We introduce some new faces in our Uckfield Directory
Business Scene this month starts by taking a look at some new faces in the Uckfield Directory.
- A new model is causing excitement at car dealership SLM Toyota Uckfield.
- A new care home is gearing up for its grand opening.
- A lampwork and glass beadmaking workshop is preparing for some open days.
- We talk to a firm which really does sweep clean.
Further afield there is good news on broadband speeds, worries over the Gatwick Express and news that the district council is to start building council houses again, writes Paul Watson.
New Yaris at SLM Toyota
The big talking point for Uckfield motor dealer SLM Toyota is the arrival of the all-new Toyota Yaris.
Staff are bowled over by the car and believe customers will be delighted when they have a test drive.
The Yaris has always been popular with Uckfield customers but the new version is a real step up.
Despite being one of the shortest cars in its class, the new Yaris has more rear knee-room than its rivals and a deeper boot too.
With petrol prices sky high, the new Yaris is a miser when it comes to fuel use – more than 72mpg for the 1.4 diesel.
The message from the staff at SLM is: contact us and arrange a test drive of the all-new Yaris. Here are their contact details.
SLM (St Leonards Motors) took over from Simpsons about three years ago and from its Bellbrook Business Park site sells new and used cars as well as offering repairs, spares, servicing and MoTs.
The company has other outlets in the Hastings and St Leonard’s areas.
Residents settle at Heather View care home
Staff and residents at the landmark Heather View in Crowborough are settling in to the new care home, which opened last month.
Many people will have charted the progress of building work, near traffic lights at the A26 cross roads.
Heather View offers the highest standards of care as well as specialist care for people with dementia.
The setting aims to be similar to a small village. Set around landscaped green is everything you would expect to find in a village – shop, postbox, coffee and tea shops, hairdressing salon, library and a cinema.
Home manager Bill Roarty, pictured above, said: “Heather View really is the perfect template for a ‘five star’ care home and I think it will set the standard for care homes of the future.”
Heather View is owned by Care UK which won Residential Care provider 2011 at the Health Investor Awards.
The home is open for viewings seven days a week.
There will be a grand opening on September 21 from 11am with celebrations including a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a local school band, a pianist performing in Tea on the Green, a small craft market and even a showing of Singing in the Rain in the cinema.
Chance to learn about glass beadmaking
Rebecca Weddell’s lampwork glass beadmaking workshop will be open as part of Chiddingly Festival’s Open Studios.
The workshop at 11 Churchmarks, East Hoathly, is open on Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25, and Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2, from 11am to 5pm.
Rebecca will be demonstrating at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm and 4.30pm.
Lampwork is the art of melting glass in the flame. Rebecca uses this technique to produce beautiful art-glass beads which she uses in her own range of sterling silver and bead jewellery.
Rebecca has recently added her own sterling-silver-cored glass beads with 4mm holes to her range.
Rebecca said: “I was overwhelmed by the response to my first Open Studios event in 2010, and welcomed more than 250 visitors over the four days.
"My six daily demonstrations proved extremely popular, with visitors being able to see the step-by-step process of creating a bead from scratch at the flame, from glass rod to glass art.”
A wide selection of Rebecca Weddell’s unique lampwork glass and sterling silver jewellery will be for sale, ranging from single beads to statement pieces of bead jewellery.
There will be a daily free prize draw to win that day’s demonstration beads. There will also be an exhibition featuring the work of Sussex photographer Jim Holden.
*Chiddingly Artists Open Studios runs alongside the annual Chiddingly Festival event.
Artists open their studio doors for two weekends, and can be found in selected venues in the outlying areas around Chiddingly, including Graywood, Laughton and East Hoathly.
Lewes Cleaning Company offers flexibility
Lewes Cleaning Company, established for two-and-a-half-years, prides itself on its flexibility and being able to offer skilled cleaning for a diverse range of businesses and domestic premises.
“Deep cleaning”, carpet cleaning and chemical oven cleaning are all proving popular at the moment.
The business works across East Sussex, including the Uckfield area, as well as over the county boundary in mid Sussex.
Kat Palsager from the Lewes Cleaning Company summed up their philosophy: “We do a really good job and people keep coming back to us. We put that little bit of extra effort in every time we go out on a job.
“We do what customers want and cater for what people require. Our staff are a close group of people and we have a lot experts in various fields; people who have worked in the industry for many years.
"Deep cleaning involves getting into every nook and cranny and can involve the inside of cupboards, ceilings – in fact, whatever the specific needs of the client are.
In other news
East Sussex County Council has welcomed news the county will get more than £10.6 million to help secure better broadband.
It is part of just over £363 million investment announced by the Government to ensure the UK has the best super-fast broadband network in Europe by 2015.
Deputy Council Leader Keith Glazier said they knew it would help to boost the county’s economy by allowing businesses and employment to grow.
Opposition to new Gatwick Express stop
Sussex Enterprise is opposing moves to have Gatwick Express services call at Clapham Junction.
Chief executive Mark Froud told the government: “With added congestion, greater journey times, and fewer available seats, these proposals risk severely damaging the service levels experienced by business users on the Gatwick Express.”
Council to start building houses again
Wealden District Council is to start building its own council houses again. The aim is to help people who cannot afford to buy in one of the most expensive rural districts in the south east.
Graham Wells, Cabinet member for Affordable Housing, said: “Changes in national policy mean we will now be able to use the rental income from our own housing stock to help fund new housing projects in the district.”
The first scheme will be at Crowborough, Forest Row and Willingdon. There are more than 2,000 people on the council’s housing register.
See also:
Pensions warning to businesses
Uckfield could feature in TV coverage from Haywards Heath
Electric motor-cycle designer’s top award
(Added to site Thursday, September 1st, 2011)
