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2015 will be a year of excitement and opportunity at Yate Shopping Centre, according to the owners Crestbridge Trust.
Last year finished on a high with December’s month-on-month footfall showing a 2.2% increase over the previous year, an extra 25,000 visitors in total, whereas the British Retail Consortium’s Monitor index showed footfall fell 0.7% nationally. However, Yate’s shopping pattern was remarkably different in 2014 as many shoppers left it till the week before Christmas to do their shopping with footfall showing a weekly year-on-year increase of over 9%.
Andrew Lowrey, Shopping Centre Manager: “There is definitely confidence returning to the market despite income pressures and it was good to record positive footfall figures. Also of significance was that people were actually spending money and not just window shopping: twenty of the Centre’s key traders experienced monthly sales increases by an average of 3.5% during December 2014 compared to 2013. In particular, Abrahams Jewellers who have been at the centre since 1965 and moved into a newly fitted store in East Walk in September 2013 reported significant sales growth in the last 12 months.
“This maintained growth is so important in delivering jobs and prosperity for the town. All-in-all 2014 was very positive for the Centre and there is so much happening so 2015 promises to be another good year for Yate and the Shopping Centre.”
Works on Yate Riverside, the new cinema and leisure development on Link Road, will start in the next few weeks, Cineworld already having been announced as the cinema operator. Other operators will be announced in the next few weeks.
In the main shopping centre, refurbishment works are already well underway on the Clarks unit in East Walk, having closed last week. The re-opening date is scheduled for 9th February and the new shop will feature greater stock lines in an increased sales area.
Andy Lowrey: “This refurbishment is a further vote of confidence from our existing retailers and this has very recently been further boosted by the announcement that independent ironmongers Merediths have committed to a new lease which is absolutely fantastic news.
“We are still in discussions with retailers interested in taking space in the main shopping area and, in particular, the former Burton and Entertainer units, both of which are in key locations to generate traffic. Hopefully, we will be able to make announcements very soon.”
Retailers are flooding into Yate Shopping Centre’s new leisure complex – Yate Riverside – with over 70% of the units already taken before building even starts.
It has already been announced that the cinema operator Cineworld will anchor the scheme but there has been a lot of interest from the shop and retaurant chains for the remaining units with a further six parties either in the process of or completing legal contracts.
Updating Yate Town Council on the project, Mark Hull Group Property Controller for Crestbridge said “We knew that this scheme would be popular but not to this extent! The cinema operator Cineworld signed up almost immediately after planning permission was scured and since then there has been a steady flow to our front door. Unfortunately it looks as though we will not be able to accomodate all the interested parties but in some ways that is a good thing.
“As a result of this interest, we have received offers from some common high street names interested in coming to the main shopping centre. Early next year we will be submitting plans to reconfigure some of West Walk to create a new unit that is attracting interest from two major high street names. It is encouraging that our vacancy rate is half of the national average and there is scope to reduce this further over the next few months.
When copmpleted in Spring 2016 Yate Riverside will house a cinema, three modern retail units and up to 7 restaurants/cafe units. Work has already started in preparing the site for the construction phase and weather permitting, work should be under way by Spring.
Mark Hull said that this has not been the easiest project to deliver but it is heatening that we are close to the actual build phase and with so much interest, This is a great example of a community working together to achieve what the people of Yate want and i can not emphasise enough how important our relationship with Yate Town Council, all the local councillors and the many other stakeholders has helped us.
Yate Shopping Centre has been inundated by local music groups eager to get their names on the same billing as world superstar Peter Andre for this year’s Christmas lights switch-on.
The event on Thursday, 13thNovember, will be the start of the Shopping Centre’s annual Christmas event programme. This year will also feature the Christmas parade and the unveiling of a ‘unique’ Santa’s Grotto on Saturday, 15thNovember.
Marketing Manager Tracy King, explains: “To many of these young musicians it’s the glamour of being a supporting act to a star such as Peter Andre’ and providing the opportunity to promote their own name. We have had such demand that we have decided to bring forward the start time to 4pm to give as many local bands the opportunity to show their talents. “
Among the local bands that will be entertaining the early crowds are Love Beats Riots and Girl Next Door, and Reaction. They will be followed on stage by the UK’s leading One Direction tribute band ‘Only 1D’ along with Andy Scott Lee. The lights will be switched on by Peter Andre at 7pm.
