The Argus • 15/04/2025

Company boss stole £150,000 in Covid support funds

Mehmet Akyuz of Conway Street in Hove, fraudulently obtained three maximum-value Bounce Back Loans worth £50,000 each in 2020 for his Green and Hove Limited and Leathers Wear Limited companies.  Both Green and Hove, trading as Organic Earth Cafe, and Leathers Wear, were not trading at the time of Akyuz’s applications.  Green and Hove and Leathers Wear were incorporated in February and March 2019 with Akyuz as the sole director. The former was a retail food and grocery store with a ca...

The Argus • 15/04/2025

Kebab shop found guilty of selling lamb doners made with 'other meats'

Directors of Worthing Kebab Ltd, trading as Worthing Kebab House & Pizza at 32 Teville Road, Worthing, appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on April 3 and pleaded guilty to all charges. West Sussex Trading Standards had previously visited the premises in August 2021 and July 2022, providing detailed food safety issues which included allergen advice. In 2023, the company and its director, Mr Yasar Kizilcay, were prosecuted for failing to provide accurate allergen information and for dis...

The Argus • 03/04/2025

Bakery chain to open new store in Sussex soon

Bosses at The Flour Pot Bakery said they are "beyond excited" to open the new site in Southwick Square, Southwick, "very soon". The chain shared the news in a social media post on April 2. The post read: "Big news. The Flour Pot is coming to Southwick Square. "We’re beyond excited to announce that we’ll be opening a brand-new café and production bakery in Southwick Square very soon. "This new space will not only serve up our signature sourdough, pastries, and coffee but will also...

The Argus • 03/04/2025

Formula 1 fans can now fly directly from Gatwick to Bahrain Grand Prix

Gatwick Airport has announced a new direct route between Gatwick Airport and Bahrain, just in time for next month’s Grand Prix. The new service, operated by Gulf Air, began on March 30 and will fly to the Arabian Gulf island three times per week from Gatwick’s North Terminal, using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. More than 100,000 fans are expected to attend the Bahrain International Circuit across the race weekend of April 11 to 13. Lewis Hamilton will be looking for his first GP podium with...

The Argus • 02/04/2025

Brighton Pier company shares slump over business announcement

The leisure group behind the 126-year-old attraction became the latest firm to announce plans to delist and return to private hands. Brighton Pier Group – which also owns a number of bars and mini-golf venues – said it is planning to cancel its listing on London’s junior Aim market, sending shares slumping by nearly 60 per cent in Wednesday morning trading. READ MORE: Plans for new Bognor Regis traveller site spark outrage The firm, which is chaired by former Pizza Express boss Luke...

The Argus • 18/03/2025

Company director put residents in high-rise flats at risk of 'potential death'

Mr Anthony Coates, from Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, was the director of two companies involved in the purchase and renovation of Columbia House in Romany Road, Worthing around 2022. The former office building was being converted into a seven-storey high-rise block of flats. Coates allowed the flats to be occupied before the escape routes, the corridor and stairs, were signed off as fire safety compliant, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said. The fire service said that this “neglig...

The Argus • 12/03/2025

Hove high street's ‘longest serving’ store thriving 40 years on amid vinyl revival

Julian Pelling has owned Fine Records in George Street, Hove since 1984 after taking it over from the previous owners. The store sells a wide range of new and pre-used Classical CD’s and also specialises in stock of Jazz, nostalgia, and soundtracks on second hand vinyl records including many rare collectables all in mint or near mint condition. Julian spoke to The Argus, sharing how “special” his time has been on the Hove high street. “We have had marvellous times over the last 40 ye...

The Argus • 27/02/2025

Albion renew partnership with train company to provide travel for fans

Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club has announced that they have renewed their partnership with Govia Thameslink Railway on February 20. Fans travelling to Albion’s home matches in Brighton will continue to have train travel from Southern and Thameslink included with their matchday ticket to and from the Amex stadium. Albion's chief operating officer Paul Mullen said: “We are pleased to announce a new and much wider ranging partnership with Govia Thameslink Railway and delighted to we...

The Argus • 20/02/2025

Boss of company that 'plagued' households with cold calls banned

Callum Jones, 39, of Oban Road in St Leonards, was the sole director of Colourcoat Ltd, which specialised in roof cleaning, wall coating and insulation services.  Colourcoat made 969,273 unsolicited marketing calls between August 2019 and April 2020. A total of 452,811 of the nuisance calls were made to people who had opted out of receiving such calls by registering with the Telephone Preference Service.  The company also used false names and made repeated calls which were described...

The Argus • 17/02/2025

Three stores in Sussex close as Homebase goes into administration

Homebase has revealed that 33 stores will be closing this month, including its shops in Hove, Lewes and Chichester. The garden chain was waiting on around £5 million of tax rebates before collapsing into administration in November. A spokeswoman said: "Last month, Homebase announced 33 stores confirmed for closure in February. "Affected team members have been given at least two weeks notice of their effective date of redundancy by their Employee Representative and Store Manager, foll...

