The once struggling seaside town now 'best in Britain' with UK's longest high street

Once written off as one of Britain's worst seaside destinations, Southend-on-Sea is now staging an impressive comeback. Despite ranking 41st in the Which? 2024 seaside survey and the dark shadow cast by last year's shocking machete attack involving rival gangs on the seafront, the Essex city is proving it's more than its headlines. While challenges remain, Southend's iconic pier has recently been crowned Britain's best pier by The Telegraph, and new research from our data unit has named the town the UK's top seaside destination overall.

The data team assessed everything from sunshine hours and beach quality to fish and chips, nightlife and crime rates and paints Southend as a true 'beach-lovers' paradise,' boasting three Blue Flag beaches: Shoebury Common, East Beach Shoeburyness, and Three Shells Beach. In addition, five other beaches: Thorpe Bay, Bell Wharf, Chalkwell, Jubilee, and Westcliff Bay all earned Seaside Awards this year. All of Southend's beaches were rated either 'Good' or 'Excellent' for water quality by the Environment Agency, with Thorpe Bay once again achieving the highest 'Excellent' rating for 2025.

Home to the world's longest pleasure pier, stretching 1.33 miles into the Thames Estuary, Southend offers spectacular sea views, vibrant gardens and the thrill of Adventure Island, complete with its giant ferris wheel and colourful murals.

The city enjoys some of the best weather in Britain, with an average of 28 "summer days" above 25C each year, and the council leader said that Southend has 1900 hours of sunshine as well.

Southend is also gaining favour among celebrities. Michelle Keegan recently celebrated her first Mother's Day at the Roslin Beach Hotel, with visitors including Rio Ferdinand, Gary Barlow, Tyson Fury, Denise Van Outen, and Frankie Essex.

Granted city status in 2022, Southend is home to the UK's longest high street, measuring nearly 2 miles at 2,983 metres.

London Road (A13) runs from Hadleigh through Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell and Westcliff-on-Sea into Southend town centre, becoming Southend High Street, passing through the Victoria Shopping Centre and The Royals Shopping Centre, and continuing to the pier and Adventure Island on the seafront. Southend's high street offers the rare sight of the sea as you do your shopping.

A 2022 report found Southend-on-Sea had the seventh highest rate of empty shops in the country, with a quarter of its town center units vacant. Despite a few vacant shops and a recently closed River Island, however, it appears that things have improved since the report. According to the latest figures, as of September 2025, Southend's city centre vacancy rate is 13.8%, placing it in line with the national average which is about 14%.

B&M opened a 27,000 square feet store in The Victoria Shopping Centre earlier this year, taking over the former Wilko site, Pound Stretcher opened a 16,500 square feet unit on the high street in late 2024. In the Royals Shopping Centre, Dunelm also opened a 28,000 square feet store in summer 2025, creating around 50 new jobs.

Meeting us at The Bridge, located on the upper floor of the Victoria Shopping Centre, a shopping centre which has been council-owned since 2020, Councillor Daniel Cowan, leader of Southend-on-Sea City Council, described The Bridge as one of the council's 'success stories.'

The Bridge currently supports about seven new businesses by offering six months of free rent, six months of free service charges, as well as ongoing business mentoring and support to give these entrepreneurs the best possible start on their journey to success, he said.

Councillor Cowan added: "It's part of our ongoing programme to revitalise our high street with High Street Regeneration, supporting businesses through the application of £1.3 million worth of UK Shared Prosperity funding, and doing everything that we can to work between the Council and private businesses to encourage international brands like Popeyes and Wendy's to open here, known UK brands like B&M and Dunelm as well at opposite ends of the High Street, to get as many people to visit Southend.

"We're really proud of our 7 million visitors a year, that's 34 visitors for every one resident who lives here, and we buck the national trend with higher than average occupancy rates, as well as an increase in card transactions of 8.5% compared to 7% decline elsewhere, and we're also proud to be the UK's number one seaside town, so we're winning awards and recognition left, right and centre, and whatever you've heard of Southend, come down and see for yourself and you will have a fantastic time."

To boost footfall, the council are organising more events. Some of these include the International Food and Drink Festival and City Jam, which the councillor said was the largest street art festival in Europe, featuring over 200 international artists who come to Southend to paint vibrant murals. Their annual Halloween parade typically draws around 50,000 visitors, they will also be holding eight weeks worth of fireworks every Saturday night that will run until the middle of November as well as the Christmas lights switch on.

He added that throughout the month of December, there will be free parking on Sundays and Small Business Saturday on the first Saturday of December, encouraging shoppers to support local independent businesses across Southend's multiple high streets.

The council leader also commented on antisocial behaviour: "We've also doubled the size of our community safety team to ensure that low-level antisocial behaviour is dealt with quickly, so we're not overburdening the local police-allowing them to focus on more serious issues. This has made a significant difference.

"I often hear people say negative things about Southend High Street, but when I ask them when they last visited, it's usually three or four years ago. If you come to Southend now, you'll find a fantastic day out on the seafront, no matter the time of year. There's a great variety of shops and family-friendly places to eat all along the high street and seafront.

"For local residents, there's very little need to drive to out-of-town retail parks because you can find almost everything you need right here in Southend. We have a healthy mix of well-known established brands alongside local independent businesses that reinvest in the community."

Iain McNab, head of policy at Essex Chambers of Commerce, which represents about 700 businesses in Essex and 250 in Southend, praised Southend's strong business community and diverse economy, noting that the city is home to several internationally recognised manufacturers such as Ipeco, which produces cockpit seats for Boeing aircraft, and Vega Research, which exports high-end audio equipment to the US.

