West Sussex
Shown within England
Geography
Status	Ceremonial and non-metropolitan county
Origin	1974 (Local Government Act 1972)
Region	South East England
Area - Total - Admin. council	Ranked 30th 1,991 km2 (769 sq mi) Ranked 27th
Admin HQ	Chichester
ISO 3166-2	GB-WSX
ONS code	45
NUTS 3	UKJ24
Demography
Population - Total (2010 est.) - Density	Ranked 27th 799,800 402 /km2 (1,040 /sq mi)
Ethnicity	96.6% White 1.7% S.Asian
Politics
200px West Sussex County Council http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative
Members of Parliament	Peter Bottomley (C) Nick Gibb (C) Nick Herbert (C) Tim Loughton (C) Francis Maude (C) Henry Smith (C) Nicholas Soames (C) Andrew Tyrie (C)
Districts
Worthing Arun Chichester Horsham Crawley Mid Sussex Adur

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming into force of the Local Government Act 1972. At the same time the Mid Sussex region (including Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and East Grinstead) was transferred from East Sussex.

West Sussex has a wide range of scenery, including Wealden, Downland and coastal. It has a number of stately homes including Goodwood, Petworth House and Uppark and also castles such as Arundel Castle and Bramber Castle. Over half the county is protected countryside, offering walking, cycling and other recreational opportunities for visitors and residents alike.^[1]

Chichester is the county town of West Sussex, and the highest point of the county is Black Down, at 280 metres (919 ft, grid reference SU919296).

Settlements[link]

Chichester Market Cross

Most settlements in West Sussex are either along the south coast or in Mid Sussex, near the M23/A23 corridor. The town of Crawley is the largest in the county with an estimated population of 107,061.^[2] The coastal settlement of Worthing closely follows with a population of 100,200 . The seaside resort of Bognor Regis and market town Horsham are both large towns. Chichester, the county town, has a cathedral and city status, and is situated not far from the border with Hampshire. Other towns of a similar size are Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath in the Mid Sussex district, Littlehampton in the Arun district, and Lancing, Southwick and Shoreham in the Adur district.

Rustington and Southwater are the next largest settlements in the county. There are several more towns in West Sussex, although they are of similar size to other villages. The smaller towns of the county are Arundel, Midhurst, Petworth, and Steyning. The larger villages are Billingshurst, Copthorne, Crawley Down, Cuckfield, Henfield, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Lindfield, Pulborough, and Storrington.

Communications and transport[link]

Gatwick Airport

The M23 Motorway runs from London to the south of Crawley. The A23 and A24 roads run from London to Brighton and Worthing respectively with the A29 a little further west ending in Bognor Regis. Other major roads are the A272 which runs east to west through the middle of the county and the A27 which does the same but closer to the coast. The A259 is a local alternate route to the A27 in the eastern coastal strip.

Gatwick Airport, which handled over 32 million passengers in 2005, is located within the borders of Crawley, and is the second largest airport in the United Kingdom. There is also a considerably smaller local airport at Shoreham and a grass airfield handling light aircraft and helicopters at Goodwood. There are three main railway routes: the Brighton Main Line, the Arun Valley Line and the West Coastway Line.

Climate[link]

West Sussex is officially the sunniest county in the United Kingdom according to Met Office records over 29 years with an average 1902 hours per year. This compares with 1710 hours per year for Devon which is in second place.^[3]

Politics[link]

National Politics[link]

As of the 2010 general election, West Sussex is represented entirely by Conservative MPs, after the only Labour Party seat in the county in 2005, Crawley swung to the Conservatives.

• Arundel & South Downs - Nick Herbert, Conservative, 57.8%
• Bognor Regis & Littlehampton - Nick Gibb, Conservative, 51.4%
• Chichester - Andrew Tyrie, Conservative, 55.3%
• Crawley - Henry Smith, Conservative, 44.8%
• Horsham - Francis Maude, Conservative, 52.7%
• Mid Sussex - Nicholas Soames, Conservative, 50.7%
• Worthing East & Shoreham - Tim Loughton, Conservative, 48.5%
• Worthing West - Peter Bottomley, Conservative, 51.7%

^[4]

Local government[link]

County Council[link]

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county contains 7 district and borough councils ( Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Worthing), and 159 town, parish and neighbourhood councils.

