Retail consultancy retained by London Stansted to support £700m expansion
The retail team at property consultancy has been retained by London Stansted Airport – part of Manchester Airports Group (MAG) – as retail partner on its upcoming expansion.
The team – which joined Rapleys earlier this year – have been tasked with supporting the airport’s development and shaping an occupier strategy designed to enhance customer experience while offering retail and leisure opportunities for brands.
The expansion of the airport represents an extra 177,604 sq ft sq ft of commercial space costing £700m, forming part of an overall £1.2bn investment by MAG. London Stansted is set to become the busiest single runway, one terminal airport in Europe, serving 43 million passengers annually by 2032.
Existing retail brands at Stansted include, Rituals, Accessorize, Fat Face, and Lego whilst the hospitality offer includes restaurants and bars such as Bottega, Comptoir Libanais, and Leon.
Dan Kent, head of retail at Rapleys, said: “Stansted Airport is a hugely popular location, serving record numbers of passengers year on year. We are working on a transformational and innovative occupier strategy for the extension with MAG which offers huge opportunities for brands that want to be front and centre of the customer experience and reap the rewards of being part of Europe’s busiest single terminal within the next seven years. We are already in discussions with some really exciting brands and look forward to sharing news on the future of retail and hospitality at Stansted in due course.”
Rapleys previously expanded its team significantly with the acquisition of the former Avison Young retail team in April this year. This saw Dan Kent become equity partner and head of retail with Scott Mitchell and Rob Fraser both joining as partners, Lewis Sinclair as associate director, Ella Traynor as senior surveyor, and Rian Dunne as surveyor.