Town Centre Business

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The population of the Borough has grown over recent years to 150,000 with a catchment of 3⁄4 million within a 15 minute travel time. Kingston Town receives on average of over 300,000 visitors per week, a figure which increases to as much as 1⁄2 million during the peak Christmas trading times. It is for all these reasons that Kingston Town Centre is a successful and popular Regional shopping destination, second only to the West End within the South East of England, and regularly being featured in the Top 10 Shopping Destinations in independent research surveys.

Kingston is traditionally an historic Market Town with a Royal Charter, however, since the early 1990's it has been subject to substantial investment resulting in the provision of 3.5 million sq ft of retail floor space including the award winning Bentall Centre. In addition the town boasts a unique riverside setting, a growing tourism industry, specialist retailing in the historic core, a variety of themed markets, street activities and well established late night and Sunday shopping.

Centre's of Excellence for learning are provided by Kingston University and Kingston College who between them have some 20,000 students.

The recent riverside development at Charter Quay with its mix of high quality residential accommodation, atmospheric restaurants, specialist retailers, theatre, performance and exhibition space is helping the ancient market place and areas around the church develop into the cultural centre of Kingston

.

The Rotunda leisure development with a broad mix of leisure and entertainment located right next to the public transport hubs provides a 14-screen cinema and 14-lane mega-bowl adding to the already dynamic and vibrant night time economy.

The District Centres

New Malden

• A mixed retail and business suburban centre just a few minutes from the A3.
• With excellent train communications to London Waterloo, the main commercial premises are found in 2 office buildings adjacent to the station.
• Major companies located in New Malden include BaeSema and Nestle Purina Pet Care. There are other small businesses many of which are located above shops.
• Focus of many Korean-operated businesses who enjoy the benefits of this thriving district centre.

Tolworth

• Offers excellent accessibility by both public and private transport, being immediately adjacent to the A3 and on the A240.
• The District Centre is well served by bus routes and is 100 metres from the Tolworth Railway Station connecting to London Waterloo.
• At the heart of the District Centre is the Broadway with a variety of retail premises including a Marks and Spencer Foodstore. It is also a major office location with the landmark Tolworth Tower housing many national and international companies who between them employ over a thousand people at this single location.
• Good car parking facilities both in car parks and on-street.  
• A public/private sector Taskforce since July 2002 has been working to attract new capital investments and improve the centres attractiveness as a retail, leisure and business destination. This is already proving successful with new business locating in the centre including a Travel Lodge Hotel in the north wing of Tolworth Tower, and with the designation of Tolworth Gold Zone delivering enhanced environmental maintenance.

Surbiton

• A thriving and attractive district centre with many successful retail and office based businesses.
• Fast train services to London Waterloo, plus a conveniently accessible to Kingston town centre.
• Major office based companies located in Surbiton include DST International and PRC Fewster Planning. Retail businesses are also well represented with Sainsbury’s and a Waitrose store.