Kemptown Bookshop

Kemptown Bookshop has traded from St George's Road since 1976, making it Brighton's oldest independent bookshop. Cathy Hayward, a fiction writer, took over the business in 2022 and has kept its three floors stocked with books for adults and children alongside stationery, cards, fine art prints, and a small cafe selling coffee and cake. The shop runs regular book clubs and author events, and in 2024 The Times named it one of the UK's twelve best independent bookshops. It opens seven days a week, with shorter hours on Sunday, and still handles special orders and signed editions for customers who ask at the counter rather than online.