A PLETHORA of new businesses are popping up in Tamworth with many people moving to the area.
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Yum cha at Happy Chef - the new restaurant at the Tamworth City Bowling Club - is just one of these.
Kim Yeejoy, her daughter Elizabeth and partner Eddie, will be serving up dumplings, pork buns, creamy garlic prawns and much more to the masses alongside chef Sam Saah.
They have moved from Sydney to bring locals the only yum cha offering in Tamworth.
Business NSW regional manager Joe Townsend said 3500 individuals had relocated from Sydney to regional towns like Tamworth in the past year.
"We saw it as a very difficult struggle with the economy and bouncing back but by all modern measures things have bounced back to pre-COVID levels and regions have caught up with that," Mr Townsend said.
"It's awesome, and I also think it's testament to our time that we can start to break down some perceptions that regional towns don't have these businesses and services, that we don't have things like yum cha."
Ms Yeejoy said they had numerous restaurants in Sydney at one stage, but closed some as they needed rest and some peace and quiet.
She's very much looking forward to that in Tamworth.
Other new businesses close to opening include Edge Clothing in Tamworth Shopping World, organic wholefoods cafe The Shack and a Clear Skincare Clinic franchise.
"More food chains and the wider retail is really great because there was the risk that when things went digital during COVID ... we would see retail in regional centres diminish," Mr Townsend said.
"We need just to display that and show friends and relatives that live in metropolitan areas that they should come and live in our great area of the state."
He hoped to see better flight connectivity from Tamworth to Sydney to ensure this would happen.
"As we see domestic tourism come back we need to see a better timetable or more convenient timetable of flights and that will help us because the travelling business community was one of our biggest mid-week drivers," Mr Townsend told the Leader.
"That hasn't come back to us yet so hopefully we can see some of those linkages come back up."
- Happy Chef at the Tamworth City Bowling Club is now open. For more information, call the restaurant on 6766 1281.
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