The Argus • 13/02/2025

Why we think Coq Block Bar is more than just another chicken shop

It seems like a new chicken shop opens every week in Brighton, but this... this is no ordinary chicken shop. The infusion of a well-established local watering hole in Block Bar, and an award-winning chicken shop in The Bok Shop, is the stuff dreamt up by true culinary entrepreneurs. The provocatively-named Coq Block Bar opened in St James's Street where Block Bar used to be in January. Myself and Steve, a humble Argus editor, had been itching to head down ever since the news broke....

The Argus • 11/02/2025

Meet the former investment banker who became a Brighton sandwich shop owner

Mark Scates, who lives in Ovingdean, opened his sandwich and soup shop Crunch & Co in Church Street, Brighton, at the beginning of 2019. "When we were starting up in 2019, we were getting so busy and it kept going up until we got to Christmas, and then it just went all went off all of a sudden," he told The Argus, "we had been affected by Covid hugely, like everyone else has, really especially in this area." (Image: Ramy Abou-Setta / The Argus) In a 2022 annual economic assessment by Cen...

The Argus • 06/02/2025

New drive-thru McDonald's could be coming to Hove

McDonald's submitted a planning application on January 7 to build a store in Old Shoreham Road, Hove. The fast food giant applied for a freestanding drive-thru restaurant, a car park and the demolition of the existing buildings. McDonald's is looking to demolish the former KAP store (Image: Google Maps) The site was originally a Suzuki car dealership in 2004, which was then replaced by Kent Auto Panels (KAP) after more than a decade of being in Hove. READ MORE: Royal Mail post box co...

The Argus • 04/02/2025

Blacks and Millets to close two stores in Sussex

Blacks and Millets have announced closures in two of their stores with a 30 per cent off 'closing down' sale. Blacks will be closing its store in North Street in Brighton, while Millets will be closing its store Montague Street, Worthing. JD Sports had rescued Blacks, which owned Millets at the time, from administration in 2012 by buying the brand, which included around 300 stores, for approximately £20 million. READ MORE: Council tax could rise again in Brighton and Hove Millets...

The Argus • 28/01/2025

'City staple' chicken shop teams up with bar to open new collaboration

The Bok Shop and Block Bar's creation, the provocatively-named Coq Block Bar, is in St James Street where Block Bar used to be. The collaboration was put together to bring 'cheap but quality' food and drinks to customers. Coq Block have combined the two stores menu (Image: Coq Block Brighton) Ben, manager at Block Bar, said: "Some of the prices across the city and especially London are just frankly ridiculous, some places are selling £23 per cocktail and that's just not feasible in this...

The Argus • 23/01/2025

Sainsbury’s plans to shut four cafes in Sussex as part of big jobs cull

The supermarket giant announced it would be cutting 3,000 jobs and closing all of its remaining cafes this morning following a ‘particularly challenging cost environment’. The staff reduction represents around two per cent of the company’s current 148,000-strong workforce. It will see about 20 per cent of senior management roles cut as part of plans to focus on fewer, bigger roles and to simplify its head office and management teams. The retailer also said it had decided to close its...

The Argus • 17/01/2025

New independent coffee shop opens its doors in Brighton

Spro Coffee Co officially opened in Norfolk Square, Brighton on Monday. Jordi van Dyk began preparing the store in December to for its launch in the new year.  Spro took over from 1UP Cafe, which closed in November, after being at the premises since 2021. Spro were offering free oat coffees on its opening day (Image: Argus/Ramy Abou-Setta) For the coffee shop's opening Spro worked alongside, Oatly and Elsewhere Coffee, to bring free oat coffees to the new customers. Jordi said: "...

The Argus • 15/01/2025

Italian restaurant has shut down

Carluccio's in Eastgate Square, Chichester shut on January 12, and will be put on the market for sale. The Italian dining chain fell into administration in 2020. The business – which was founded by Antonio Carluccio in 1991 – hired insolvency specialists in March of that same year, after the impact of coronavirus exacerbated the firm’s long-standing financial difficulties. However, in May 2020, the brand and 30 of its restaurants was saved in a rescue deal by Boparan Restaurant Group...

The Argus • 09/01/2025

New sand sports centre on seafront due to open in summer

The new facilities at the newly developed Hove Beach Park and will be run by Yellowave, which already operates at the Kemp Town end of Brighton beach. A planning application was submitted by the operator to Brighton and Hove City Council on December 17 to demolish the existing Western Esplanade public toilets and erect a single storey detached community facility and sand sports storage. Part of the planning application is to redesign existing pavilions into a Yellowave Hub, a cafe and ki...

The Argus • 09/01/2025

Rolls-Royce pump £300 million pounds into West Sussex manufacturing site

Rolls-Royce has announced an additional £300m in funding for its Goodwood manufacturing site based in Chichester. The Goodwood facility employs more than 2,500 people and produces up to 28 vehicles per day. It was granted planning permission in March for the changes, which will allow it to be better prepared for the brand’s switch to an electric-only brand by the end of 2030. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (RRMC) will construct five new buildings at its base in The Drive, near Goodwood and t...