Computer games retailer Game has highlighted a growing exodus of young professionals to the seaside as it announced 25 new stores in coastal resorts.

The chain, which already has a shop in Brighton, said customer numbers at its shops in the South-West had risen by a quarter in the last year as wealthy 20 to 30-somethings sought quieter lives away from bustling inland cities.

The first of the new stores have already opened in Newton Abbot, Devon and Bangor in north Wales, and they will be followed by venues in Skegness, Lincolnshire, Dorchester, Dorset and around the country in the next two months.

The move is part of an expansion by the retailer which will see 100 stores open across Europe this year, including about 50 in the UK, creating more than 400 jobs here.

Game said research last year had shown a 12 per cent population growth in seaside resorts in the past ten years.

Thursday March 18, 2004