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OWENS – A response from Town Deal Team
Dear HIP
With reference to your report Owens out, attractions withdrawn in HIP 227 we want to put across our side of the story.
The Debenhams building had been mentioned in the original Town Investment Plan submission for the government grant given its vulnerability at the time, but it was still an operational Debenhams when the funding was originally allocated. When the building was bought by Moxie, the council had discussions with the new owners regarding their potential usage of the building including converting to residential housing and a large shopping outlet.
The town fund grant of £400k was allocated to the project following an open call in Spring 2022 inviting applications. There was a joint submission between C&O and Moxie Management. All applications received were evaluated for the Town Deal Board by Steers consultancy. The Town Investment Panel made their own assessment and agreed this project best met the investment objectives which were detailed in the original Town Investment Plan, and was able to meet those within the constraints of the programme. Consideration was given to the need for the public funding and what would happen without any award along with the objectives of the Town Deal investment plan and timeframes of the programme
The Moxie and C&O partnership were asked to submit a full business case, and were then invited to present their project details at the next Town Deal Board meeting.
The Town Deal team was unaware of Lubov Chernukhin’s involvement with Owens until recently. According to Companies House, she was not listed as a director of the company until after the Town Deal funding was awarded.
The funding was agreed and signed off by the Board and Department of Levelling Up, Communities and Housing, the £400k being split between the two parties – £150k to C&O to add to the entertainment offer and £250k to Moxie to complete works to make all areas of the building infrastructure fully usable.
The project was awarded funding primarily to deliver economic impact in the town centre with the creation of local jobs and bringing back into use a vacant building. The Towns Funding was to enable the wider fit out of the building and for the entertainment offer to be greater than was originally proposed; it was not to subsidise entry to the attractions. No requirements were put on this, and it was for the business to market the offerings according to the local market conditions. It was noted the building was free to enter and that a variety of attractions were available at a range of prices. We have been advised that C&O are looking to review their pricing structure and are keen to work with and engage with the local community.
The project has delivered the expected outcomes of local job creation and has brought a large vacant building in the town centre back into use in a short space of time and during COVID recovery. The public grant enabled the attraction and building to be fully developed quickly to provide much needed help to revitalise the town centre which would not have been possible without the additional investment.
Hastings Borough Council Town Deal Team
Misleading report
Dear HIP
Your recent article titled ‘Owens out, attractions withdrawn’, unfortunately contains a number of misleading inaccuracies.
Owens Entertainment has been operational for six months and has already proven to have a positive impact on the local community. The centre has provided jobs for Hastings by hiring 45 contracted staff members, concession holders recruit their teams locally, and we have a clear aim to ensure our suppliers are local.
In addition, Owens Entertainment plays a pivotal role in attracting visitors to Hastings town centre, serving as a popular destination for family fun, with almost 100,000 visitors since opening in autumn 2022.
And, through our combined investment of £4 million, we have refurbished and repurposed an iconic, prominent and historic building to positively impact the streetscape and ensure the relevancy of Robertson Street and the Trinity Triangle.
It is therefore misleading to suggest Owens Entertainment’s delivery is “very wide of the mark”. The targets quoted in your article were contingent on Owens Entertainment launching in late summer 2022. As the venue was not opened until the autumn, the peak season was missed, which naturally had an impact on the business’s indicative timeline to launch additional attractions and scale up recruitment.
It is because of the above positive impact on local high streets and communities that councils across the country are keen to attract businesses like Owens, through offering funding and grants.
We look forward to further building out Owens Entertainment and the many ways in which it benefits local communities.
Lubov Chernukhin
Director of C&O Entertainment
Wrong place
Dear HIP
I am sorry for the person who has started up The Bizarrium in Owens (see Owens – Readers’ Comments in HIP 226). But I think the former Debenhams could have been put to far better use. It’s absolutely the wrong place for something like this to be.
I will just add that the provision of grants is totally unacceptable. This money would have been far better spent doing something to the terrible and dangerous pavement on the front from the Old Town To Hastings Town Centre, which is very unattractive to visitors.
Ann Brady
The Rossettis encore
Dear HIP
With regard to the article The Rossettis’ Hastings Revisited in HIP 226, can I draw your attention to the book by Jenny Ridd ‘ A Destiny Defined: Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Lizzy Siddall in Hastings’? (See http://www.edgertonpublishing.co.uk/publications/a-destiny-defined/)
Jenny has also written a history of the occupants of 5 High Street from the time it was built until the end of the twentieth century, entitled Walls, Beams, Love and Dreams. It will be published later this year.
David Penfold
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