This year, to maximise viewing opportunities, the stage will be set on a performance trailer located at the Leisure Centre end of West Walk.
At Noon on Saturday, 15thNovember, the camels will lead the Annual Christmas Parade through the Shopping Centre to mark the official opening of Santa’s Grotto. The parade will be repeated at 2pm.
Tracy King, Yate Shopping Centre Marketing Manager: “This year we are building our own Santa’s Grotto rather than using an outside agency so it will be interesting to get the public’s feedback. It’s been a really exciting project designing, sourcing and getting things ready. Our Grotto will be unique to South Gloucestershire!”
- The Grotto costs £3 per visit and opening times can be found either on the Centre’s website or on the information boards within Yate Shopping Centre.
- Further information about Yate Shopping Centre can be found at www.yateshoppingcentre.co.uk
Yate Shopping Centre is proving as popular as ever with tenant activity at an all time high and vacancy rates at the lowest for many years.
This weekend will be particularly active with Cardzone!, formerly Special Occasions, opening again on Saturday, 18thOctober after a full refit and the following day Calendar Club will be opening in 20 West Walk on a temporary lease.
Furthermore, bakers Greggs in East Walk will shortly be closing their doors temporarily for a complete refit of their store which will see internal customer seating introduced. The store will close on Saturday, 1stNovember and re-open on Friday, 7thNovember.
However, the major boost for the Centre is the arrival of Boots who are opening a new specialist opticians store in 11 West Walk in late November.
Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “We are getting a lot of interest from retailers asking about space and, in particular, people looking for leases before the Christmas season. There is also increased activity as a result of the forthcoming Yate Riverside leisure development and the increasing confidence in the economy generally.
“Our current vacancy rate has fallen to about 6% which at about half of the national rate proves Yate is as popular as ever with both shoppers and retailers. Some of the old favourite temporary Christmas shops such as Calendar Club are back again and will be in full flow in time for the lights switch-on with Peter Andre on 13thNovember. We are expecting a bumper season this year with so much to offer.”
Cardzone! in 15 South Walk is one of 14 family-owned stores in the Cotswolds and Welsh border areas selling a wide range of greeting cards, associated celebration gifts and decorations, and a selection of Thorntons chocolates.
Boots have just taken occupancy of the former First Choice unit at 11 West Walk and fit out has started with opening scheduled for late November. Boots recently merged with Dolland & Aitchison which has seen the number of stores increase to 690, making them one of the biggest franchisers in the Opticians sector.
Andrew Lowrey: “It’s always good to see another national high street chain come to the Centre as they help drive the footfall that the smaller independent traders rely on. Furthermore, having spent two years improving East Walk, we are now seeing new shops in all the other thoroughfares bringing increased activity throughout the Centre as a whole.”
Works on clearing the site for the new cinema development at Yate Riverside will start later this month in preparation for building works to start early in the New Year.
Contractors will move onto the site on Monday, 20thOctober to start clearing the vegetation as part of a managed programme.
Mark Hull, Managing Director of Crestbridge, owners of Yate Shopping Centre and the developers behind the new leisure scheme, said: “This moment has been a long time coming so it is nice to finally get things underway. The contractors, ISG Pearce, will be working closely with our ecologists over the next few weeks to clear the site of all vegetation whilst monitoring wildlife on the site.
“We anticipate starting construction of the new buildings early in January with a phased opening starting later in the year and final completion in spring 2016. We are in discussions with a fantastic line-up of operators that will cause real excitement in the town and hope to make further announcements about the names involved in the not too distant future.”
In addition to Cineworld, already named as the cinema operators, Yate Riverside will feature several national quality restaurants, cafes and food outlets and three prominent high street retailers.
Andrew Lowrey, Shopping Centre Manager, said: “Yate Riverside might be the news the public want to hear but the centre of attraction in the town over the next few months will be at the Shopping Centre where Peter Andre will be highlighting our Christmas lights event in November. We are also due to announce more new high profile tenants before the end of the year.”
