Prime Highlights:
- Flappy Joe’s, a new healthy fast-food diner, is set to open at Jaywick Sands’ Sunspot, offering affordable, additive-free meals made from fresh ingredients.
- The Sunspot business center continues to boost local entrepreneurship, helping small businesses grow and support the community.
Key Facts:
- The diner will open in January and plans to provide free food vouchers to families in need through local partnerships.
- The Sunspot now has 24 commercial units, almost all occupied, with visitor numbers to the seafront increasing eightfold in the past year.
Background:
Jaywick Sands’ lively Sunspot business center is giving rise to more local entrepreneurs, and its newest addition is a healthy fast-food diner opening early next year. Flappy Joe’s, started by local business owner Joanne Campbell, wants to change the idea of fast food by serving fresh, additive-free meals that are both affordable and good for you.
Campbell was inspired by her own experience as a parent of children with food intolerances. She wanted to create a place where everyone can enjoy delicious meals without harming their health. Campbell said that Flappy Joe’s aims to help people feel good by eating better. She explained that the diner focuses on fresh, natural ingredients that promote good health while still being tasty and affordable.
The diner will serve simple, healthy meals made without seed oils or preservatives. It will offer meal deals for kids and adults to keep prices low and will give free food vouchers to families in need.
Set to open in January, the eatery will join a growing lineup of businesses thriving at the Sunspot, a Tendring District Council (TDC) initiative celebrating its second anniversary. The center has become a busy spot for small businesses, with 24 units almost all taken.
The Sunspot also includes a covered market, café, event space, and community garden, making it a place for both business and community activities. Current tenants include popular names like Bistro at the Sunspot, Rainy Bakes bakery, and Buddies Barbers.
Councilor Ivan Henderson, TDC’s Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism, said the Sunspot is helping a new wave of local entrepreneurs in Jaywick Sands. He added that Flappy Joe’s shows how new ideas and community benefit can grow together.
Recognized nationally for its impact, the Sunspot has earned the Institute of Economic Development’s Social Value Champion of the Year 2024 and the Planning Award for Best Use of Brownfield Land in Placemaking.
