Birmingham reveals further details of tender

Tina Milton

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The UK airport aims to invite selected bidders to participate in its duty-free tender by Christmas

Birmingham International airport is in the process of pre-selecting a number of retailers to bid for its duty-free contract.

Head of commercial department Ray Savage said the airport still had plans to visit operators in Europe that were interested in the space. ?We expect to have pre-selected a number of companies by the beginning of November.?

He said shortlisted companies would be decided before Christmas and would be asked to present proposals in January, with a view to final selection by March 2005. The contract is currently held by Alpha Retail and will run for five to seven years. It covers more than 2,200sq m (23,680sq ft) of retail space over two terminals, including a new 1,110sq m (11,840sq ft) store in terminal one, scheduled to open at the beginning of 2006.

The new general merchandise store in T1 will feature in the terminal's renovated departure lounge alongside two other retail outlets. At present T1 has five shops selling books and music (70sq m/755sq ft), toys (120sq m/1,290sq m), jewellery (90sq m/970sq ft), liquor and tobacco (270 sq ft/2,905sq ft) and fragrances (208sq m/2,240sq ft). The contract also includes a 400sq m (4,300sq ft) general merchandise store in T2.