West Sussex County Council has 71 councillors; the majority of them being Conservative. There are 49 Conservative councillors, 18 Liberal Democrats, and 2 Labour Party councillors, 1 Independent councillor and 1 Green councillor.^[5] The Chief Executive and his team of Executive Directors are responsible for the day-to-day running of the council.

West Sussex County Council is based at County Hall, Chichester and provides a large range of services including education, social services, fire and rescue, libraries, town and country planning, refuse disposal and consumer services.

West Sussex Youth Cabinet[link]

The West Sussex Youth Cabinet is a group of local representatives and the 4 UK Youth Parliament representatives, who are elected by young people in West Sussex. The Youth Cabinet represents the views of the young people in their areas at county level.

Elections[link]

West Sussex Youth Cabinet Runs elections every year in March. The elections for West Sussex Youth Cabinet are run along side the elections for UKYP. Elections in 2012 run from the 1st March 2012 at 8 am to the 30th March 2012 at 8pm.

UKYP[link]

West Sussex elects 4 representatives for UKYP With constituencies being divided as follows-

Chichester and West Arun

East Arun, Adur and Worthing

Crawley and East Grinstead and

Horsham and Mid Sussex

Campaigns[link]

West Sussex Youth Cabinet runs campaigns which aim to better the lives of young people in West Sussex.

Some campaigns that have been run by the West Sussex Youth Cabinet are:

SRE Campaign- a campaign to include more adequate sex and relationships education in schools and to raise general awareness among young people about various ways to stay safe and healthy whilst having a sexual relationship.

Pol-Ed campaign- A campaign to have Politics introduced into the curriculum. Run alongside UKYP's own Pol-Ed campaign.

Safe Card Scheme- a scheme designed to help young people with disabilities if they ever get into trouble, weather that be with the law or in other situations.

West Sussex County Council introduced a card called the 3-in-1 card which allows young people to receive subsidized bus fares and other subsidized services. The 3-in-1 card was designed and created by the West Sussex Youth Cabinet in order to help young people to cope with excessive fees and prices. Several other Local Education Authorities have also piloted similar schemes throughout the United Kingdom.

Places of interest[link]

Castles, houses and other buildings[link]

• Arundel Castle
• Barnham Windmill
• Christ's Hospital, an old charitable school notable for its archaic uniforms and picturesque campus.
• Goodwood House and Goodwood Motor Circuit
• High Salvington windmill
• Hurstpierpoint College, a public school, notable for its substantial Sussex flint buildings and large campus.
• Lancing College, a public school, notable for its substantial Sussex sandstone chapel and large campus.
• Seaford College, a public school known for its large campus
• Nymans house and gardens, a National Trust property near Handcross, Haywards Heath
• Petworth House and deer park.
• Queen Victoria Hospital East Grinstead - Home of the McIndoe burns centre. Pioneered reconstructive surgery for burns patients during the Second World War.
• Sackville College, a Jacobean almshouse in East Grinstead
• Shipley Windmill, (no longer open to the public).
• Standen, East Grinstead
• Uppark, a 17th century mansion high on the South Downs.
• Cobnor House, home to the Beale Family who were heavily involved with Chichester Harbour.

Museums[link]

Wakehurst Place Gardens, Ardingly.

• Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre
• Steyning Museum^[6]
• Tangmere Military Aviation Museum^[7]
• Horsham Museum
• Weald and Downland Open Air Museum of historic buildings at Singleton

Nature[link]

• Pagham Harbour - A protected area of wetland that is an important feeding ground for birds.
• RSPB Pulborough Brooks
• Selsey Bill
• South Downs Way - a long distance footpath
• Stansted Park
• Tilgate Park
• Wakehurst Place
• WWT Arundel (a nature reserve of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust)

Ancient history[link]

• Bignor Roman Villa
• Cissbury Ring and Chanctonbury Ring, ancient hill forts located on the South Downs
• Devil's Jumps, a group of Bronze Age burial mounds on the South Downs
• Fishbourne Roman Palace

Religious buildings[link]

• Chichester Cathedral - Anglican cathedral founded in 1075
• Arundel Cathedral - Roman Catholic cathedral
• Bosham Church - home church of Saxon royalty
• Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting - an 11th century Anglo-Saxon church.
• St. Nicholas' Church, Worth - a 10th century church in Worth, Crawley
• Cittaviveka - a Buddhist monastery in Chithurst

The arts[link]

• Pallant House Gallery in Chichester houses one of the most significant collections of 20th century British art outside London. It includes a substantial body of early and mid-20th century work bequeathed by Walter Hussey (Dean of Chichester Cathedral, 1955–1977) and many later works donated by Sir Colin St John 'Sandy' Wilson.
• Worthing Museum and Art Gallery houses the biggest collection of Georgian & Victorian costume in South East England.

