Businesses in West Sussex benefit from rollout of superfast broadband

Businesses across West Sussex are benefitting from the rollout of superfast broadband.
West Sussex County CouncilWest Sussex County Council
West Sussex County Council

Better Connected, a project run in partnership between West Sussex County Council, BT, and central Government, has already provided better and faster internet access to more than 38,000 new homes and businesses.

This marks the half-way point towards ensuring that more than 90 per cent of the county can access superfast broadband by spring 2016.

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Ben Davis, managing director of creative agency Chichester Design, said: “Put simply, superfast broadband enables us to work smarter, faster and to compete on a global scale. It has transformed what we do.

“Superfast has saved us time and sleepless nights. Our business is putting websites and information onto the internet.

“Previously we would have to do this in the late hours, or relying on our own home fibre broadband connections, just to make sure content was uploaded. Now we can do it in seconds at any time of the day or night.”

At Crawley’s Manor Royal Business District, the largest business park in West Sussex, progress is being made towards achieving 100 per cent high speed fibre coverage for all businesses.

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Steve Sawyer, executive director of the Manor Royal BID Company, said: “We were adamant from the very beginning of the BID that businesses in Manor Royal, the biggest business park in the county, needed much faster and more reliable broadband.

“The joint efforts of Manor Royal BID Company and West Sussex Better Connected project are on track to achieve our objective of 100 per cent fibre coverage. This is a big plus for those businesses here and a fantastic selling point for any businesses looking to locate here.”

Paul Searle, managing director of P&H Motorcycles, one of the largest motorcycle showrooms in the South East, was able to make significant savings thanks to superfast broadband at Manor Royal.

He said: “Modern businesses depend upon fast and reliable broadband. In order to continue to provide the quality service our customers have come to expect meant we had to use an expensive lease line because the broadband speeds were so poor in the area.

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“The successful delivery of superfast broadband in Manor Royal now means I have been able to do away with the lease line saving my business over £6,000 per year while still being able to provide a first class service to our customers.”

David Barling (Con, Bramber Castle), WSCC’s cabinet member for residents’ services, added: “This is our most ambitious year of engineering with new broadband services going live in every district providing access to better, faster broadband to thousands more homes and businesses.

“The county council recognises the need that business has for fast and reliable broadband to compete effectively and we are keen to attract and retain our business by giving them the best advantage.”

Bill Murphy, BT’s managing director next generation access, said: “The half-way mark for the joint partnership is great news. High-speed broadband helps businesses grow, attracting inward investment and providing a boost to the local economy. Whatever you do on-line you can do it better with fibre broadband.”

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Information about the project, including case studies featuring local businesses and a postcode availability checker is available online.

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