All the news that matters
Local, National and International
Times OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS
The BIGGEST local paper and it’s still
FREE
es s to im rd a ow T w H the s A E 8 r s G te ne E PA en usi SE B
Wednesday February 12 | 2020
Trampoline park needs a new home after forced closure
GOOD SIGN How newly branded store might look
By Andy Tong
Lidl names town centre site as battle of budget stores starts By Richard Williams GERMAN supermarket Lidl, has found a location for its first store in Tunbridge Wells. The budget retailer has been scouting sites in the town for some time, but has been keeping tight-lipped as to where it wanted to locate its newest supermarket. The Times can now disclose that the low-cost grocery chain has acquired half of the site currently occupied by Homebase in Linden Park Road, Broadwater Lane, near to the Spa Valley Railway. Homebase, which will continue to trade on the site, has split its store in half, with the DIY retailer operating out of one side, while Lidl plans to operate out of the other. A spokesperson for Homebase told the Times this week: “We can confirm that
the unit on Broadwater Lane has been split and that this space has been acquired by Lidl. Our Tunbridge Wells store will continue to operate as per usual.” It is unclear whether the supermarket giant will have to apply for new planning
Homebase will operate as ‘per usual’ but has split store in half permission from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council before it can begin operating from the DIY store, but existing permission for the site does allow for a ‘retail food store and retail warehouse’. The news follows last year’s opening of Aldi in Tunbridge Wells – chief rival to
THE popular family attraction Jump In Trampoline Park has been ordered to quit its Tonbridge site with the possible loss of 60 jobs if a new location cannot be found. The attraction has to leave its Morley Road premises by May 31 after the landlords gave notice to quit at the end of the current lease. The site will now be taken over by Atom, a large and highly successful drinks company which occupies both neighbouring units - and put in a better offer. Jump In has conducted what it described as ‘an exhaustive search’ of other potential sites in and around Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells but has failed to find a local solution.
Popular
Lidl – which opened in the former Toys R Us unit in the Great Lodge Retail Park in Longfield Road, last October. Both German retailers have been opening stores up and down the country as they jostle for customers. Aldi has invested around £1billion in new supermarket openings and is aiming ‘to open a new store in the UK every week over the next two years’, increasing its existing 840 stores by more than 100. Similarly, Lidl, which first entered the UK market in 1994 and now employs over 22,500 workers, is planning 230 openings over the next few years, which will see it have nearly 1,000 branches in Britain. Aldi is currently edging its rival with a
It has eight other trampoline parks across the country, and this is the first one that has had to close. Both the company and the Morley Road site are profitable. Gavin Lucas, founder and Chief Executive of Jump In, said: “We have been searching for alternative premises across the region south of London for some time, and are exploring some options for relocation. “Nevertheless, it is likely that Jump In will be leaving Tonbridge if a local site is not secured.” He added: “We feel we provide a hugely popular outlet for fun physical activity for children. In the context of a childhood obesity crisis and increasingly screen-dominated daily life, this would be a sad loss for the local area.”
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 2