Other[link]

• Gatwick Airport
• Shoreham Airport - the world's oldest continually-operational airport.
• Hickstead Showjumping
• South Downs Planetarium & Science Centre - Sussex's only Planetarium

History[link]

The foundation of the Kingdom of Sussex is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year AD 477, it says that Ælle arrived at a place called Cymenshore in three ships with his three sons and killed or put to flight the local inhabitants, the foundation story is regarded as somewhat of a myth by most historians, however the archaeology suggests that Saxons did start to settle in the area in the late 5th century.^[8][9] The Kingdom of Sussex became the county of Sussex, and the county of Sussex eventually was split into the counties of East and West Sussex. Although the name Sussex is derived from the Saxon period between AD 477 to 1066, the history of human habitation in Sussex goes back to the Old Stone Age.^[10] Sussex has been occupied since those times and has succumbed to various invasions and migrations throughout its long history.^[10]

Economy[link]

This is a table of trend of regional gross value added of West Sussex at current basic prices published by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.^[11]

The following are some of the companies based in West Sussex:

• Burgess Hill
  • Roche Diagnostics UK
  • Network Technology PLC

• Crawley
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways
  • British Airways
  • AIRMILES
  • BOC Edwards
  • TUI Travel PLC
  • Thales UK

• Chichester
  • Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

• Horsham
  • RSA Insurance Group
  • Novartis

• Littlehampton
  • The Body Shop
  • Dando Drilling

• Shoreham
  • Ricardo PLC head office
  • Shoreham Airport

• Worthing, Steyning
  • Bowers & Wilkins

Education[link]

West Sussex has a comprehensive education system, with 36 county-maintained secondary schools, one Academy and over 20 independent senior schools. In addition, primary education is provided through a mix of around 240 infant, junior, primary, first and middle schools.

See also[link]

West Sussex portal

• East Sussex
• Sussex
• List of Lord Lieutenants of West Sussex
• List of High Sheriffs of West Sussex
• The Royal Sussex Regiment
• Eastbourne Redoubt Home of the Royal Sussex Regimental Museum

Image gallery[link]

• 

  Gatwick's South Terminal

• 

  Arun Valley at Amberley, West Sussex

• 

  Clayton Tunnel on the London to Brighton line.

• Butchers Wood, Hassocks.JPG

  Typical West Sussex woodland at Hassocks.

• Poynings, from S Downs.JPG

  View of West Sussex from the S Downs above Poynings

• 

  Hurstpierpoint College

References[link]

External links[link]

• West Sussex at the Open Directory Project

Neighbouring counties

	Hampshire	Surrey	Kent
	Hampshire		East Sussex
		West Sussex    East
	The Solent	English Channel	English Channel

v t e Sussex Portal:Sussex Ceremonial counties East Sussex • West Sussex Historic divisions Rape of Arundel • Rape of Bramber • Rape of Chichester • Rape of Hastings • Rape of Lewes • Rape of Pevensey Geography South Downs • The Weald History Regnenses • Britannia • Kingdom of Sussex • Haestingas Culture and heritage Dialect • Music • Flag of Sussex • St Richard of Chichester • Sussex by the Sea • Sussex Trug Sport Stoolball • Sussex CCC • Sussex FA • Sussex County League • Sussex RFU Other Diocese of Chichester • Sussex Police

Coordinates: 51°03′30″N 0°41′24″W / 51.05840°N 0.69006°W / 51.05840; -0.69006

Mary Portas aka Mary Queen of Shops (born 28 May 1960),^[1] is an English businesswoman, retail expert, and broadcaster, best-known for her retail and business related television shows, and most recently for her appointment by the British prime minister to lead a review into the future of Britain's high streets.

