New letting enquires at Yate Shopping Centre

Vacancy rates at Yate Shopping Centre have fallen to a near all-time low following a rush of enquiries for vacant units.

Meanwhile works to amalgamate the final retail unit at Yate Riverside, the recently opened cinema-led leisure complex, are on schedule and the units were handed over to T K Maxx last week for fitout.

The works included the amalgamation of the final ground floor retail unit with a restaurant unit and first floor space to make a single 20,000 square foot unit which is scheduled to open in late September/early October.

All tenants at Yate Riverside, many of which have now been open for over six months, are experiencing good footfall and healthy trading.

Steve Plank, Cineworld Yate General Manager, comments: "We’re really pleased with how popular Cineworld Yate has become since the opening in April. The response from the local community has been fantastic, we constantly receive positive feedback on our welcoming staff and state of the art cinema. 2016 has shaped up to be an unmissable year of film, with the likes of Ice Age: Collision Course out now and the hotly anticipated Suicide Squad coming next month!"

In the main Shopping Centre, Pandora, which sells a variety of necklaces, rings, customisable charm bracelets & more, opened in 25 East Walk earlier in July and is trading ‘above expectations’ .

North Walk, which has been the Centre Management’s main point of concentration in recent months, is now experiencing interest from a variety of retailers as Centre Manager, Andy Lowrey, explains: “The vacancy rates in North Walk have always been higher than the remainder of the Centre but there are now several operators showing interest in taking units there.

“It is a key access into the heart of the Centre from the North Parade which has itself undergone substantial changes over the last couple of years with Bottelinos and Hotcha opening. With new retailers showing interest in North Walk there could be only five vacancies in the entire centre as we head into the latter part of the year, well below the 12.5% national average.

“This proves Yate's popularity as a shopping and leisure destination offering a wide spectrum of family attractions, extended dining experiences including Sunday lunches at Botellinos where kids eat free, through to a wide variety of shops offering a diverse selection of goods and services.

“It is interesting times for the Centre and its traders with Brexit and the current uncertainty. I believe we are well positioned to meet the challenges of the next few years and will come out stronger and more resilient in the long term”.

In North Parade alongside Bottelinos, Max’s Gelati Ice Cream Parlour has recently opened, selling ice creams, shakes, and waffles.

Meanwhile in North Walk, Homecrafters has extended its tenure in unit 6-8 North Walk until December 2016, and Grape Tree, a health food shop offering a range of healthy food products and snacks, recently opened in the former Burger King unit at 2 West Walk.

Andy Lowrey:”There has been a lot of interest in the former Entertainer unit in West Walk but these larger units are always harder to fill as the audience is more limited.”