Blue Inc, the leading fashion retailer is close to completing a deal to take the former Millets’ unit in the centre of Yate Shopping Centre.
The well known retailer of leading gents & ladies fashion brands who have over 200 stores nationwide has already posted notices on the unit advertising for staff.
Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “This is more great news coming on the back of the Yate Riverside announcement a couple of weeks ago. Last year, when we asked the public what shops they would like to see introduced to the centre, fashion retail was by far the most common. When Blue Inc opens we will have a healthy spread of specialist fashion retailers and I am pleased to say that Blue Inc will be focusing more on men’s fashion. There will be further announcements about new shops to follow in the not too distant future!”
Rod Leadbetter, Area Manager for Blue Inc, said: “We are aiming to open our new Yate store in mid October. I have had a great response to the vacancies and I’m very sure I will have no problem recruiting the initial team of eight and identifying some additional team members to support what I’m sure will be a very busy Christmas.
“I think Yate is a great town and it’s so good to see a local centre working well with the community. I’ve chatted to some really friendly people while looking at potential stores and I look forward to working with my new team and making sure we give our new customers a great shopping experience.”
Cineworld is to anchor the new leisure-based development at Link Road, Yate – to be called Yate Riverside – which is now clear of all planning hurdles and ready to start.
Other leisure and retail operators are close to signing deals and these will be announced in the near future as and when leases are completed.
Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager, said: “It has long-been rumoured that Cineworld will be the anchor tenant. Now that we have cleared the planning process, and the period for any legal challenge has expired, we can start building works. Although some preparatory works have started, we don’t envisage major construction work starting until early next year.
“There is always a time lag after any planning permission is granted as typically operators hold back on committing until there is certainty about the development. We will be announcing the other high street names taking space over the next few months”.
The new development will include a six-screen multiplex cinema, seven restaurants/cafes and three retail units specifically aimed at national high street chains.
A spokesperson at Crestbridge, owners of Yate Shopping Centre, said that Yate Riverside would attract more national operators to the town and transform the town’s night-time economy to firmly put Yate onto the map.
“Having secured Cineworld and following the huge success of the recent retail development in the town centre we are talking to a number of national fashion chains and leading food brands about taking space in the new scheme, which offers retail-park scale and accessibility whilst remaining at the heart of the town.”
Jenny Lee, Property Acquisitions Manager at Cineworld said that the new Yate cinema would allow the company to expand its reach in the South West: “Yate’s growing population and the transformation of the town’s retail and leisure offer mean that this is a great new location for Cineworld and we are looking forward to opening next year.
“The Yate Riverside development will enable us provide more choice for our customers and meet high demand for modern leisure destinations across the region.”
Local District Councillor, Councillor Ruth Davis, who has been fighting for a cinema in Yate for over 10 years, expressed her delight that things are now happening: “Many Shopping Centre owners have told me they will try to get a cinema but nothing has ever come of it. Today Crestbridge are delivering and I know that local councillors and residents are absolutely thrilled that things are moving forward.
“With the proposed expansion in housing, Yate needs to be a centre on its own and not reliant on Bristol and other shopping centres. Crestbridge promised us that high street names will come to Yate and we already have some, with others to follow. It is these shops that will draw in visitors to enable the smaller independent traders to succeed and make Yate a thriving centre.”
Local MP, Steve Webb, welcoming the news said:“I’m delighted that the plans for the cinema complex have taken another step forward. After years of campaigning we are nearing the finishing line, and I look forward to joining other local residents in seeing films locally, hopefully by the end of next year”.
As a result of the interest in the new cinema-led development, there has been an increased interest in the existing centre as Andrew Lowry explains: “The retail industry has reacted enthusiastically with some very significant enquiries from potential new operators looking to take space in the existing centre.
“As always when new tenants want to come to Yate Shopping Centre, we have to identify suitable units and that might include some juggling and changes but we are confident that we will be announcing exciting new tenants in the autumn.”
For further development news at Yate Shopping Centre see http://www.yateshoppingcentre.co.uk/Centre-Information#a27
For press releases see http://www.yateshoppingcentre.co.uk/Media-Centre
The Riverside letting brochure can be downloaded here
Work goes on at a pace with much activity behind the scenes so that we are ready to start work on site later this year. The ecologists are monitoring wildlife on the site and will be undertaking further detailed surveys going into the autumn before finalising their environmental management plan which will see the existing woodland improved to be a centre for wildlife and biodiversity.