Early life and education[link]

Portas was born and brought up in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in a family of five children. She was educated at St Joan of Arc Catholic School, Rickmansworth.^[2] Her mother died of meningits when Portas was aged 16, and her father, a sales director of Brooke Bond, the tea manufacturer,^[3] died of a heart attack two years later forcing Portas, aged 18, to turn down a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in order to look after her younger brother.

Career[link]

Portas started her career in retail with a Saturday job in John Lewis. She then had a part-time, and later a full-time, job with Harrods where she was responsible for window displays for about three years,^[2] before joining TopShop as display manager. While in this job, she was spotted by Burton Group chairman Sir Ralph Halpern.^[4]

Her next role brought Portas her first taste of fame and public acclaim, as creative director of Harvey Nichols. Portas is credited with turning Harvey Nichols into a leading modern fashion brand.^[5] She created the groundbreaking Harvey Nichols window displays that became part of the guided tours of London — one of her most famous displays was "Autumn Intrusion" - a commission by artist Thomas Heatherwick that won a D&AD Gold award in 1997.^[6][7] She then persuaded the store's owners to use younger designers, and gained publicity in the BBC’s Absolutely Fabulous series in the 1990s, after promising writer and star of the show Jennifer Saunders the run of the store for research in return for Saunders namechecking the business.^[8] By the age of 30, Portas was a member of the company's board.

Portas left Harvey Nichols in 1997 to launch Yellowdoor, a Retail & Brand agency that she now runs with Peter Cross. Yellowdoor advises retail, fashion, luxury, and consumer brands on Strategy, Communications, and Marketing.^[9] Yellowdoor's current clients include, Westfield London, Westfield Stratford City, Clarks, Swarovski, Havaianas and Australian retail brands Sportsgirl and Sussan.^[9]

Yellowdoor has worked with many retail and luxury brands, including Patek Phillipe, Boden, John Smedley^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Holland & Holland, Clinique, Louis Vuitton, Oasis, Radley, House of Fraser Acne and Matalan.

Portas is claimed to be one of the UK's foremost authorities on retail and brand communication.^[10][11] She regularly travels around the world advising on retail strategy and frequently lectures on the theme of brands and retail. Notably, Portas spoke alongside Neil Armstrong at the Cannes Palais Festivals in October 2007, ^[12][13] and is due to speak at the Yorkshire International Business Convention with the Dalai Lama in June 2012 ^[14].

Notable career milestones[link]

Before the age of 30, Portas became a member of the board at Harvey Nichols.

In 1997 Portas left Harvey Nichols to launch her consultancy business, Yellowdoor. When asked in Radio Times interview why she left Harvey Nichols, Portas is quoted to have said "I wanted to create my own world. I wanted freedom."

Mary's first television appearance was a a guest on Richard & Judy in 2005, where she was spotted by television producer Patricia Llewellyn who would go on to sign Portas to production company Optomen Television.

Portas began writing her weekly 'Shop!' column for the Telegraph Magazine in 2005, in which she reviews a different retailer every week.

The column is said to have inspired Mary's first television series, Mary Queen of Shops, which aired on BBC2 on 31st May 2007.

On 19 June 2009, in a ceremony at Galashiels, Heriot-Watt University awarded Portas a Doctorate of Letters in recognition of her career and her contribution to the advancement of marketing and brand communications within the retail sector.

In December 2009, Portas opened her first permanent 'Living & Giving Shop' in support of charity Save the Children. She was also named as the charity's Glabal Retail Ambassador.

In 2011, Portas moved from BBC to Channel 4. Her first series for the channel was 'Mary Portas: Secret Shopper' which aired in January 2011.

In August 2011, Portas opened her own shop, called "Mary & House of Fraser" within UK department store House of Fraser's Oxford Street flagship. The store stocks her first fashion collection, called 'Mary Portas', as well as other product collaborations including a footwear collection with Clarks - "Mary & Clarks", and a hoisery collection with Charnos - "Mary & Charnos". Portas also launched a new product innovation, 'Armery', which is a hoisery-type garment for the arms. The product is designed to "banish bingo wings".

In the December 2011 issue of fashion industry journal Drapers, Mary was named as the 6th most influential person in fashion.

On the 13th December 2011, Mary published The Portas Review, an independant report into the future of Britain's high streets. She was appointed in May 2011 by British Prime Minister, David Cameron. The report sets out 28 key recommendations to rescue Britains high streets.

Books[link]

Portas' first book, Windows - the Art of Retail Display, ISBN 978-0500019443 was published in five languages by Thames & Hudson.

