The owner of St Anne's Beach Huts shares how he turned a once-derelict site on the promenade into a thriving and iconic landmark, now loved by locals and tourists.
Stuart Robinson even faced protests in the early days of starting his business, as St Anne's residents remembered the run-down, dilapidated old huts from the 80s.
But the modern huts are now a much-loved feature of the coastal resort, and Stuart says they are 'like concrete bomb shelters' built to withstand storm damage - meaning they won't end up looking weathered.
00:00The last huts in St. Anne's were demolished in the 1980s and they all went completely dilapidated but both my wife and I can still remember them and we were walking along this promenade back in 2005 and it was empty and derelict and I remember having the conversation with my wife and she thought it would be a wonderful idea to build beach huts on here.
00:30I'm a family man and it was just really something that aligned with my values in life in terms of I love spending time at the beach, I love spending time with my family and we said to the council look we'll build you one hut and show you how amazing it is and you'll allow us to build more.
00:48We were sort of trialing the rental business model with that hut and people absolutely loved it.
00:54There was a lot of people that were very upset about it, very worried that we were going to be taking away their views with these huts and a lot of the resistance to us bringing them back was that they didn't want dilapidated huts.
01:07So what we've opted for is a cement cladding and that stuff's not going to rot, it's guaranteed for 20 years, it doesn't need painting and it's extremely heavy so these structures themselves are kind of like concrete bomb shelters, they've got to stand up to some pretty extreme storms.
01:28We really wanted to focus on the traditional looking beach hut, something that sparks that feeling of nostalgia and something that is iconic with the seaside resort.
01:40So we really try to zone in on that and these are very traditional looking beach huts.
01:47What's not to enjoy about a day at the seaside?
01:50I mean you come and you're spending a day of leisure and it takes your mind off work and any of your problems.
01:58And of course when you rent a hut and come and spend a day at the seaside, invariably you're bringing your friends and family with you.
02:06And that's really what makes it special is spending time with them.
02:11Our family are foodies so it's all about the picnic for us.
02:15Obviously the hut gives you a shelter for the day and we've got water and we've got electric.
02:20So these things are absolutely brilliant for spending a day on the seafront.
02:24I would say that our town now feels these are their beach huts.
02:29These are St Anne's beach huts and I'd like to think that they are iconic and a part of St Anne's almost as iconic as the windmill in Lytham and as the pier.
02:40And I don't want to take that for granted either, I really don't.
02:43We've got to keep working at it and delivering value for money and helping make people have some really special memories down here when they come and use the huts.