Mr McNab described Southend as far from being 'depressed', highlighting its resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and vibrant mix of businesses, from global manufacturers to independent traders. He noted that visitor numbers remain strong, especially in summer, and that council efforts and community engagement continue to make the city an attractive place to live, work, and invest though challenges do remain.

Mr McNab told the Express: "Our members are concerned about the business environment, to put it simply, i.e. the tax landscape etc. Some of them are very worried and have some concern about the coming budget. They're keen that there are no new taxes put on businesses because they were hit quite hard last year by the National Insurance Increase on employees.

"Some of them have been struggling with the National Minimum Wage Increase and the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill and workers' rights. In combination, those three things affect some businesses quite badly, or potentially do anyway. A lot of it is worry and concern rather than real impact, but that's what we're trying to monitor at the Chambers and part of our role is to reflect all that back to the government through the British Chambers of Commerce."

He added: "We want to see Southend be a successful place. Broadly, I think it is, but it's definitely got some challenges. A lot of seaside towns have got these challenges, partly just by being on the coast."

Mr McNab said Southend is broadly successful but faces challenges common to seaside towns, including a relatively low skills base compared to London, which attracts higher-skilled, better-educated people away from the area. He described Southend as a historic seaside town turned city dealing with challenging economic circumstances. It benefits from millions of summer visitors, mainly from London, but struggles to attract foreign tourists to stay beyond day trips, he said.

"We've got quite a mixed place, quite a long, stretched-out kind of place," he explained. "It's only about a mile or two deep, but 10 miles long, with quite well-to-do areas like Leigh-on-Sea, which is very successful, Thorpe Bay, which is successful in a different way, but a very middle-class residential area, and in the middle, you've got the sort of struggling-in-the-city kind of issues concentrated. But not as bad as some places. But bad enough to be noticeable by people who think Southend's gone downhill. You'll hear that quite a lot from residents and from businesses."

Daniel Carter, who owns Wine Meats Cheese at 15 Market Place, with his partner, Sally Duvall, has been in the location for nearly a year, offering delicious English fine wines, cheeses, and charcuterie. They serve daily cheese and charcuterie boards, delicious gourmet cheese toasties, Spanish croquetas, and deep-fried brie, enjoyed in their outdoor area, with plans to open a downstairs space very soon. The shop exclusively serves a variety of English wines, and he highlighted that Essex alone has 36 vineyards, something that many people are unaware of.

Mr Carter moved to Raleigh at the age of 12, went to university in Cheltenham, and left the UK in 2008, but he returned: "Southend has this really peculiar way of always dragging you back, no matter where you are in the world."

He explained that they considered several locations before choosing Southend, but then they stumbled across the shop and said that the area where it is located has always been known for being trendy and that there wasn't anything like the shop in the area. Another advantage of setting up the shop at this location was the low rent.

He added: "People here actually want to see this. They want nice things and I think they've come out as a community to support us to make sure that we're still here."

"Southend Council has really been a great part of this. They've provided us a grant, a UK start-up grant, which provided us the fridges here, the ice machine, the dishwasher, the deep-fryer so they have provided us with quite a lot."

He also highlighted the need for fairer tax policies, particularly advocating for a sliding VAT scale that favours small businesses. Mr Carter believes Southend has a great entrepreneurial spirit, but is often overshadowed by bigger businesses, and he also said that the focus should be not only on the seafront.

"Southend, Essex alone, is a county of entrepreneurs. We do like getting stuck in and actually trying our hardest. It would just be nice if every now and again the Government acknowledges that."

Kelly Barnard, now the director of The Board Game Hut, a family-run board game shop and café located just off Southend High Street, shared insights on running a small business in the area. Choosing a location just off the High Street allowed the couple to benefit from significantly lower rent, about a fifth of what they'd pay on the main street, she said.

Kelly Barnard said: "The High Street to me could be better. It's full of mainly bakeries, phone shops, chicken shops, and vape shops."

She said there is antisocial behaviour on Friday and Saturday nights on the high street, primarily caused by intoxicated pub-goers, which has improved slightly thanks to street wardens, although police powers remain limited.

The business is run as a family, and one of the children has even been playing games since she was four. Before opening the shop, the family had a YouTube channel where they played and reviewed board games.

Philip Miller MBE, chief executive Chairman of the Stockvale group of companies that operate Adventure Island and Sealife Adventure and other spots along Southend seafront, has lived in Southend his entire life. He has watched it change significantly though not always for the better, he said.

"Southend is a sleeping giant," he explained. "There's lots of potential, but it's very hard to get everybody's noses pointed in the same direction."

Mr Miller said Adventure Island is the main attraction of the city, standing right in front of the long pier: "We're the main attraction. We employ the most and we attract the most. Everybody gets a buck off from us. It's hotels, guest houses, high street shops, seafront businesses, council parking meters. They all get a good living from us.

"We're the number one voted two years running by our peers the best value theme park in the UK. We're cheaper now than we were before COVID."

He said Southend is very safe: "We're actually, I think, the safest resort around because we have this permanent police station on the seafront in the season. We're safer than Bournemouth, safer than Brighton, safer than most places."

But he's less confident about the state of the high street: "Do local people want to go shopping in Southend High Street? It's probably a resounding no. There's lots of opportunities there, but they seem to miss."

He added about the high street: "We've got multiple shops, but not necessarily all the things that you want. That's more the problem." One of his biggest frustrations is also parking which he said "charge everybody through the nose."

Southend is still facing many challenges common to seaside towns, along with a tough economic climate for local businesses. However, thanks to strong community support, council initiatives, and its unique attractions like the longest pleasure pier and award-winning beaches, Southend has much to offer and brings millions of visitors every year.