Her second book, How to Shop with Mary, Queen of Shops, ISBN 978-1846072147 was published by BBC Books in 2007 to accompany the television series. The book was co-authored by Peter Cross, Josh Sims and Melanie Rickey.

Journalism[link]

Since 2005 Mary has written a weekly column Shop!, for the Daily Telegraph magazine, reviewing shops across the country. She started writing the column in 2005 and it was her critiquing of shops that was the inspiration for the BBC documentary and accompanying book.^[15] Each week, Portas reviews shop based on their shopability, service and website - awarding retailers marks out of 10.

Portas' top-rated shops include Louis Vuitton, Reiss, John Lewis, Liberty and APC.

Between 2008 and 2010 Portas wrote a weekly column for consumer fashion magazine Grazia, offering career advice and mentoring to the magazine's readers.

Television career[link]

Portas' programmes are shown in over 20 international territories, including on Australia's Lifestyle Channel.

Mary Queen of Shops (2007 - 2010) was Portas' first series. The format follows Mary helping struggling independent shops by offering retail and business advice. As part of the process, retailers also received a full shop-fit redesign overseen by Portas.

Series Guide:

• Series 1 (4 episodes): 31st May - 21st June 2007 - this series saw Portas visit 4 failing independent fashion boutiques aiming to revitalize their businesses. The BBC published a tie-in book entitled How to Shop with Mary Queen of Shops.
• Series 2 (6 episodes): 9th June - 14th July 2008
• Series 3 (6 episodes): 7th June - 12th July 2009 - this series saw Mary broaden her focus from fashion boutiques to saving key shops on the high street. Retailers inluded a local shop, a greengrocer, a baker, an interiors shop, a hairdressers, and a hardware shop. Notably, the first episode in the series featured a Wimbledon based bakery whose owner refused to accept any of Mary's recommendations. The series earned Portas a nomination for the British Academy Television Awards's Best Feature award, which was eventually won by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's series Hugh's Fish Fight.

Mary Queen of Charity Shops (5th November - 19th November 2009) saw Portas apply the business makeover format to the Orpington branch of Save the Children's network of Charity shops. By the end of the series Mary had successfully turned this worst-performing store into the best.

Mary Portas: Secret Shopper (19th January - 9th February 2011; 6 episodes)was Portas' first series following her move to Channel 4, and saw her using different disguises and secret filming to reveal bad customer service in UK shops.

Mary Queen of Frocks (4th October - 18th October 2011; 3 episodes) was a departure from the produced shows that Mary had presented previously, and instead was an observational documentary that followed Mary as she tried to launch her own shop aimed at 40+ women with UK retailer House of Fraser.

Mary's Bottom Line (March 2012; 3 episodes) shows Portas try to revitalize the UK's manufacturing industry by reopening an underwear factory in Manchester ^[16].

Other television appearances[link]

Mary hosted an episode of The Money Programme called Mary Portas: Save Our Shops in June 2009.

She appeared in the Panorama documentary On The Rack which exposed unethical production practices by fast fashion retailer Primark; and has appeared on The Apprentice: You're Fired four times.

In March 2011, Portas regularly appeared in the Channel 4 series Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags, in which she advised the pop star on her venture into fashion retail.

Mary's Living and Giving Shops for Save the Children[link]

Following the BBC2 series Mary Queen of Charity Shops in June 2009, Mary was appointed as Global Retail Ambassador for Save the Children.^[17] She developed the "Living & Giving" concept as a new type of charity shop that puts the local community at its heart - "not just a shop, but a place to inspire, share, create, meet and discover".^[18] The first Living & Giving shop Portas opened was a three-week-long pop up at Westfield London, earning the charity over £190,000.^[19] Portas has gone on to open five permanent Living & Giving shops, in Edinburgh, Westbourne Grove, Primrose Hill and Parson's Green and Barnes.^[18][19][20]

Retail venture[link]

In August 2011 she opened her first retail shop as a concession in House of Fraser's Oxford Street branch.^[21] The shop, named Mary & House of Fraser, sells clothing and lifestyle products aimed at the 40+ female market,^[22] and was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary Mary Queen of Frocks that aired in October 2011.

