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Fakenham and the surrounding district
has lots to offer its visitors - both for tourists and
from a business point of view.
Fakenham's Visitor Attractions
 The
region is ideally situated for tourism and is an extremely
popular destination for visitors to the Norfolk coast,
with its birdwatching opportunities and its areas of
outstanding natural beauty.
The nationally-famous Fakenham racecourse,
just on the edge of town, is an increasingly popular
venue, with its £1million Members' Stand providing
a quality location for hospitality events as well as
a fantastic base for a great day's racing.
The Thursford Collection attracts
thousands of visitors each year and is home to the tremendously
popular Christmas Spectacular Shows in November and
December - the largest of their kind in the country.
Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, just east
of Fakenham, is set in 500 acres of beautiful countryside
and offers literally miles of woodland, lakeside and
fen meadow trails, with a fine collection of waterfowl
from all over the world.
With the Royal Sandringham Estate,
Holkham Hall, Walsingham with its Anglican and Catholic
shrines, as well as Nelson's Burnham all within striking
distance, there's much to attract those with historical
interests in the area too.
Business in the Fakenham area
Fakenham is described as a 'market
town', but its businesses represent an extremely broad
range of activities.  The
more usual retail outlets are concentrated in the town
centre and are enhanced by the very lively Thursday
Charter Market and monthly Farmers' Market, but other
businesses range from home-based enterprises through
to industrial facilities and large-scale agricultural
activity.
The Chamber seeks to represent the
whole spectrum of the area's business community within
its membership - indeed this diversity is one of the
strengths of the Fakenham & District Chamber of
Trade & Commerce.
The town has been, in recent years,
the focus of a regeneration programme. A £750,000
scheme, with funding from Norfolk County Council, North
Norfolk District Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund
has made enhancements to many of the town centre's buildings
as well as providing new street furniture and a redesigned,
themed market square. A multi-screen Stevens Cinema
has also been opened in the refurbished Corn Exchange
- an historic building in the town centre.
Established retail outlets in the
town include multiples such as Boots (Chemist &
Opticians), Julian Graves, Aldiss Furniture superstore
and M & Co. Recent high profile additions to the
town's retailers include Morrisons, Focus DIY, Tesco,
Lidl, Argos, Specsavers and The Carphone Warehouse.
Fakenham is proving to be an attractive place in more
ways than one!
Planned Development
The Authority's Local
Development Framework for the area proposes increased
retail sites within the town, plus a substantial amount
of new housing - over 1300 new dwellings between 2006
and 2021.  This
population expansion will be supported by improved health
and educational resources, plus new employment possibilities
encouraged by making available additional serviced employment
land.
Tourism in the area will be further
enhanced by a proposed Country Park, covering the whole
Wensum Valley vicinity to the south of Fakenham. This
will consolidate the various existing visitor attractions,
wildlife and conservation schemes in the area, linking
them with the town centre - using a series of public
paths, cycleways and accessible open spaces.
Fakenham is a growing town and its
commercial aspect is expected to grow with it. Its businesses
have an expanding market to accommodate with the promise
of attracting even more seasonal trade into the area
in the future. The town has an exciting period of development
ahead!
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