Summary for September 1999 Business Focus Group

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Summary

In September 1999 the Borough Council carried out consultation with the business community of Hastings, which was undertaken largely through two focus groups, held with business people on 24 September, at the Cinque Ports Hotel in Hastings. A small number of depth interviews were undertaken by telephone to ensure that the sample of businesses included as wide a range of types of business as possible.

The discussions with business people followed the following topic guide:

• Business attitude to level of recruitment, training and skills, and potential gaps between skills required and the skills of applicants
• Property/land for business development opportunities and views on business support available
• Transport and communications infrastructure, including e-commerce
• Costs of running a business in Hastings and how it compares - expensive/inexpensive?
• Main concerns about Hastings as a place to do business

Participants were also shown copy of the draft Vision and Aims of the Council and asked for comments.

Participants for the focus groups were identified from Business Listings and recruited initially via a telephone interview. Potential participants were selected randomly from the lists, which were stratified in order to obtain a sample which broadly reflected business in Hastings and St. Leonards. (Qualitative research which by its nature involves a small number of people in detailed discussions cannot be fully representative).

The full report outlines the views of business people in Hastings on the topics outlined above. Section B summarises the issues raised and Section C the suggestions made. It should be noted, however, that the suggestions were the suggestions of individuals and cannot all be said to have universal support. (e.g. there was majority support for the bypass, with the exception of one participant).

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