Government appointment[link]

The embedded lists in this article may contain items that are not encyclopedic. Please help out by removing such elements and incorporating appropriate items into the main body of the article. (December 2011)

In May 2011 she was appointed by the Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead an independent review into the future of the high street. She published her report "The Portas Review" on 13 December 2011.^[23] Portas states the aim of her review to "put the heart back into the centre of our High Streets, re-imagined as destinations for socialising, culture, health, wellbeing, creativity and learning".^[24] The review goes on to detail 28 specific recommendations^[25] -

1. Put in place a “Town Team”: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets

2. Empower successful Business Improvement Districts to take on more responsibilities and powers and become “Super-BIDs”

3. Legislate to allow landlords to become high street investors by contributing to their Business Improvement District

4. Establish a new “National Market Day” where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a low-cost retail business

5. Make it easier for people to become market traders by removing unnecessary regulations so that anyone can trade on the high street unless there is a valid reason why not

6. Government should consider whether business rates can better support small businesses and independent retailers

7. Local authorities should use their new discretionary powers to give business rate concessions to new local businesses

8. Make business rates work for business by reviewing the use of the RPI with a view to changing the calculation to CPI

9. Local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres and we should have a new parking league table

10. Town Teams should focus on making high streets accessible, attractive and safe

11. Government should include high street deregulation as part of their ongoing work on freeing up red tape

12. Address the restrictive aspects of the ‘Use Class’ system to make it easier to change the uses of key properties on the high street

13. Put betting shops into a separate ‘Use Class’ of their own

14. Make explicit a presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework

15. Introduce Secretary of State “exceptional sign off ” for all new out-of-town developments and require all large new developments to have an “affordable shops” quota

16. Large retailers should support and mentor local businesses and independent retailers

17. Retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report

18. Encourage a contract of care between landlords and their commercial tenants by promoting the leasing code and supporting the use of lease structures other than upward only rent reviews, especially for small businesses

19. Explore further disincentives to prevent landlords from leaving units vacant

20. Banks who own empty property on the high street should either administer these assets well or be required to sell them

21. Local authorities should make more proactive use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to encourage the redevelopment of key high street retail space

22. Empower local authorities to step in when landlords are negligent with new “Empty Shop Management Orders”

23. Introduce a public register of high street landlords

24. Run a high profile campaign to get people involved in Neighbourhood Plans

25. Promote the inclusion of the High Street in Neighbourhood Plans

26. Developers should make a financial contribution to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system

27. Support imaginative community use of empty properties through Community Right to Buy, Meanwhile Use and a new “Community Right to Try”

28. Run a number of High Street Pilots to test proof of concept

On 13 December the Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement thanking Portas for her review and explaining that the Government would respond to her recommendations in Spring 2012.^[26] Cameron said "I am delighted that Mary Portas has produced such a clear vision of how we can create vibrant and diverse town centres and breathe life back into our high streets."^[26]

Portas Pilot towns[link]

On 4 February 2012 the minister for local government, Grant Shapps, announced that towns across England could bid to become Portas pilot areas. A total of 12 towns were to receive a share of £1m, as well as the support of the Minister, Whitehall, and Mary Portas.^[27][28] In May 2012 the twelve towns to be helped were announced as: Bedford, Croydon, Dartford, Greater Bedminster, Liskeard, Margate, Market Rasen, Nelson, Lancashire, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees and Wolverhampton.^[29]

Twitter[link]

She was named as one of the top 100 Tweeters in the UK by The Independent in 2011.

Personal life[link]

Portas was married to chemical engineer and Unilever executive Graham Portas for 14 years and together they had son Mylo (born 19 January 1994)^[30] and daughter Verity.^[2][31] Portas now lives with her civil partner,^[32] Grazia magazine fashion features editor Melanie Rickey, in Maida Vale with her children, after an amicable divorce from her husband.^[3] In 2012 it was announced in The Times that Rickey was pregnant with her first child.^[31]

She spends her money on art, wine, theatre and chocolate, and enjoys gardening.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Portas' website
• Shop!, The Telegraph's Saturday magazine
• Channel 4 website
• Portas' Twitter
• Yellowdoor - Portas' retail consultancy
• Mary Portas at the Internet Movie Database