Since its launch two years ago, the scheme has always attracted a lot of interest from some of the country’s leading high street names. We are close to completing the legal process with several ‘big names’ and hope to be able to make some announcements in the next few weeks.
We are anticipating initial works starting by the end of the year with the major construction element getting underway early next year.
Boswells Cafe fundraiser offers free drinks in exchange for cycle miles in spinathon
Free drinks are on offer to all customers who cycle for 15 minutes in an all-day charity ‘spinathon’ at Boswells café in in Yate shopping centre on Saturday 16 August.
The Yate event is part of a mammoth fundraiser by the Boswells café chain, whose staff and management are fundraising for research into pancreatic cancer, which claimed the life of the family company’s founder and Chairman, Jeremy Burn, in 2012 – just a few weeks after he was diagnosed with the disease.
In addition to the spinathon competition between the branches, Boswells directors (and Jeremy’s sons) Nick, Matthew and Tim Burn – together with half-brother Charlie, brother-in-law Nick and three close friends – will set off on a cycle challenge. The group will cover 400 miles in just four days from 20-23 August, visiting all 15 cafés along the way starting in Newport on 20 August and ending in Gloucester on 23 August – via the South coast – in tribute to their father.
‘Le Tour de Boswells’ will be arriving in the Yate branch on Wednesday 20 August, the first day and the second Boswells branch of their four-day challenge. Keen cyclists are also welcome to join the group on the different legs of the cycle ride.
Each cafe along the route will be holding a spinathon competition and the top five customers who add the most miles overall to the challenge will also receive free coffee for a month. Staff and customers at Boswells in Yate will be hoping to raise as much money as possible on Saturday 16 August but they need your help, so come along and join in. Everyone cycling for 15 minutes will receive a free drink.
Bike experts, the Specialised Concept Store, is sponsoring the overall event. All money raised will be donated to the national charity, the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, which supports the very best UK research into the disease (www.pcrf.org.uk).
Each year approximately 8,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It is an extremely difficult cancer to diagnose and treat because it is unusually aggressive, symptoms are often vague and generally appear at an advanced stage of the disease. Around three per cent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will survive for five years or more, a figure that has barely improved in forty years.
Boswells director, Matthew Burn, says: “Dad was proud of us; he’d drilled us to take over on his retirement and he was gearing up to stepping down. He was a great mentor with lots of experience and wisdom to share. He was also great fun to be around and we all miss him enormously. Family was really important to him and he should have had much more time to enjoy retirement, to enjoy the grandchildren – he deserved to take things easy after so many years of working so hard for us.”
To donate, please visit Team JB’s Just Giving page www.justgiving.com/LeTourdeBoswellsor simply text the code LTDB99 with your amount to 70070
YATE Shopping Centre will feature in the return of a popular impression show being aired on television tonight.
The Mimic returns to Channel 4 for a second series this evening, Wednesday, July 16 (10pm) starring impressionist Terry Mynott.
The show was filmed on location in the greater Bristol area in January and February including some notable scenes at Yate Shopping Centre, which is clearly identifiable in the programme.
The production team from the heart-warming comedy was based at The Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove.
Locations for the six-part series included South Bristol Crematorium, Blaise Estate, St George’s Park, Mina Road Park and Brecknock Road.
The series, produced by Running Bare Productions, follows the fortunes of Martin Hurdle, an everyday maintenance man with an uncanny ability to mimic voices. Martin’s life takes a dramatic turn when he finds out that he could be the father of 18-year-old Steven, the son of former lover Dionne.
Terry Mynott said: “Martin, who is stuck in a bit of a dead end job, who entertains himself by mimicking the voices of famous people. And then something comes along in his personal life that changes everything for him.”
Yate Shopping Centre and the Road to Nowhere near Yate Common were recently used as locations for new ITV drama Broadchurch starring David Tennant.
Previously the town has been used for BBC hospital drama Casualty and Pisces fish and chip shop on Station Road was the subject of an episode of The Fixer with business expert Alex Polizzi, which aired on television last week