Investment in shopping centre is paying off

Ipswich’s revamped Sailmakers Shopping Centre has got something to sing and dance about after creating more than 100 new jobs in the past 18 months and also boosting the local economy by more than £2.5 million.

The centre, which re-launched last year as Sailmakers, has attracted eight new national stores in the past 18 months and has also seen a massive increase in footfall.

New arrival is the fast-growing plus-size clothing chain Yours which will open with ten new staff.

It follows openings for bbs coffee and muffins and Subway as well as Pandora and Blue Inc and major refits for Topshop and Quiz while earlier arrivals included River Island, Iceland and Poundland.

Jewellers Warren James, who opened last year, have been so successful that they recently took on two more members of staff and they have certainly attracted some attention, according to manager Yasmeen Srawar Gonzalez.

She said: “The company is really growing and we’re growing here at Sailmakers too and we’ve taken on three new staff in the last couple of months.

“They’ve certainly added some character to the Centre – Tsian Jeal just never stops dancing and Ebi Avi loves to sing while she’s working and it goes down very well with the customers.

“The refurbishment and re-launch as Sailmakers has certainly made a difference too. It looks much better and the atmosphere is great and so is the footfall.”

Mike Sorhaindo, manager of Sailmakers Shopping Centre said: “It’s very positive and it underlines the importance to the town of the £4 million investment made in the refurbishment of the centre.

“Those 80 plus jobs add up to over £1 million in wages for local people and with estimates that every £1 is spent two and a half times that means over £2.5 million going into the Ipswich economy.

“We are also seeing continuing rises in footfall – the three months to the end of June saw an increase of almost 10%t on last year and in the first six months of 2016 we’ve had more than 200,000 more shoppers at Sailmakers than last year with well over a quarter of a million through the doors.”