Gatwick Airport London Gatwick Airport
IATA: LGW – ICAO: EGKK
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Global Infrastructure Partners
Operator		Gatwick Airport Limited
Serves		London
Location		Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Hub for		British Airways
Elevation AMSL		203 ft / 62 m
Coordinates		51°08′53″N 000°11′25″W / 51.14806°N 0.19028°W / 51.14806; -0.19028Coordinates: 51°08′53″N 000°11′25″W / 51.14806°N 0.19028°W / 51.14806; -0.19028
Website		www.gatwickairport.com
Map
LGW Location within West Sussex, England
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
08L/26R	2,565	8,415	Asphalt/Concrete
08R/26L	3,316	10,879	Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2011)
Passengers			33,674,264
Passenger change 10-11			7.3%
Aircraft Movements			251,067
Movements change 10-11			4.4%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW, ICAO: EGKK) is located 3.1 mi (5.0 km) north of the centre of Crawley,^[1] West Sussex, and 29.5 mi (47.5 km) south of Central London.^[3] Also known as London Gatwick,^[4] it is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow.^[5] Furthermore, Gatwick is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights^{[nb 1]} and has the world's busiest single-use runway averaging 52 aircraft movements an hour.^[6][7] Its two terminals – North and South – cover an area of 810,000 sq ft (75,000 m²) and 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m²) respectively.^[8]

In 2011, over 33.6 million passengers passed through Gatwick.^[2]

Charter airlines generally prefer Gatwick over Heathrow as a base for London and the South East of England. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}. Under the agreement Heathrow allowed the right for only two US carrier and two UK carrier to serve flights to the United States. Currently, US Airways is the only US carrier that still serves Gatwick from the US. The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Flybe, Monarch Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as charter airlines including Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Gatwick is unique amongst London's airports in having a significant airline presence representing each of the three main airline business models: full service, low/no frills and charter.^[14] As of January 2011, these respectively accounted for 37, 51 and 12% of total passenger traffic.^[15]

BAA Limited and its predecessors, the British Airports Authority and BAA plc, owned and operated Gatwick continuously from 1 April 1966 until 2 December 2009.^[16][17][18] On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick following a report by the Competition Commission into BAA's market dominance in London and the South East. On 21 October 2009, it was announced that agreement had been reached to sell Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the owners of London City Airport, for £1.51 billion. Of this amount, £55 million will depend on the airport's future traffic development and its owners' future capital structure (£10 million and £45 million respectively).^[19] The sale was formally completed on 3 December 2009. On this day, Gatwick's ownership passed from BAA to GIP.^[20] In early-2010, GIP reportedly sold minority stakes in Gatwick to the National Pension Service of Korea and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.^[21][22] On 18 June 2010, it was reported that CalPERS, California's and the US's biggest state pension fund, had bought a 12.7% equity stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP.^[23][24] An announcement made in the Financial Times on 21 December 2010 stated that the Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government, planned to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP.^[25]

History[link]

The airport apron in 1973.

The airport apron in 1981 (note the increase in widebodied aircraft).

The airport control tower.

• 1241: The name "Gatwick" is first recorded, as Gatwik, the name of a manor, on the site of today's airport (under the northmost edge of North Terminal's aircraft taxiing area). Until the 19th century, it was owned by the De Gatwick family.^[26] Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words gāt, 'goat', and wīc, 'dairy farm', i.e. 'goat farm'.^[27] (On the adjacent map, Gatwick Manor is at the northwest end of the racecourse; its name is somewhat obscured by the map's paper being eroded over an old crease. The site of the modern runway runs roughly from the racecourse to the lane junction at Hydefield farm southeast of Charlwood. Comparing old and new maps seems to show that the modern Gatwick Manor hotel is not the old Gatwick Manor but a rename for another old building, near Lowfield Heath.)
• 21 September 1841: The London and Brighton Railway opened, running near Gatwick Manor.
• 1890: The descendants of the original owners sold the area to the newly established Gatwick Race Course Company.
• 1891: The new owners opened a horse racecourse (Gatwick Racecourse), beside the London–Brighton railway, and a dedicated station including sidings for horse boxes.^[26] The course held steeplechase and flat races.
• 1916, 1917, 1918: During World War I the racecourse hosted the Grand National.^[26]

Airport infrastructure and airline operations[link]

1920–1945[link]

