Oak Furniture Land, the UK’s largest retailer of solid hardwood furniture, will open its first showroom in Southend this weekend.

Featuring a mezzanine floor, the 18,284 sq ft furniture store is located at the Airport Retail Park, in Rochford Road, and will open its doors at 9am on Saturday, March 31.

The new showroom has created seven new jobs and forms part of the company’s on-going expansion plans, which saw the retailer open 22 new stores last year.

Stobart is set to invest up to £40m in Southend Airport between 2018 and 2021 after its aviation division benefited from a 25 per cent increase in passengers.

In a trading update, Stobart said it would continue to invest in route development, branding, marketing and airline incentive deals at the airport, plugging in £10m for this year alone.

In January 2018 Stobart launched a new executive jet fixed based operation (FBO) at the airport which is expected to cater for 5,000 flights per year by 2022.

One million passengers travelled through London Southend Airport last year after a 25 per cent rise in passengers over 2017. The airport now flies to over 30 domestic and European destinations, with the most popular choices over the past 12 months including Rennes and Amsterdam.
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Chief executive of Stobart Group Warwick Brady said: "Stobart Group has made good progress during the last year. We continue to see growth in our aviation division, with a 25% increase in passengers at London Southend Airport, 10% increase in passenger numbers flying via Stobart Air, and we are excited to be welcoming passengers at Carlisle Lake District Airport from Summer of this year."

Major work to replace steps at Belton Hill in Leigh-on-Sea is planned to start in April.
 
The steps have been damaged by steady cliff slippage over recent years and £1.4m was added to the Council’s capital programme as part of the 2016/17 budget-setting process to carry out the work required.
 
The work, which will be carried out by the Council’s contractor Marlborough, is expected to take up to six months.  As well as replacing the existing steps and handrails, works will include path repairs and the installation of new LED lighting.  The steps and adjoining paths will be closed to the public while the work is carried out, with alternative routes in operation and clearly signed. 
 
Cllr Ann Holland, Executive Councillor for Tourism, Culture and the Economy, said: “These steps connect Marine Parade to Belton Way West and Leigh Station and are heavily used by railway commuters and visitors alike.
 
“However, their condition has deteriorated over the years because of ground movement and they have become uneven. While the Council has fixed and patched up damaged steps, they need to be completely replaced and that is why funding was allocated in 2016.
 
“I am very happy that work will start in a few weeks’ time, enabling us to keep this important route open to the public in future.”