative and cultural businesses located in the borough, particularly around Leigh-on-Sea. Arts and antiques, digital media, design, architecture, music and performing Arts are among the industries heavily represented in the area, and these industries, which have their origin in creativity, are set to become a key sector in the economic development of Southend.
Southend is home to one of the largest theatres in the region. The Cliffs Pavilion seats 1630 people – and can accommodate 2250 for a stand up gig. Together with the Palace Theatre it is run on behalf of Southend Council by Southend (HQ) Theatres Ltd, part of QDOS, one of the largest entertainment groups in the UK. An Arts Council survey into the economic impact of theatres revealed that Southend Theatres brings £18million into the local economy each year, and was ranked 9th in the country, only beaten by high profile national institutions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company.
MetalCulture, a renowned arts group has moved to Southend from Kensington, taking over the previously unoccupied Chalkwell Hall in Chalkwell Park.