The Beehive

• Late 1920s: Land adjacent to the racecourse at Hunts Green Farm along Tinsley Green Lane was used as an aerodrome.
• August 1930: Following a change in land ownership, the aerodrome was licensed. It was called Gatwick Aerodrome.^[28]
• Later in 1930: The Surrey Aero Club was formed at the aerodrome by a Ronald Waters, who had been the manager of Home Counties Aircraft Service Ltd based at Penshurst Airfield in Kent. Surrey Aero Club used the old Hunts Green farmhouse as club house.^[29][30]
• 1932: Redwing Aircraft Company bought the aerodrome and operated a flying school. The aerodrome was also used for pilots flying in to races.
• 1933: The Air Ministry approved commercial flights from Gatwick. The aerodrome was sold for £13,500 to Morris Jackaman, an investor.
• 1934: Morris Jackaman formed a new airport company named Airports Limited. Hillman's Airways became Gatwick's first commercial airline operator as a result of starting scheduled services from the airport to Belfast and Paris.
• 1935: A new airline named Allied British Airways was formed, by a merger between Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways. The newly formed carrier, which subsequently shortened its name to British Airways, became Gatwick's principal operator.^[26]
• 6 July 1935: Gatwick Aerodrome closed for building works (building of the The Beehive (a circular terminal building) commenced).
• September 1935: A new railway station called Gatwick served by two trains an hour on the Victoria–Brighton line opened. (The present Gatwick station is on the same site.)
• 30 September 1935: Tinsley Green railway station opened 0.85 mi (1.37 km) south of the present Gatwick station.
• May 1936: Some flights started.
• 17 May 1936: The first scheduled flight to depart The Beehive was bound for Paris. The applicable air fare was £4 5s, including a first class rail ticket from London Victoria.^[26]
• 6 June 1936 Gatwick airport officially reopened; The Beehive officially opened. The Beehive was designed by Frank Hoar and included a subway to Gatwick Airport railway station that let passengers travel from London Victoria Station to the aircraft without stepping outside. Tinsley Green railway station was renamed Gatwick Airport.^{[31][32][33][34][35][36][37]}
• September and November 1936: Two fatal accidents questioned the airport's safety.^[38][39][40] Moreover, the area was prone to fog and waterlogging as a result of poor drainage due to heavy clay soils. This in turn caused the new subway to flood after rain.
• 1937: As a result and because longer landing strips were needed, the pre-war British Airways moved to Croydon Airport. Gatwick went back to private flying and was contracted as a Royal Air Force (RAF) flying school.^[26] The airport also attracted repair companies.
• September 1939: The Air Ministry requisitioned Gatwick.^[26]
• World War II: Although the airfield became a base for RAF night-fighters and an army co-operation squadron, it was mainly a repair and maintenance facility.^[41]
• 1940: Horse racing at Gatwick ceased.

1945–1958[link]

• 1946: Gatwick Airport was officially decommissioned, but the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued to operate it as a civil airfield, initially for a six-month trial period.^[26] During that period, the airport provided maintenance facilities and charter companies flying war-surplus aircraft started to use it; however, persistent drainage issues affected the airport's usage. Most commercial air services were cargo flights. The original Gatwick railway station was renamed Gatwick Racecourse.
• November 1948: The owners warned that the airport could be de-requisitioned by November 1949 and revert to private use. Stansted was favoured as London's second airport and Gatwick's future was in doubt.
• 1950: Despite opposition from local authorities, the Cabinet decided that Gatwick was to be an alternative to Heathrow.
• May 1950: Gatwick's first chartered flight departed the original airport's grass runway for Calvi on the Mediterranean island of Corsica with a refuelling stop in Nice. Jersey-based UK independent^{[nb 2]} airline Air Transport Charter (C.I.) Ltd operated this flight under contract to UK package tour pioneer Vladimir Raitz's Horizon Holidays, using a 32-seat Douglas DC-3 carrying 11 passengers.^[42][43]
• July 1952: The Government said that the airport was to be developed, primarily to cater to aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.
• 1956–1958: Temporary closure for a £7.8 million renovation.^[26][41][44] During that period, British European Airways (BEA) continued using Gatwick for its helicopter operations.^[44] The redevelopment was carried out by Alfred McAlpine.^[45] It entailed diverting the A23 London—Brighton trunk road and the River Mole, and building the runway across the erstwhile racecourse site and rebuilding the former racecourse railway station alongside the new terminal.^[44] The main pier of what is now the South Terminal was built during this construction work.