Economy
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Originally based on fishing and engineering, the economy of Lowestoft has declined over the years. Although the tourism sector has grown, the major employers in the town are the wholesale and retail sector, with 18 per cent of employment.[citation needed]
Service industries, including health, social care and education are significant employers, while manufacturing employs about 10 per cent of the workforce.[citation needed]
Employment can vary seasonally due to the importance of tourism to the economy.[citation needed] In early 2011, around 10 per cent of the working population of the town claimed Jobseekers Allowance.[citation needed]
Traditional industries[edit]
Traditional trawler, the Mincarlo, now a museum ship
Until the mid-1960s, fishing was seen as Lowestoft's main industry, although from the 1930s the percentage so employed directly and in trades associated with fishing was actually only about 10 per cent.[citation needed] Fleets of drifters and trawlers caught fish such as herring, cod and plaice. Catches have diminished since the 1960s and although 100 boats remained by the 1980s, there are now only a few small boats operating out of Lowestoft, with no large trawlers. By 2011 just three traders remained at the town's fish market, which is under threat of closure due to redevelopment of the port. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), a large fisheries research centre that is a part of Defra, is still located in Lowestoft.
Other major traditional employers included Eastern Coach Works and engineering and shipbuilding companies clustered around the harbour. These included the Brooke Marine and Richards shipbuilding companies, which together employed over a thousand men but went out of business in the 1990s, and the Norwich-based engineering company Boulton and Paul. Some shipbuilding and repair still goes on at the harbour.
Modern economy[edit]
Windfarm construction in Lowestoft harbour
Major local employers include Birds Eye frozen foods, with 700 workers. This has been located in the town for over 60 years. The food-processing company Wessex Foods closed its Lowestoft plant in 2010 after a fire destroyed the factory and it failed to find alternative premises.
Several other employers have shed labour in recent years. The Sanyo plant in the town closed down in 2009 with a loss of 60 jobs, having once employed 800. The timber company Jeld-Wen closed its factory in the town in 2010.
From the mid-1960s to the late 1990s, the oil and gas industry provided significant employment in the area. For many years the Shell Southern Operations base on the north shore of Lowestoft Harbour was town's largest employer. A decision to close the Shell base was finally made in 2003. Oil and gas is still a major industry.
The town has made efforts to develop as a centre for renewable energy in the east of England. The non-profit Orbis Energy centre has been set up to draw business in the green-energy sector and features solar thermal heating. In April 2009, Associated British Ports announced that the harbour is to become the operations centre for the 500 MW Greater Gabbard wind farm, which when completed will be the world's largest offshore windfarm. The turbines will be located 15 miles (24 km) off the Suffolk coast and the Outer Harbour will be used to house the necessary operational support facilities. Other developments in the renewable energy sector include a prototype tidal energy generator being produced by local company 4NRG and wave power systems developed by Trident Energy.
Hoseasons (now part of Awaze), a specialist in self-catering UK holidays, is also a large employment provider.
Retailing[edit]
The town centre is the main shopping area in Waveney district. The retail chain Marks & Spencer has a store. Chadds independent department store was founded in 1907, and after nearly 100 years trading in the High Street, was taken over in 2004 by the Great Yarmouth-based Palmers group. Specialist shopping areas, branded as The Historic High Street and the Triangle Market Place, have been developed on the northern edge of the centre. Several retail parks have appeared, the largest being North Quay Retail Park in Peto Way.
Tourism[edit]
Lowestoft beach at the airshow
Lowestoft is a traditional seaside resort, first developed as a bathing site in the 1760s. The coast has been called the "Sunrise Coast". The town's main beaches are south of the harbour, where two piers, the Claremont and South piers, provide tourist facilities, and the East Point Pavilion the tourist information service. The beach south of the Claremont Pier is a Blue Flag beach. Lifeguard facilities are provided during the summer and water sports take place along the coast. Tourism is a significant aspect of the town's economy.
The town features two major attractions, the first being Pleasurewood Hills Theme Park, situated on the northern edge of the town, while the second is the Africa Alive! wildlife park, situated in the south at Kessingland. The town maintains a holiday park at Pakefield, operated by Pontins, and a small caravan site near its northern beach. The natural attractions of the Broads and the River Waveney on the west edge of the town, also attract visitors and been the site for boat trips and water sports events, with companies such as Hoseasons operating hire boats from Oulton Broad.
Between 1996 and 2012, the town hosted a major air show during the summer, dubbed the Lowestoft Airshow. A major attraction, the two-day event took place in August, and featuring a wide range of aircraft including the Red Arrows, a Lancaster bomber, Spitfires and an Avro Vulcan. From 2004, it was run by Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival Ltd, a non-profit company, but suffered financial difficulties. In 2010, the event made a loss of £40,000 and raised concerns over its sustainability, whereupon further financial difficulties coupled with bad weather and low visitor numbers made the 2012 airshow the last before it was discontinued.
Near the town centre is Lowestoft Maritime Museum, open from late April to late October, which has exhibits of maritime artefacts, an extensive collection of ship models and medals, marine art, fishing and the fishing industry, activities with the Royal Navy in WWII, and shipwrights' and coopers' tools.
Redevelopment[edit]
Lowestoft (right) and Great Yarmouth (left) at night
Lowestoft is among the more socially deprived areas in Suffolk, with Kirkley the county's most deprived ward, ranking 173rd most deprived in England out of 32,486. The area attracted European Union redevelopment funding. The Waveney Sunrise Scheme invested £14.7 million, funding transport improvements and tourist facilities such as fountains on Royal Plain, as stimulants. Regeneration company 1st East, which focused on the Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth areas, closed in 2011.
Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Enterprise Zone was announced in 2011 and launched in April 2012. The zone, developed by New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, has six redevelopment sites across Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. The bid for the zone in 2011 envisaged creating 13,500 jobs by 2036. It involved the Norfolk and Suffolk Energy Alliance and focused on developing the energy sector initially using tax incentives, simplified planning regulations and the provision of improved broadband internet services. The sites in Lowestoft are Mobbs Way, Riverside Road and South Lowestoft Industrial Estate.
Associated British Ports, the operator of the Port of Lowestoft, published their Lowestoft Masterplan, which aims to regenerate the harbour and take advantage of renewable energy, including the new Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) on the former SLP land at the outer harbour amongst other projects. The harbour is a focus of redevelopment proposals for Lowestoft through the Lake Lothing and Outer Harbour Area Action Plan, submitted in February 2011. The plan focuses on the redevelopment of brownfield sites in and around the harbour area to create jobs, particularly in the renewable energy and retailing sectors.
